projects. In addition to identifying their name and research interests, find their contact information, including email address, phone number, and office hours.
STEP 2: Summarize the area of research that each faculty member specializes in. Look for a recent news article, webpage summary, or journal publication to give yourself a bit more background about their work. Note that often faculty research interests change over time although web pages may not be revised frequently, but this information will at least provide you with some relevant background about their research interests.
STEP 3: Draft an email of introduction. Use professional language, including the appropriate salutation (e.g., Dear Prof. Smith). Consider attaching a resume showing your prior work experience—even if your work experience is not research-related, it shows that you can hold a job and perform it reliably. Indicate in your message how you will follow up with contacting them (e.g., I plan to visit your office hours next week so that I can learn more about your current research interests). After using spell check, send your emails.
STEP 4: Follow through with your follow up! Ideally you should talk to the faculty members you have contacted either in person or by phone. Come to the conversation prepared to do the following:
• Describe what you find interesting about the research they have done.
• Discuss your experience and interests.
• Ask about their current research and future research interests.
• Specify what you are hoping for as a result of the conversation.
2.3 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCES
If you want to learn about research, it is a great idea to start early while you are an undergraduate student. There are many advantages to doing research as an undergraduate—you can learn about the process of research to determine if this is something you are interested in doing more of, you can try out a particular research area to see if it is something you would like to pursue further, and you can gain some basic research experiences that will be to your advantage when you apply to graduate programs.
Student Perspective
“This experience [as an undergraduate researcher] was a valuable one. It taught me a lot about myself and what I really wanted to do and was interested in. It also gave me a great look at one style of lab organization in terms of people and project roles within the group. I was able to work on and realize the importance of networking and general looking out for myself in research.”
The types of research positions available for undergraduates on university campuses vary. They range from “bottle washer” positions to those that involve doing an independent research project. Often it is the case that a research position is a combination of different tasks at a variety of levels, from glamorous to tedious. (Someone must wash the glassware, right?) Undergraduates are often hired into research labs to help out with some of the work that might be a little bit more routine, but these are still great research opportunities because it allows you to learn about the work taking place in that research group and gives you the potential to work your way up, and take on more responsibility, as you prove yourself to be capable and dependable. Additionally, undergraduate research is usually a bit lower stress and forgiving of failure.
Student Perspective
“I think one of the main expectations that the group has for me is that I’m not afraid of failure. By this, I mean that the project I’m working on has never been done the way they are asking me to do it. Because I am not a Ph.D. or Master’s student, I am the perfect person to conduct the experiment because I don’t have any pressure to produce publishable results and I’ll be able to focus more on the research at hand. Although they do have high hopes for the project I’m working on, I won’t have the pressure that the typical Ph.D. or Master’s student would have. So, I guess my biggest goal for my project is to produce results that the group can do something with. But, also to be optimistic if they don’t always turn out as I had hoped.”
Many undergraduates find meaningful research experiences on their home campus. There are a variety of different ways to connect in with research, and a variety of ways that you can go about getting compensated beyond the experience you will gain. You can look for jobs that are paid positions. These range from entry-level positions that pay minimum wage to more high-paying positions that use your technical skills. This may begin as a part-time job, where you are assisting with day-to-day needs in a laboratory and grow into a research experience as you develop your skills and show initiative. Or, you may have the opportunity to conduct research for credit. For instance, as an independent study project under the supervision of a faculty member. Some campuses also offer scholarship or fellowship opportunities connected to research. Often these kinds of opportunities will allow you to propose a specific research project with a research mentor and apply for some funding to complete that research activity. If you have a research area(s) in mind that you would like to get experience with, you might be able to find a research group working in that area that would be willing to let you attend group meetings and/or spend time shadowing a graduate student. Your academic advisor will be able to give you information about the options available to you on your campus and how to go about pursuing them.
In all of these cases, you need to be able to devote enough time to do the research to make it worthwhile for both you and your research mentor. I suggest that you need to devote at least 10 hours per week so that you can spend enough time to become competent and productive. That also means putting in time every week in order to make research progress. In a paid position you will be paid by the hour. If you are getting course credit the expectation is usually a minimum of 45 hours per semester credit. If you assume a standard length semester and three credits of research, this would be roughly equivalent to 10 hours per week. At the end of the semester you will likely need to produce some kind of document, like a report or poster, which summarizes your research project and the progress that you have made.
Now the question is how to find a research position. The first thing you want to do, before you start sending emails and knocking on doors, is to figure out what kind of research is of most interest to you. Take a look at what kind of research is being conducted on your campus. The websites of faculty members, research groups, and research centers can provide useful information, but keep in mind that the research projects that are actively being conducted may not be represented on the website yet. Although the projects being discussed on the website may not be ongoing, it should still give you a flavor for the type of research being done in that research group.
The next task is to prepare yourself: put together a professional-looking resume. If you don’t know where to start, the career services office will likely have helpful information, and possibly even workshops to assist you in creating a resume to highlight your experiences and skills. You also need to be prepared to talk to a faculty member about your research interests, as well as your background and capabilities. You should not just show up and say “Hi, I want a job.” You need to be able to articulate your interest in the research area that faculty member is engaged in, and talk about the qualities and capabilities that you could bring to the research group. You may not think you have much to talk about without prior research experience, but you may have qualities like dependability, skills that you have developed through hobbies, and background that you have obtained in courses, that you can speak about.
It is likely, however, that having access to these kinds of opportunities will require some persistence on your part. Research positions for undergraduates on most campuses are relatively rare. If you throw up your hands and give up at the first obstacle, you will be unlikely to find the sort of experience that you are interested in. This is also good preparation for doing research, because doing research will require persistence and the ability to work your way around
