How to get involved in undergrad research?

[osnarf]

Hi everyone,

I finally saved up enough to not have to work this semester, so I'm looking to try to get involved in undergrad research, and have a few questions:

How do you get started in it? Do you have to apply through the school or do you just keep asking professors until you find one who will let you work on a project?

These positions are usually volunteer positions i am assuming? Is there any possibility of getting tuition waivers or anything after you have been doing it a few semesters?

Also, do you need anything when you try to get a position (letters of recommendations, or are there certain courses you will have needed to taken to be useful)?

 

[fss]

How do you get started in it? Do you have to apply through the school or do you just keep asking professors until you find one who will let you work on a project?

It depends on the institution. At mine, "hiring" was done individually by lab. Asking around is probably a good idea, so you can see where you might want to concentrate your efforts.

These positions are usually volunteer positions i am assuming? Is there any possibility of getting tuition waivers or anything after you have been doing it a few semesters?

Again, it depends. You might want to ask your student financial services office or whoever is in charge of that sort of thing. It's most likely a volunteer effort.

Also, do you need anything when you try to get a position (letters of recommendations, or are there certain courses you will have needed to taken to be useful)?

Most undergraduate lab positions are understood to be entry-level in that you won't require much to get started (other than motivation). If you have good grades you're probably more likely to be hired, but if the number of students wanting to work is less than the number of available positions it probably doesn't matter.

 

[Choppy]

Ask around. Your professors are probably a good place to start. There are formal programs for this kind of thing such as the REU as well as informal work available.

For some projects you can get funding in the way of summer studentships for example. These are competative awards that you apply for - usually once you have a project in mind and a mentor willing to take you on. They're often not a lot, but they can start a snowball effect since points are often awarded for previous awards. You likely won't have tuition waived.

It's a good idea to put together a CV. As an undergrad, you're not likely to have much on it and that's okay. As FSS said, these are entry-level positions that are often volunteer, but a CV that details where you are in your education, courses you've taken, your academic interests, and skills you might bring to the job, past work experience, etc. can be handy when you go around talking to professors.

 

[Phyisab****]

In my experience you just had to find each professor and ask them. Emails about lab research for whatever reason were extremely likely to be ignored. Then when you do ask them some will look like you're asking them to walk on water, but hopefully someone needs help and is not trying to do everything in their power to avoid increasing their daily contact with undergrads.

If you're talking about the summer, forget working for professors, they pay you minimum wage. Find an internship in industry, I got paid way way more than what I got paid to work in a professors lab.

 

[story645]

For some projects you can get funding in the way of summer studentships for example.

And at some places after you've done a semester of work you can get paid if you stay on at the lab. Also, if you're a freshman or sophomore, see if anyone at your school has NSF STEM money/placements as those positions have to go to freshman and sophomores (the pays not great, but again if the prof likes you it could lead to something useful.)

Also, at my school there's a professor who's technically in charge of collecting and dispersing info about research opportunities. It's unlikely, but maybe there's someone at your school doing the same kind of thing? The NSF is big on outreach, so look at anyone who's gotten education related awards from them in the past few years. (Should be in a dept. newsletter or the like.)

 

[fss]

A couple responders have eluded to the (lack of) pay typically involved with student lab research. The bottom line is that lab jobs, if the position is a paid position, pay no worse than pretty much any other campus job a student could hope to obtain for work study or just some extra spending money. In addition the lab position would probably have steadier hours and less competition for those hours.

Finally, the primary goal of student research isn't the monetary compensation, but the experience and hopefully an excellent professor-student relationship that can pay off further down the line with a stellar recommendation.

Don't get hung up on the money- the sums are fairly inconsequential.

 

[n1person]

"How do you get started in it? Do you have to apply through the school or do you just keep asking professors until you find one who will let you work on a project?"

Look at the department website, often they will list professors and their research areas, email ones that look interesting/you have some background in. If that yields nothing, talk to the head of the department/Director of Undergraduate Studies and ask them if he/she knows of any interesting labs or professors that are looking for undergraduates.

"These positions are usually volunteer positions i am assuming? Is there any possibility of getting tuition waivers or anything after you have been doing it a few semesters?"

It varies. If I continue my research (computational astrophysics) into the summer, I'll get paid then. I have a friend who is looking at doing psychology research and she would use it for a work study the second semester.

"Also, do you need anything when you try to get a position (letters of recommendations, or are there certain courses you will have needed to taken to be useful)?"

If it is just a professor you want to do research for, generally letters of recommendation aren't useful, and it isn't a formal process. As for courses, it will definitely depend on what you want to do. My university has a pretty big/famous Quantum Computation/Electronics lab, which, according to my friends you cannot work at as an Undergraduate, unless you take Quantum 2 WITH the head of the lab.

Also in my search I got back various emails basically saying "you should contact me back after you take [some course]."

 

[spb]

Also in my search I got back various emails basically saying "you should contact me back after you take [some course]."

What were your emails to those professors like? I feel like if I contacted professors inquiring about research, it would be more or less ignored because of how far I've gone in my courses.

Do you just email them and ask what courses would be required to assist with their research? If that's the case, how do you even know if they're looking for help? Did you ever email about *future* research?

My personal example: I'm an applied mathematics student, just finished calc 2, taking 3 and ODEs in the spring. My professor from this semester is doing some research that seems really interesting, but from what I've gathered, I would need PDEs to be able to contribute even a little bit, and that's two semesters away. Also I am a sophomore, was late to the game, and want to start on research as soon as I can.

 

[poobar]

It is true that the research opportunities depend on your major, your institution, etc.
From my personal experience, just asking professors if they need help in their research work is a great way to find somebody who is willing to involve you. Most people I have talked to (and myself) started research work as a volunteer although in some cases you can get paid later on, or get course credit for your research work. You should speak to your advisor to find out who is looking for research help, building new labs, recently hired, etc.
I hope this helps

 

[Thermalne]

First off what is your major?

I only ask because it does make a difference sometimes. In my major it's all about who you know and what skills you have. In some cases (like my department) they only recruit the top students in the major if there are positions open. In my cases (like many stated here) it's a lot of going around to the professors and asking them if they have a position open.

I asked my department head first hand and he offered me a department job. It allowed me to learn which professors (that I was interested in their research) had money for an undergrad. I asked a couple of professors and got a research position a couple of weeks afterwards. The pay is pretty good as well, try $10 an hour for both positions.

Of course, not all professors will pay, but at a lot of universities in the USA. They are required to pay you at least minimum wage or the rates of your year.

Bottom line, find out which professors are doing research that YOU'RE interested in. Go to them in person with a resume and offer your services. Don't beg, just offer and say which project they are working on you are interested in. More than likely you will get rejected a few times, but don't quit! You can get a position, just get your foot in the door!

 

[story645]

The pay is pretty good as well, try $10 an hour for both positions.

I've always gotten monthly stipends, as have most of the other people in my lab, and a friend got paid hourly as part of a wonky work study deal. I think this varies widely and depends on if the money is coming from a grant, award, work study, or some other source.

Bottom line, find out which professors are doing research that YOU'RE interested in

It's also somewhat luck. I didn't seek out my adviser, rather I was talking to some prof in the cs dept. office when my adviser walked in, and the prof I was speaking to strongly recommended that I go talk to the guy about research. It ended up working out so well that I worked in that lab for 3 years in undergrad and am doing my phd under the same advisor. And my field is totally far off from anything I thought I was interested in back when I was looking into research opportunities. If you're still in your first year or two, don't be so picky. The early years are a good time to float around and find out which labs interest you.

 

[jtbell]

First off what is your major?

I only ask because it does make a difference sometimes. In my major [...]

... which is...?

 

[Thermalne]

... which is...?

Haha, I'm currently pursuing a degree in Nuclear Engineering.

 

[viscousflow]

OP, in my university there is a specific course you can take called "Special Topics". Which basically is a self motivated research overseen by an instructor. I have done one so far and am about to venture onto my second. Usually the research is something the student is interested in doing and the professor is willing to oversee it.That being said it should have some relevance and be within the student's capacity to complete.

You are more prone to getting into any research as you reach your senior year. Simply because you have more tools at your disposal and more ideas available to conceive and conduct any research.

The likelihood of getting paid is zero to none, however, you can get credit for it which looks great on your resume and transcript.