Trying to find research opportunities but I am doing something wrong

[Jark5455]

Hi,

I am currently a 2nd year undergraduate student and I graduate in a semester. I do want to go to grad school for physics but my overall gpa is really weak (~3.2). I am currently trying to supplement it with research experience but I haven't been able to join any groups so far. 2 semesters ago a few professors told me they wanted me to take other coursework before I could join the lab. This semester I joined a lab under the supervision of a grad student.

This might sound bad, but the issue was my supervisor kinda sucked as a supervisor. They never really told exactly what we were doing and why we were doing it, and just told us to do things in the lab and didn't allow us to ask questions. I know I sound kinda ungrateful but I really do want to learn things and I feel like I can't learn if I don't know the WHY behind the work I am doing. Midway through the semester the grad student ended up dropping out of the program and the professor didn't have anything else for us to do.

I have applied to REUs and a few national lab positions and I haven't gotten any responses. I have tried cold emailing a few professors around the department and I haven't gotten any responses. Im kinda autistic so I don't know if I am being rude or too direct with my emails and was looking for some feedback.

Good afternoon,
I am currently an undergraduate physics student working in an indium selenide manufacturing lab using MBE. One of our groups is currently working on an exfoliation technique using a roller described in this paper.
I looked at some of your labs recent work and saw that you used to work on growing hBN on epigraphene using MOVPE. I was wondering if you had any space in the lab and would consider a project using transfer techniques to develop hBN-graphene heterostructures? I am curious if we can achieve lower interface defects using transfer techniques rather than direct growth. I am also curious to hear about any other active projects in your lab that haven't been published yet.
Best regards,
[My name]

Good morning,
I am an undergrad physics major here at [My University] and I have been reading some of your recent groups work on quantum sensing. I was wondering if you had any openings for undergrads? I see that your group is using NV center probing, I have worked with AFM scanning probes before, and I was wondering if there’s a project where I could help out and learn the system. I am also curious to hear about any other active projects in your lab that haven't been published yet.
Best Regards,
[My name]

Also, is it okay to email professors at different universities for research opportunities? I am luckily blessed with wealthy parents who are okay with me traveling anywhere I want around the country, but I don't know if I can just randomly email professors about the paper they wrote and try to develop a relationship over email?

 

[berkeman]

Welcome to PF.

I am currently a 2nd year undergraduate student and I graduate in a semester.

Do you mean you are a 4th year undergraduate student? How can you graduate from a 4-year university in 2 years?

 

[Jark5455]

Welcome to PF.


Do you mean you are a 4th year undergraduate student? How can you graduate from a 4-year university in 2 years?

I don't know if I classify as a 4th year student or 2nd year student. This is my 2nd year of actually being in university. All my gen eds were covered by AP classes and dual enrollment, so I didn't have to complete them.

 

[Choppy]

Also, is it okay to email professors at different universities for research opportunities?

Yes.
For what it's worth professors tend to favour students from their own institutions, but that's not always the case. It's okay to ask.
Keep trying.

 

[Jody]

I'm an engineering major.

I've had better luck reaching out to professors after taking their classes. Have you tried that? I had one time, and this was wild, professor connected me with another one at a different university (in a different country while I was studying abroad). The most hilarious thing was that the other professor didn't even remember him, but still took me into his group.

I did get an early start with internships and research experience so that probably did help me a lot and I have lots of stories to share. I'm very comfortable with talking so I would imagine (or hope) professors have a great vibe when talking with me. I do spend a lot of time trying to understand concepts and I ask lots of questions in class so I do "look like" a superstar in the class, but I have mostly definitely panicked and bombed exams, which led to few less attractive grades/GPA I hovered around 3.0 for a very long time; however: Professors remember me. When they don't know much about you the grade will matter a lot, but you can offset it a little when they know you better (in positive ways of course).

BTW I'm not suggesting that positive vibes will overcome bad GPA or terrible background/skills you still have to throw them a bone somehow, but I am saying that you wont need to be the perfect student on paper 4.0 or top of the class to get into things when you compensate in other areas.

Fun little tip a classmate shared with me and I tried it too: Wear something noticeable. There was this guy wearing a really bright pink sweater and you could really see him in the class. Professors always remember him even if he says nothing.

Something else that helped me was gaining technical skills working on DIY projects, technical part-time jobs not necessarily scientific just simple computer/laptop repair, and definitely any professional society any of those workshops or projects you can join will help a lot. A lot of times there's an element of trust especially if their work requires handling equipment some of it is dangerous, many of it is expensive or difficult to repair, and they just can't afford letting people learn when it can majorly delay their research. So I would definitely seek any of that stuff during the school year and explore other departments/societies to get your hands on things.

One of my internships I was meant to basically work at a desk and do powerpoints, and I asked around and this one guy had Raman spectroscopy equipment controlled by some software on a super super super old pentium II computer (literally had a high school professor using a similar computer as a door stopper)... he was terrified if the computer ever had issues it was all he had. He needed someone he trusted with the computer whether or not they were super technical background in his field, and that was my in.

 

[symbolipoint]

Just a little note, based on Jody's post. Competence and any related experience helps. Flash may either not help or may impress both you and the person with to work for that you are too much better than you really are. Be sure to not be a phony.