Finding Research Opportunities

By Sandra Prickett

October 9 2021

Certain you want to do research? Start looking for opportunities early.

If you know that you want to do research as a career after earning your bachelor's degree, you should start finding student research positions as soon as possible. Having both a short-term and a long-term research project will help you look more experienced. The short-term project lends itself to a few secondary bonuses. You can try research in a lab to determine if you even like research, like a 90-day trial at an employer. By applying for a summer Research for Undergraduates experience (sREU or REU), you can scope out prospective graduate school laboratories to see if that school is one you want to attend.

I applied for an REU funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) during my freshman summer. To find a program to attend, I went to the NSF REU website through a Google search using those keywords. NSF deadlines to apply are in February, so starting looking in your first semester.

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The NSF is a great starting point for research related opportunities.

After you search for an REU site at this link: https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.jsp search for programs related to your major. If you have an interdisciplinary major like I do, then you get to search multiple majors.

The next step is to send an email to the supervisors of each program that interests you. The email you send should be professional in tone. The content should include who you are, what school you go to and that you are interested in the REU program. Ask if they are still having the program the summer you want to attend. As well as if there are any topics you should include in your personal essay for the program application since this is the biggest help in drafting a solid statement of interest.

The best tip of content to include in your letter comes from the program supervisor.

Yes, you have to write a personal essay! This piece of writing is to introduce yourself and your hobbies, talk about your experiences pertaining to research, why you want to participate in the program, and anything the REU Program Supervisor mentions in the email. Definitely contact your campus Writing Help Center for help proof-reading your personal essay for grammar, tone, and good word choice. You need to put effort into your essay, or else the application committee may believe that you won't put effort into your time during the program.

"I don't know if the programs has funding, check back later."

As I was emailing programs, many supervisors replied with "I don't know if the program has funding yet, please ask in December." This narrowed my program options. After December, my winter semester was packed with classes too, so I needed to find programs that I could apply to.

I chose to go to the Microbiology REU at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia.

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I worked in the plant pathology lab, since I wrote about my hobbies of plant and fungi identification in my local woods in Wisconsin. I worked with a bacterium that infects plants. This is my poster that I presented during my time in Georgia.

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I enjoyed my time in a part of the country I've never been to. I was even able to enroll in an Independent Study class to gain college credit for my experience. Your home institution may have something similar for internships or research experiences.

I am grateful I was able to attend an NSF REU program.

As I said earlier, starting research early is so important that I felt urged to find such an opportunity my freshman year. I did not count on COVID-19 shutting down the country. I was lucky my program rolled over into the next year, so I was able to keep my spot. Just be aware that the unexpected can happen, even in research! I am so grateful that I was able to participate in the NSF REU during summer 2021, and I made such wonderful friends who attended the program too. I hope this guide helps others who aren't sure where to start looking for summer research and how to apply.

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