Advice on how research positions work?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Santa Cruz
1

<p>Hi I'm a new transfer student studying biochemistry and even after going to the WEST workshop (which didn't cover much on research opportunities) I'm still kind of confused on how to get an internship position in a lab. Some people say you should go to the career center, others say go to the volunteer center, and a lot just say to email the professor. So my questions are basically:</p>

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<li><p>What is the best way to obtain a position in a lab? I understand that I have to be open-minded to working on a project that is not directly relevant to my interests and that I'll definitely be starting out just washing glassware but I'm just wondering what the regular process is for obtaining a research position.</p></li>
<li><p>Do you normally receive unit credit for doing research? Once I have as many credits as I need, would I be paid or would it just count as volunteer hours/experience?</p></li>
<li><p>I've heard it's not too likely but if I got listed as one of the coauthors on a paper, obviously that would be really good as far as improving my grad school chances so I was wondering how likely is it for an undergrad intern in one of the biology/chemistry labs to have their name listed as a coauthor? It seems to be more common in engineering but biology/chemistry labs publish less frequently and also it seems to be largely dependent on how much of a contribution you made to the research.</p></li>
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2

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<li><p>In my experience (in the computer science department), emailing the professor works best. </p></li>
<li><p>You can. Some internships also have the option for pay. You’ll have to ask about this when you apply, different policies for different department.</p></li>
<li><p>Fairly likely. Most people I know, in any department doing research, have gotten coauthored.</p></li>
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3

<p>I was kind of disappointed in the WEST workshops… I feel like I learned the same info as the orientation, although I did learn somewhat about internships</p>

4

<p>Yeah, which WEST workshop did you go to? The coordinators at the one I was in didn’t go to UCSC for undergrad so it was pretty hard to get relevant information. Listening to the professors was cool though.</p>

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<p>That’s good to know, I thought the process would be a lot more complicated. As far as UCSC, do you know how easy it is to find a position if you’re an undergrad?</p>