<p>Okay, i might sound like a n00b, but i really want to do some kind of research, starting like now. I don't want to wait for the summer, but i want to do something starting now and spanning til the end of the summer of my senior year (im a junior rite now). But i know absolutely nothing about how to contact a professor, but I do know roughly what type of research I might want to do (stuff relating to cancer). Im probably going to go to some sort of summer program at a college over the summer. If it's a good school, like MIT, would there be professors that have time to do research with me? It'll be cool if i could find someone near my house, tho, cuz if I was to continue research I wouldn't be able to drive down to MIT or other colleges every day during school after the program tho...</p>
<p>so my question is: how do you go search for a professor that migth want to do research with me? how do i start? and...how do I start doing research in the first place? should i just start looking for recent articles and reading?</p>
<p>look up professors on the college websites (the closer they are, the better), and then just say what background you have in the field and give them one or two research proposals. dont email them saying "hey i wanna do cancer research"- try to be a little specific. i'd say start with some articles first and then contact the professor. what state do you live in? if its a state with a lot of schools then it'll be a lot easier.</p>
<p>Hmmm...well try contacting teachers at Rutgers/Princeton. I live near New Haven and I found like 3 or 4 professors from Yale who wanted to work with me, so I'm sure that if you send an e-mail they'll respond to you. Worst comes to worst, they might refer you to another professor. Do you/your parents have any connections with cancer scientists (like family friends, etc.)? That might be a good place to start.</p>
<p>I'd say start looking now, don't wait until you get to a summer program.</p>
<p>ooh great thnx! thats helpful uh i dont have family friends, but i do live near princeton/rutgers like 1/2 hour away so yeah that's a good idea!</p>
<p>"how do I start doing research in the first place? should i just start looking for recent articles and reading?"</p>
<p>I've been wondering about this question too...How does the research process work? And how in the world do you come up with an idea? I always hear about tons of kids doing biomed research, and I'd like to do research in the future too, but I have no idea how to get started.</p>
<p>professors thinking: hmm, u know what's a good way to get free slave labor? promise unsuspecting high schoolers that we'll help them cure cancer!!</p>
<p>Hehe, sigurros, I've contemplated asking professors to <i>let</i> me wash their lab equipment, just so I could get a feel for the research environment or whatever.</p>
<p>A few labs I've worked in in the past will let high school kids volunteer their time there. Often they'll become the responsibility of a grad student in the group. They get to shadow them, help them in the lab, and run all sort of tests (provided they can be qualified to run the equipment). There's usually not a whole lot of allowing them to design their own experiments, but they get to run them and see what that's like (and learn if they want to be a technician or higher-level researcher).</p>
<p>If it matters, I worked in chemistry and materials science labs during my undergrad years.</p>
<p>Project proposals!? You're in high school, professors don't expect you to know linear algebra, let alone what to write a proposal on. Leave that to the grad students. Even if you did come up with something good, chances are someone's already doing it, and you'd have to look at all the literature first.</p>
<p>Just go to the professor, tell him about any skills you might have (can you program?), and ask if you can help out in the lab or work on one of his specific projects (hopefully you've read his website so you know which projects are cool). Experimentalists especially are usually glad to have minions.</p>
<p>Hello _<strong><em>,
I am a high school student @ _</em></strong><strong>, my name is _</strong><em>, and i would like to do science research in the field of </em><strong><em>. I noticed on your website that you are a professor specializing in _</em></strong>, and I was wondering if you are interested in taking the time to help me start a project in this area of interest.</p>
<p>I've never contacted a prof about working in their lab (mainly because engineering projects don't need to be done in state of the art labs) but if I had to, I would first read a few articles (make sure you understand them) written by whoever you're emailing and ask them a few questions about it or something. Then talk a little about your skills...?</p>
<p>Last summer I kind of did what the OP is wondering about. I read an article in a local newspaper about this professor who was doing research in my interest area. Previously I had been looking for a research opportunity, but I couldn't find a professor that was doing something I found interesting. So once we read this news article, I sent an email to this professor's official university email which I found online. I basically explained who I was, what I was interested in, and how I thought I could help his research. He emailed me back and said that he would be glad to let me help over the summer.</p>
<p>So I would recommend to anyone interested in doing research to just contact a professor that you find interesting, and maybe they'll give you an opportunity.</p>