Freshman: Helping Professors with Research

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Oregon
1

<p>Hey guys, I'm getting an early start to the graduate school/transfer applications. I was wondering what UofO's options are for Freshmen to help professors in their research. I'm not even aware if other professors do research, but I'm looking to help in a scientific field.</p>

<p>A bit of background on myself (I'm not sure if you need to do a resume to help): 36 on the science ACT (perfect score), 4.0 Unweighted GPA, Presidential Scholarship Receiver, negligible work experience, 4 hours of weekly internship at a local law firm, and about 250 hours of community service in three areas (animals, roads, and homeless). I'm also going to do a double major, one of the subjects being physics. I'll be at the honor's college btw. Would that be enough to ensure a position as a research-aid?</p>

<p>Also, I'm interested in UofO's nanotechnology lab, could you guys tell me a bit about that? I've not a clue if freshmen would be able to do anything there, but that would probably be my top choice to help out at.</p>

2

<p>Are you receiving any financial aid, specifically work-study? My daughter has a work study award and her first year at UO she worked as a research assistant to a history professor, and following that she worked as an assistant to a science professor. She’s now moved on to an office job at UO (still work-study), but the time she spent as a research assistant was really great. The work itself can be a little routine in the day-to-day (lots of scouring databases for the history prof. and entering information into databases for the science prof.) but she really enjoyed it overall.</p>

<p>If you have workstudy, just start inquiring about those jobs the minute you get on campus. They do go quickly.</p>