<p>as an engineer, when it comes to undergraduate research, what types of research are graduate programs looking at the most, if any? i'll provide an example: i started doing undergraduate research my second semester freshman year, and i plan on continuing until i graduate. however my research is basically working with a Ph.D. student on his doctoral project, nothing i'm really spearheading except for the work i was assigned by him. i figure i'll be working with him until his project is done in a year or two, leaving me with 1 or two years to do something else research related. so i guess my question is does it matter that i'm not leading the research that i'm involved in now/will be involved in for 2 or 3 years, or is the idea "as long as i'm getting research experience, i'm good"? hopefully i can lead my next project, but that's far down the road right now, so i have no certain answer. Thank you for your help!</p>
<p>Undergraduates don’t lead research projects except for their honors theses/senior projects. Graduate schools will want to see that you understand what research entails. Make sure, however, that your professors know you well enough to provide good letters attesting to your research abilities. If you’re working solely with a graduate student without any contact with his advisor, the experience will still be valuable, although not as useful for graduate school.</p>
<p>The fact that you’ve started research so early in your college career is an excellent sign. Grad schools will love it.</p>
<p>ah i see. thanks for all your help! I do have a second, kind of related question: are you expected to already know exactly what you want your research project to be on when you apply/arrive at your school? or do they give you time to figure out exactly what you want to do research on?</p>