I am currently in high school and for my junior year and senior year I am shadowing a surgeon and I will shadow two surgeons every year in college (they are family; that is why I have it planned out). I know that it’s “too early” to be thinking about this right now, but I like to be prepared. I also want to publish a research while I am in college. (more than one, but I want to do a big one on “why we dream” or “why we sleep” > tell me what you think of the topics btw). My question is, exactly how does one do it? like do you have to work at a lab (how do you apply/join)? Do you have o intern somewhere (where)? Or do you have to ask a professor? Please help
My D did research with two professors. One professor asked her if she was interested and my D approached another professor to ask about doing research with him. Don’t worry about it now.
Back up just a little, @TN034154: are you imagining that research questions such as ‘why we sleep’ are going to be answered by your primary research as an undergrad?! With no disrespect for you brains and ambition, that would be an extraordinary accomplishment that has eluded generations of scientists who have pursued such questions over a career.
To get back to your original question, research as an undergrad comes in several forms, some of which depend on where you go to university. LACs often provide funded research opportunities, both during term and over the summer; larger universities do as well, but as an undergrad you are in line behind the grad students. For the time being one of the best options is REUs (funded by the National Science Foundation; info here: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5517&from=fund). They are competitive, funded, 10 week summer research opportunities specifically for undergrads. Your professors are a great source of information (and the recommendations you will need to get them).
However, this is all 3 years away for you: focus on what you are doing now to help you figure out the best sort of college for you. One step at a time.
Usually you work with a professor and find a topic of mutual interest. Apply to schools with a sleep research lab.
There are a lot of ethical and safety protocols around working with human subjects, so don’t be surprised if you have to start with why fruit flies or somesuch sleep!
I should add that in both cases my D worked on the professor’s research – in one case my D was specifically asked to work on a research project the professor was starting and in the other case the professor gave my D a few choices of research projects he had on the back burner and she chose the topic that she was most interested in pursuing. I think it would be highly unusual for an undergrad to be the driving force for developing a research project from scratch.
My D did research during the summer between her freshman and sophomore year. She received an email, responded, and got the position. When she began her sophomore year she emailed another professor and worked with him until the end of her sophomore year. She is allowed to continue with this prof this fall ( junior year) but decided against it because it is not an area of interest to her. She currently has a summer research position elsewhere that she found on her own. Last week she reached out to a professor in her major and asked to be involved in his research in the fall. They have a meeting set up when the semester begins in August.
Last summer she worked in a lab and also worked " in the field." Almost all of the research work is/has been done in labs.
Mmmm, I think it depends on what the OP means by publishing/working on research in this area. I’d argue that the question of “Why we sleep” hasn’t really eluded scientists for generations - it’s been thoroughly researched for many decades, and we already have many answers. But that’s just it: there’s no one answer - there are many answers, and many scientists are still working on uncovering more purposes for sleep and for dreaming. So theoretically, OP could join a lab doing sleep research and work on those big questions. They wouldn’t be answering them by themselves, and more specifically the question would probably be far more narrow.
The more important part is that it’s actually pretty uncommon for undergraduates to publish research. You have to enter a lab/project at the exact right time (after a lot of the data collection has been completed and the analysis and write-up is about to begin) and you have to have enough foundational knowledge to contribute meaningfully to the paper. It’s difficult for undergrads to achieve this in the ~2 years that they are in research labs. Instead, your goal should be to learn how to do research with some excellent researchers - and a publication would be a nice cherry on top.