<p>How do high school students get to do research with college professors. I always thought research was done at the graduate level and sometimes during undergraduate.</p>
<p>Contact professors at a university to ask if you can help them. I don't really know much about it - I've been intending to do this for some time, but I've been slacking off.</p>
<p>I've often wondered what research entailed for high schoolers. Is it more important lab work, or just, cleaning test tubes?</p>
<p>skp- I know that students at my high school have done research projects at top universities (such as columbia and johns hopkins this past summer) and have made it on to INTEL semifinalists and the like.</p>
<p>And as for myself, I did an independent project and worked with a nearby lab... and have done research throughout high school.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^</p>
<p>how? and what kind of research</p>
<p>Engineering, CS, and math projects are much easier to do by yourself since you don't really need a lab. As for me, I'm an ISEF finalist right now (just qualified) and my partner and I did all of our work independently; when we needed help we emailed a few professors/friends that are in the field and they explained concepts to us.</p>
<p>Just show initiative. Many of our judges were that much more impressed by our project because we coded/developed all the ideas by ourselves.</p>
<p>to lssd2012 - I'm in my research program at my High School, and my research advisor helped me find a mentor at a local lab who helped assist us with some minor things, but for the most part it's considered an independent research project since I was never in a fancy university lab. </p>
<p>And I am an ISEF semi finalist who will hopefully go on to the next round in Atlanta! But I need to do round 2 for this region on March 17th.</p>
<p>And what is this ISEF</p>
<p>International Science and Engineering Fair</p>
<p>I would like to do a research project. I did really simple ones my freshman and sophomore years of high school, but it didn't work out during my junior year. My science teacher was going to find me a mentor, but she didn't. I think she had some ulterior motives for me to not do a project (her daughter is in my class and also does research projects, so I am competition). My school only has two science teachers, and she is the senior one. </p>
<p>How can I go about finding a mentor? I know I can call or e-mail professors and the like, but the nearest public university is about 45 minutes away from where I live, and it's really not reputable in science research. This really complicates the whole process. I do live about 15 minutes from a bad community college with little resources, and I might be able to get something out of a research project there, even if it's not fantastic.</p>
<p>I really don't plan on pursuing science or engineering in college, but I like the experience because it's great for working with others and speaking to people I don't know. I can write the papers and do the research for a project, but I don't have the lab capabilities I need.</p>
<p>That post was really long....Does anyone have any suggestions?</p>
<p>idk how to with a professor but im a research assistant with the US Geological survey. If you have a office by you id look into a student position with them and ur on a GS pay rate which is nice, plus it is a great experience</p>
<p>You don't need a mentor. If you are really intent on doing a project then you shouldn't be dissuaded just from not having a mentor.</p>
<p>JBVirtuoso - Look into nearby laboratories, and e-mail and ask if they have any sort of interning position. Or e-mail some faculty there and explain your situation, including your past research experience. </p>
<p>Or look into a program at a nearby university. I know where I'm from, there's plenty of those. You could approach your research advisor nicely, saying that you really want to do this, and really... show the initiative. Ask her to point you in the right direction.</p>
<p>I don't know what else to do, besides lots of googling.</p>
<p>how did you pick a topic for your research?</p>
<p>Rooster - I went with what interested me. I had always had an interest in genetics, and so then I went from there and narrowed down my topic to something that was manageable, and interesting to me.</p>
<p>okay ive done a good amount of research already. but the way it goes is.</p>
<p>first pick a topic your interested in or read science articles (say nature or scientific american) and find something that sounds good to research</p>
<p>second- read articles about your topic and get a sense of the basics and what problems come up that you might be able to use as a project</p>
<p>third- come up with ideas for a project- you can but do not have to contact a mentor- just send an email to a college professor and ask if they can read your ideas that u have and if they have any available space to help with research--they are almost always helpful- if they cant help though, ask if they know anyone that can help- even post doc or grad students work</p>
<p>fourth- write everything down- procedures and intros and background info etc and just go with it
and yes some are easier to research- working with math is much easier than working with live animals for example</p>
<p>perfectedxchaos- i also would like to research something in genetics (or neurology). did you have a really strong background in genetics already?
sorry not trying to hijack the thread.</p>
<p>I would look into nearby universities, but there really aren't any nearby universities. Like I said, the nearest research university is 45 minutes away. There is a LAC about 30 minutes away and a community college 15 minutes away. Going to the university on school nights could be a bit overwhelming. I'll still consider it, though.</p>
<p>Rather than laboratories, my area has more factories. I'm sure at least some of them have research departments. I was interested in some sort of nanotech project.</p>
<p>The reason I need a mentor is so I have access to lab equipment. Last year I had a really great environmental project about flood control systems, but I didn't have the right equipment to make a worthwhile project out of it. I conducted my experimentation in a foil pan using plaster as soil. My results? Inconclusive. The project would have been so much better if I could have used some real instruments to experiment.</p>
<p>How exactly do you do research with computer programming? Do you just code something?</p>
<p>a kid at my school- an INTEL finalist and Siemens semi finalist this year created a computer program on his own that detects faces in a crowd from an original picture to be used for airport security or other things</p>
<p>Wow. Sounds a bit out of my league right now.</p>