Research experience

<p>So, I would assume that most people apply for science grad school with undergraduate research experience under their belts (at least I would hope someone wouldn't decide to go to grad school without trying research on for size first...). But I can't imagine all research experience is created equal.</p>

<p>What makes one person's undergraduate research experience better than anothers (in the eyes of a graduate admissions committee)? Is it the degree of independence? Hours per week? Publications? Prestige of the PI? Topic? The way the wind blows on that particular day?</p>

<p>What makes a strong undergraduate research experience?</p>

<p>The strength of a singular research experience is often determined through the eyes of the faculty member looking at the application. How much they value(and understand) the research area? How respected is the PI? How much does it relate to his/her own area of research interest? This is why there is great gain to be had by trying to apply to grad programs where there is one or more profs doing work in an area where you have research experience. Multiple research experiences can overcome the above limitations to some degree as they indicate to the faculty a student who can work well in more than one area of interest.</p>

<p>Well, but that has to be balanced by the ability to show commitment to a single job, I think.</p>

<p>I had a professor (not the one I'm working for) strongly advise me to stick with one lab for undergraduate research. He said that since grad school is a big commitment to one lab, it's important to show that you can do that (and that people don't get fed up with you after a few months, I suppose).</p>

<p>I mean, I'm sure 3 different labs for 1 year each is fine, but I think grad schools would be justifiably wary of a candidate with several very short stints in a variety of labs.</p>

<p>I am not sure we disagree. Certainly sticking with one lab for three years makes you somewhat of an expert in your area and a grad school department doing similar work will find you to be a very attractive candidate. Departments with different research interests will recognize your persistence and loyalty as virtues, but the real question is will they see you as a stronger candidate than one who has worked in their area for three years or even one year. If you like the research area you have been working in then find a grad program that works in the same general area. If you wish to change research areas completely then make sure your letters of rec highlight as many general areas of your competence as possible.</p>

<p>Oh, I suppose that's true.</p>

<p>Haha, I forgot that some people might not like the area they're in... luckily for me, I love what I'm doing in undergrad, but apparently this occasionally causes me to have horse blinders on!</p>

<p>Also if you attach yourself to a particular program say for example associated with the NIH (<a href="http://www.nih.gov%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.nih.gov&lt;/a&gt;) or NSF this makes your research experience far better because your a program is viewed as a structured form of research and is indicates a bigger commitment. Where as many students simply do research without any indicator of how much commitment they really had in the process. Also aim for getting published that will make you undergraduate research royalty and a star to potential graduate schools.</p>

<p>Check for programs that go on during the year at your school and do your best to get attached to one. Also apply to summer programs they take applications between January and Mid March. This will show your commitment. </p>

<p>I don't think it's that bad to switch labs if your interests change. In your personal statement indicate you wanted a well rounded undergraduate research experience and you have a broad range of interests and did your best to find your niche.</p>

<p>Oh, I have research experience. I spent a summer at the NIH (that was my first lab job), and have worked at the same lab at my school for almost 2 full years now (15 hrs/week during school, 40 hrs/week during summers and January break). By the time I apply, I will have authorship on an abstract at a major conference... ideally, I will also have authorship on a paper in Cell, if we get the revisions back soon and they're accepted.</p>

<p>I was just sort of wondering if my experience was the norm, or if it will be a significant advantage for me applying to top cell bio grad programs.</p>

<p>Yes your experience is above the norm...summer positions are very hard to get at NIH so that places you above most others; also most people going into graduate school do not have 2 consecutive years of research experience. Publications are always a plus, so yes you should apply to the top tier cell bio programs. Also have you been presenting your research? If your school has opportunities where you can present your research with your peers and they award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placements it would be great to put an award for your presentations on your C.V. But either way your still competitive as a potential grad school applicant as long as the rest of your app. is as sound as your research experience.</p>

<p>Ok, sweet. It's so hard to tell with these things... well, that and I am apparently really good at second-guessing myself.</p>

<p>I'll see about presentation opportunities... at the moment I'm crossing my fingers that my PI will invite me to attend the conference at which our abstract will be presented... first, it's a vaca, and second, I'll get to stand around and answer questions and feel important!</p>

<p>There should also be a lot of conferences in the spring time. One conference you should submit your abstract to is NCUR (national conference on Undergraduate Research) <a href="http://www.ncur.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ncur.org&lt;/a> i think that's the correct site if not google it. This is held in April but abstracts are due in November. Most conferences are like this, where the abstract will be due like 6 months before the conference, so you really have to start looking late summer, or early 1st semester.
Also look around at your school I'm sure they host atleast one undergraduate research day, where they encourage the undergrads to submit abstracts just to get some practice in presenting.
Last but not least just google your research interests and add conference at the end and see what comes up.</p>

<p>Hey eadams83 I was wondering if you can elaborate more about summer programs. I have a BS in EET where I did a senior project that involved R&D to complete it. Wrote a 15 page report and gave a powerpoint presentation in front of certain faculty of my school.</p>

<p>You do realize this thread was 5 years old, don’t you?</p>

<p>What does PI mean?</p>

<p>And that the OP is a fifth-year grad student…</p>

<p>chaospaladin, PI is principal investigator. It’s biomedical sciences-speak for a professor in charge of your lab.</p>

<p>lol…I did not realize that. It showed a new post on this thread (yellow), thats why I asked a question. Thanks for the info.</p>

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<p>So what do they call it in other fields? :rolleyes:</p>