<p>how do you work on research at home? isn't there lots of equipment that is necessary that can only be found in a lab?</p>
<p>depends what type of research...</p>
<p>I do mainly engineering, cs, and some math. So...I don't need tons of specialized equipment.</p>
<p>oh ic lol the first thing that jumps to my head when i think of research is like cancer stuff</p>
<p>Yeah, but even in biology, flipping through a journal as I frequently do will lead you to lots of biotech companies from which you can order stuff. However, this costs tons of money and so is better suited for a lab.</p>
<p>oh god...talking to a professor over the phone is brutal (at least with this one)</p>
<p>so i called and told the prof about me and that i wanted to do research at his lab because i was very interested in his research and wanted to start my own project that was in the same area he was doing research</p>
<p>he was very skeptical and kept saying that i wouldn't be able to do much because i was in high school. he said that he already had undergraduates who were interning so he couldn't give me an internship there. also, he said that i wouldn't know enough about cell biology to be able to do brand new research...</p>
<p>what do i do differently next time? lol</p>
<p>wow i'm depressed</p>
<p>As I've said before on this thread, take a less direct approach. Make your research the focus, rather than his help. You have to pretty much know your topic ahead of time. Start off something like, "I'm researching ___________ and I would like to know if you know anything about it." If they say yes, they will start talking, and it will soon escalate to the point where you can ask, "Would you like to oversee my research?"</p>
<p>This way it looks like you're in control of what you're doing and it's more legitimate. And just remember, many professors are like that, and it's sometimes even tough for undergrads to get the attention they deserve.</p>
<p>ok thanks</p>
<p>how do i respond when they say that as a high school student, i would not be capable of doing research of the same level that they (profs) are?</p>
<p>I would just ask them why not. Even though it puts them on the spot, they clearly aren't interested at that point.</p>
<p>Well PKswmr76, I think you should email these profs first. All the PI's I know check their email religiously so they will get back to you in less than a week. By writing a letter you can convey your intentions and your background more easily than you can on the phone. Also realize that you WILL be turned down by some labs, given the current situation in this country on research funding many labs are reluctant to take on students, especially students that can be a waste of resources (if a professor starts talking like this, that is the first hint that the lab is not a good one to work in). Eventually if you ask enough labs you will find a professor that will mentor you but you need find a lab that will be receptive to students if you really want a good lab experience. </p>
<p>And to JBVirtuoso's idea, I'm not sure how effective it is to propose a research project to a lab. I would be very surprised if any lab agreed to fund a project that wasn't extremely related to their research, especially since it is being proposed by a high school student with no lab experience. I personally took your method and proposed a project when I applied to my first labs, I might have got over 20 rejections until one lab told me "Well, we can't do your project, but if you'd like to join in our research we are willing to have you join our lab.". Pick a lab whose research interests appeal to you because you will be researching something related to that.</p>
<p>The thing is though, sponsoring your research can come at very little cost to the lab. I have found it very effective to research some topic that you may want to do beforehand, come to the prof with that idea and then you can mold it from there. That way he knows you're serious and you can impress him by having your own ideas.</p>
<p>^ i just got rejected from a lab at princeton because they said they don't have time to train a high school student and they cannot waste any money on a new project...</p>
<p>again rejected...</p>
<p>reason: cannot accommodate someone with no experience</p>
<p>Hmmm...well, it seems to me that around here, it's not too hard to start helping with research, though I can't really confirm that because I haven't yet contacted anybody myself.</p>
<p>In the worst case, you can just say you'll observe for a while, then you can help out with some mundane tasks. You can work your way up to doing a real project.</p>
<p>^ yeah I think I'm going to try that</p>
<p>PKswmr76, what types of labs are you contacting? From what I've seen the best labs for high schoolers are labs where the PI is an undergraduate professor. Many famous labs at Princeton will probably brush you off as soon as you pick up the phone but if a PI has experience working with undergrads then he or she may be more receptive to younger students working in the lab.</p>
<p>I had a long post written up on the folly of proposing a new project but unfortunately i hit backspace and everything got deleted so I'll try to remember everything I said. If you are going to propose to do a project it should most definitely be highly related to the research of the lab. If your lab researches proteases in metastasis you better not be proposing a project involving hormonal regulation of tumor suppressors unless there is a distinct connection to the labs central research. In fact, many of my projects have been off shoots of my mentors' research. For example last summer my project was based of some odd data from my mentor's recent publication, and from my interest in that odd data grew my summer project on the mechanisms to this mysterious pathway. Thus I was researching something new yet still within the scope of my lab so that it didn't require many new materials and new protocols because it was related to previous research conducted in the lab (meaning they had almost everything I needed already).</p>
<p>I think one thing a lot of you forget since you haven't worked in a lab before is that new things be them new materials, new experimental protocols, or anything take time to use because they must be standardized before they can really be used to produce reliable data. For example my latest project requires a new drug that my lab has never worked with, I cannot simply apply the drug to the cells and expect that the data it produces is sufficient. I have to test the drug to see if it is viable to use in my experiments (and this can take a while). The same idea applies to new media, new antibodies, etc. and this whole process can take months when we are talking about new protocols (at one of my labs someone worked there to specifically test new protocols and find the most efficacious way to conduct these protocols). </p>
<p>So don't think you can just snap your fingers and get that project of your dreams. You need to either pick a lab that matches your research project interests or consider changing your interests.</p>
<p>well i do realize that this thread is a bit old but i have a few questions:
- when is the best time (december, january? or would later, like now, be okay too?) to email labs for summer research? ditto for companies?</p>
<p>2) has anyone had experience working at a company over the summer? if so, were you paid? what kind of work did you do? did you have prior connections before getting the job? did you have prior research experience?</p>
<p>i have some pretty substantial research experience at a nearby university and i do have an internship (most likely unpaid) lined up this summer at said university. however, it’s possible that i will need to purchase some of my own materials (as my project may be a little out of the scope of the lab’s research) and i would like to be earning some $$ part time as well. i highly doubt i would get a paid position in a research institution, thus i’m considering applying to industry for a part time job.</p>
<p>i would really appreciate any info! </p>
<p>thanks.</p>
<p>Hey
Can someone PM me letters they sent?
Thanks d00ds</p>
<p>I’ve looked at some of the teachers at my local university (which is a large low key state average act 22 school where I would for sure be more competitive than the average college student) and have found some professors that I would really be interested in doing research with. Now how should I go about contacting them? There is one I REALLY want to do research with so I don’t really want to contact a bunch to start so I can’t really learn from trial and error, but I can from you guys!</p>
<p>If I would email him, what would I say? If he would think about it I’m sure he would agree, but that is what I need to make him do - think about it. Do you think I should attach a resume which has some really good stuff in? I am around the campus all the time also and it isn’t out of the way so an option definitely is going in at their office hours. What is better email or stopping in and dropping off and resume giving a pitch and then saying please think about it. I don’t want to overwhelm any of them, I really want them to think through the advantages of FREE LABOR!!!</p>
<p>Also my biggest dilemma is when to contact these people. I want to do research this summer so the issue is I don’t want to be to early and I don’t want to be too late and have the positions lined up. Also, it would be nice to wait till the end of march when I would officially be named valedictorian to possibly put on my resume but putting my rank would be the same thing I suppose.</p>
<p>What do you guys think? Thanks!</p>
<p>Kids these days. You could hold a pencil for a doctor and correct his punctuation in a paper and call it “research”.</p>