Research Independent Study? (rising sophomore)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
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<p>Would someone who has done a Research Independent Study for credit (in the sciences) mind detailing how exactly that process works? The information I have found online seems a little vague. </p>

<p>How early does one have to find a mentor and have a research idea? About how many hours per week does the course take? Are the hours spent in lab flexible, or designated? Would it be manageable to overload? Off of what criteria is the grade in the course based?</p>

<p>I am considering this for Fall 2012, as I have found it very difficult to get involved in research this year having had no experience prior to college.</p>

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<p>I did independent research for three semesters as a Pratt Fellow, here are some of my experiences:</p>

<p>1) 1st semester sophomore year may be a bit early for most people to do independent study as many people still need to get many basic intro courses done. But if you are there already, there’s nothing stopping you. </p>

<p>2) Normally one does not just jump into a lab and start independent study straightaway. There are several reasons, especially for early people like sophomores. One is that you haven’t had higher level sciences which may prevent you from really getting into a project leaving you to do a lot of scut work. Another is that there is usually significant uptake time between starting a project and really getting things off the ground where you are doing meaningful stuff and generating data and this can take up to a semester so you probably wouldn’t want to be graded on mucking around trying to get protocols to work (and most of the time failing). </p>

<p>3) The usual route for most students is to seek out a lab (call/email PIs) and join on an extracurricular basis as a volunteer. Ask to be put on a small/side project of your own (often one that the PI is interested in but the postdocs don’t have time for) under the PI’s or a postdoc/grad student’s supervision. You may also be put on a bigger, in progress project in addition to that. After a semester where you get familiar with the lab environment, protocols, reagents, literature, etc and your project is starting to get off the ground, then ask for independent study. I spent a semester volunteering before starting my fellowship and this is very common. </p>

<p>4) You can certainly come up with research ideas of your own, but many times your PI will have pre-packaged projects or existing projects for you since presumably they have to have written a grant proposal and have it funded to fund your research and run a lab. </p>

<p>5) It’s as many hours as you want, I spent a minimum of 20hrs/week (mostly nights/weekends) but then again I loved it. You can possibly get away with 10hrs but if this is basic science research (especially biology) then it’ll be hard to get much done since a DNA prep could take 1-2hrs minimum. </p>

<p>6) Flexibility in hours are lab/PI dependent and you’ll need to work it out with your PI or postdoc mentor. Some PIs keep close tabs on you, some don’t depending on how big the lab is and if he/she is a bigshot and travels a lot. This is what I love most about science. I’ve always had PIs who don’t care when you are in lab except that you get your stuff done and I’ve always set my own hours. Unless your PI is draconian, you’ll find that there will be a range of hours that people in your lab will be at work. In my current lab there are people who do 7AM - 4PM, some that do 11AM to 8PM, some that do 9AM - 6PM and some that do Noon - 10PM. I fluctuate between all of them depending on what I need to do. </p>

<p>7) I can’t say if it’ll be manageable to overload for you. I’ve never done it because by the time junior/senior year rolled around I was ahead enough that I didn’t need to. But I can see it working if you have an easy class. If not it’ll be harder to get stuff done in lab. </p>

<p>8) Grading criteria is set subjectively by the PI. Mine didn’t really care and just gave me A’s. But then again I worked my ass off and pulled all nighters in lab so that may have something to do with it. But I have heard stories of PIs dinging grades for perceived inadequacies in commitment or being lazy though that’s few and far between. Talk it out with your PI and set some concrete guidelines and expectations so you are not blindsided. Independent research is meant to be less pressure than a class, if you feel like you are struggling to get a “grade” in independent research, then something is wrong. That’s why it’s so important to “audition” with a lab for a semester first before jumping in. </p>

<p>9) to get involved in research I suggest cold emailing/calling/or visiting PIs. Don’t expect to get paid, but most PIs love to have eager and willing slave labo…er…students to mentor… All joking aside, no experience is necessary. I started out not knowing what a micropipette is much less how to use one. Just be enthusiastic, willing to learn, willing to go that extra mile and come in between classes/on weekends/in the evenings and most PIs will love you.</p>

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<p>@SBR</p>

<p>Well I just want to say thanks for a thoroughly excellent reply :smiley: This answered pretty much everything I wanted to know; I wish that Duke had student accounts like this somewhere on their website.</p>

<p>It looks like my best option is to find a lab to volunteer in, rather than to jump into independent study. I am getting some experience this summer at a research center in my hometown, but it sounds like the benefit of having been in the same lab at Duke for a semester before undergoing independent study makes it worth volunteering first even if I do manage to find a position related to the work I will be doing this summer.</p>

<p>I think my main problem this past year in finding a research position may have been waiting too long to email PI’s. Do you think it would be about right to start emailing people in early to mid July or is that too early/late?</p>

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<p>I’m glad my post was helpful. </p>

<p>I really don’t think there are good or bad times to find a lab. There are literally hundreds of different labs of different sizes at Duke in almost every basic science field and there are plenty of opportunities. However, if you are still at Duke right now, then I’d say email them now and try to meet with them before you leave for the summer to set something up for the fall. This will give you a chance to read some literature over the summer so you can get some background on your project. You could even just drop by their office without an appointment and most professors I know at Duke would have no problem talking with you for a half hour or so. </p>

<p>However, if you are not at Duke, then I’d start toward the latter half of the summer. Mid-July is probably fine if you want to read up. If not, then you could even do it in August. The key thing here is flexibility. I know that you may have your heart set on something (possibly similar to your summer project), but don’t limit yourself. Look at multiple labs and departments and find everything that even remotely interests you. Then send many emails so that you’ll get at least a few responses. Just make sure that you always have multiple leads at all times during the search so that you aren’t wasting time finding/talking with a single lab at a time.</p>