<p>I was wondering if anyone could help me out...
I really want to find some meaningful bio or biochem research opportunities but I have no idea how to approach this...</p>
<p>how should i approach a professor? i don't have any substantial test scores yet, but i want to show him/her that i have more potential than a test tube cleaner lol</p>
<p>how should i choose a topic? i'm looking over previous posts and people have reaaaallllly long research titles that I don't understand half the terminology used</p>
<p>when's the best time to research? weekends or after school? etc</p>
<p>i'm hoping for some really good advice... i know i sound like a total newbie lol but i'd appreciate if you could help me out :)</p>
<p>Are you talking about during high school or during college?</p>
<p>Either way, you will be a test tube cleaner in the beginning. Most things you simply won't understand or grasp without a lot of reading and research into the particular subject.</p>
<p>As for approaching a professor, read on their little websites/bios what kind of research they are doing and send them email with a little about you and why you are interested in working for them. Most likely you will work under the professor or one of the professor's grad students/post-docs before you are given any project substantial.</p>
<p>You probably will not be able to pick a topic until you have a fair knowledge of the topic, in your case, bio and biochem. You'll have to know what people already know and what people are currently working on. For that, you just have to do A LOT of reading and research.</p>
<p>If you are in high school, I'd advise not pursing research unless you are VERY driven. There is simply too much that you do not understand.</p>
<p>Kyt nailed it. You'll probably start out more as a lab assistant which isn't bad because you'll be more experienced in the lab and know how to clean up certain messes and handle lab situations. </p>
<p>Research opportunities for high schoolers are rare and hard to find although definitely not unheard of. Professors usually hesitate taking a high schooler into his/her lab because the student usually does not have the depth of knowledge in that particular field of research let alone the concepts studied in a university chem/biochem course. For me, it took almost a year to finally be working in a lab. </p>
<p>Start out by reading the professor's research areas, current papers, abstracts...etc. You need to gain a basic understanding of the research so you can have something to talk about if the professor should contact you for an interview. In any case, you'll probably have to do lots of background reading from textboks before you're even allowed into the lab. What grade are you in btw?</p>
<p>Kyt and Physics 08 are pretty much the bottom line on this one. I'm a college student, and I didn't start working in a research lab until this year (I'm a sophomore). If you are really interested in a subject, a field of research, or the research of a particular person, I would read as much as you can about his or her (or the team's) work, and then try e-mailing a professor and ask some genuinely good questions. Most professors, unless they are struggling with funding issues, will be more than glad to answer your questions, and they might even take an interest in talking to you. However, don't try to do this just because you think doing research will shine your resume. Aspire to do research because you are actually interested in what is being researched, and to edify yourself on how to be a researcher.</p>
<p>haha, the most important thing is to be active. go online, find a professor in a field you're interested in, and email/call him/her and make an appointment.</p>