<p>Does anybody know what's required to do research at Michigan? Do you have to have a declared major? Or can you just apply?</p>
<p>And if you don't have to have a declared major, where would one look for these research opportunities?</p>
<p>Nothing is required. Think about what interests you and contact faculty who are working in that area. Easy as that.</p>
<p>You can just contact faculty members who have projects that interest you via email. Sometimes they look for UROP students but there’s no real restriction on who can get into a research position.</p>
<p>cool cool… so how do I contact these faculty members? do I go to a specific department’s website and they have the faculty members’ contact info?</p>
<p>thanks for the responses</p>
<p>Yep, that works just fine, and you can contact a lot of people that way and probably get a fair number of responses. Also, do some research on the professors in the department you’re interested in. Find out what they’ve been working on and read up on their projects. This will not only give you a better idea of the kind of work you may end up participating in, but it will also really impress the professor if you can talk to them in an informed manner about what they’re working on, helping you stand apart from a typical student mass-contacting faculty members for a job. Also, consider asking if they know of current research opportunities in your area of interest. Even if they themselves don’t have any positions available, they can probably put you in contact with someone who does.</p>
<p>Once you’ve been taking classes, it is also a good idea to approach professors who have taught your classes at their office hours (or email) to ask them about their research, and see if they may need help with anything. If there isn’t a quiz/test/assignment coming for several days then there are typically very few people who utilize these hours, and so you can get a lot of one-on-one time talking to professors. They almost always enjoy talking to students about the research they’re doing, so you can find out more about the scope of their work while at the same time letting them get to know you. This works especially well if you also make an effort to stand out academically–going above and beyond on your assignments/extra credit, ask them good questions in and out of class, etc. Those types of things really stand out to them and can go a long way in getting them to notice you for a research position.</p>
<p>If, after doing some background research, there are any particular people you have a large interest in working for, but after contacting them found out that they already have all the research staff they need, or don’t have enough funding for additional students, you still have a couple options left:</p>
<p>1) Ask them if they had room for a volunteer position of any kind. You won’t be getting paid, but typically if you’re looking for research this isn’t the first thing on your mind, and it may be easier to get a non-funded position initially. Once you’ve worked with them for a semester or so you will likely move up and ultimately get access to funding after another student graduates or leaves the group. So, this is a good idea if you plan on doing long-term work for a single professor or research group.</p>
<p>2) Ask if they would be willing to sponsor an independent study project. The nature of these projects varies depending on the department, and not all support them, but I think the majority of departments have provisions for granting class credit for independent research projects. This is more of a personal project with some faculty oversight–generally they act like an adviser, keeping up with your work and making sure you’re on track for your goals, helping with technical questions. Even if they don’t have room in their research group, a lot of faculty will still be willing to sponsor these projects, and this can be another way to get your foot in the door and stand out to them for future opportunities.</p>
<p>What you should get out of all this is that one of the best things you can do is get to know professors. Once you have a few professors in a department that know your name, it becomes much easier to seek out research opportunities or get pointed towards relevant ones.</p>
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<p>Opinion on UROP: I did this my freshman year for work-study, and having been through it, I can say that if you are somewhat lost or confused in what it takes to get a position, this is a good place to start. The program is very guided (and as a result can develop a somewhat overbearing feel), especially at the beginning, and will walk you through a formal process of applying to research projects and setting up your position. You’ll have bi-weekly timesheets due, seminars to attend, some short assignments, and a final poster purely for the UROP program.</p>
<p>If you are capable of taking the initiative to find a position without the motivation that UROP enforces, I would do that instead, because you’ll have a bit more flexibility with your position type and less unnecessary work to do. Outside of UROP, the process does not have to be formal, and there can be easier alternatives. For faculty, the benefit of the UROP program is that it provides advertising for their projects (by putting a big list of projects together for many hundreds of students to peruse), and the UROP program also provides funding for work-study positions should you go that route, sparing them the cost of paying students directly.</p>
<p>I really only recommend doing UROP if you take it for work-study. If you’re doing it for class credit and end up getting a position that way, I would seriously consider talking to the professor about whether they would sponsor an independent study position for your work instead of doing it through UROP. It would be of little difference to them, and will save you about an average of 1-2 hours per week of UROP business that isn’t directly related to your project. Granted, in a way this is going behind the back of that system and leveraging it for your own needs, so the professor may or may not be willing/able to do this for you (but it would be worth asking about).</p>
<p>I hope this helps a bit.</p>
<p>uhhhh… yeah, I think that’ll help me out quite a bit haha. Thanks.</p>