<p>I get to work in a lab with a professor in theoretical biology.</p>
<p>So a few questions:</p>
<p>(1) my university allows me to do research for credit. but i'm doing the same work, irrespective of whether i'm taking credit or not. should i take credit IF AND ONLY IF I'm reducing my coursework due to such research?
(2) the professor thinks I can do self-directed research right at the get-go. Is this advisable? Bear in mind that I'm currently 18 years old and have little research experience so far. what if the research ends in a disaster?
(3) can I just graduate from undergrad and continue the research even when I don't apply for grad school? (just take a gap year doing the research with little pay?) I'll still live with my parents if this happens.
(4) the professor works in two fields:
" 1.</p>
<pre><code> Information in biological systems. How do living organisms acquire, store, and make use of information? How and why does communication evolve? How does information flow through biological or social networks?
</code></pre>
<p>2.</p>
<pre><code> The ecology and evolution of infectious disease. How do pathogens evolve and spread through populations? How do populations evolve in response to pathogen challenge?"
</code></pre>
<p>I'm more interested about 1. But am I right in that projects of type 2 are more likely to get into prestigious journals because they are more applicable to a wider audience? (like people in Nature or Science?)</p>
<p>(5) do professors in labs typically ask for your GPA, academic record, etc? (especially if they're not competitive?) because I don't want to reveal those.</p>
<p>any other suggestions?</p>
<p>Thanks so much!
alice</p>