My D talked with her advisor who said that the best way to get summer research positions is by contacting professors directly. Her advisor suggested she meet with a new prof. She did so, and the prof said my D could do research with him this summer, but remotely, from home. He seemed very enthusiastic and it seemed to be a firm offer. She could apply to the college for a stipend. She was excited about the idea and said yes.
Now D is confused. She isn’t sure that this is what “summer research” is supposed to be. She is wondering if this was “too easy” and is thinking that she’s supposed to be on a campus over the summer, doing research.
She isn’t sure what her next move should be. Is this usual? She doesn’t know if she should keep looking for other opportunities, in case the prof she talked with today isn’t offering her anything official. Please advise.
Is this with a newly hired professor who is starting his/her professorship in Fall 2019?
Is the research in an experimental/lab-based field?
New professors are awesome to work with, but only if they’re physically there to give guidance. I think your daughter should keep looking. The summer research experience is about more than just doing the research - being on site at a university provides in-person contact with grad students, other researchers, other professors, and the rest of the immersive experience of being involved in academic research.
I talked with D again. She thinks post 1 has good advice. She said she will keep looking, because she does want to be in a college setting working alongside a prof, or at least have regular contact.
It’s also being in the milieu, the chance to be part of ongoing conversations with others. In this respect, like the stem difference between in an office vs coding at home.
What major?
As with many things, details are important. My D spent two summers at her LAC doing research and it was a great expereince. Here are some comments/questions I’d ask (based on the second hand information I got from my D).
Exactly what type of research work does the prof. want your D to do? I think some things like background research can be done anywhere as long as your D has access to the internet and the colleges library (often online). However, when doing background research my D did go to the library on campus and the librarians were able to get some sources from other colleges sent over and things like that.
– The more interesting part of research (at least for my D) is conducting experiments. Would your D be involved in that part of the research? I don’t think this can be done from home.
–It might seem forward but your D should understand exactly what the prof. is working on and what her role will be. She should also ask if the professor expects that this research will lead to a publication and would her name be on the article. (My D worked on two research projects at college and only one ended up being published)
–Is part of the allure of summer research to your D the ability to stay on campus? My D did enjoy her summers at college – she had enough friends who were there and the atmosphere was very relaxed. My D got paid an hourly rate and got free summer housing. Is that an option for this project?
–She should also ask if this research might go into the fall semester and he the professor would want her involved during the school year.
And to take a step back to your other question …for her first research project a professor she had in the spring semester asked her if she wanted to help with the research over the summer. For the second project she approached a professor she knew and liked if he might have any research work she could help with. The professor met with my D and they went over a list of things he had on the back burner and he let her choose which one to pursue.
If you think I can help you further, feel free to PM me.
She doesn’t want me to say the field, but the prof told her that much of his work is done by gathering data from surveys. So I doubt he had in mind any hands-on research, especially because he said she could do it from home. She is majoring in a social science, and she does have in mind being in a college environment. She said that she is going to keep looking, but that she will keep the offer for a little while. It isn’t exactly what she had in mind, but it does take a bit of pressure off.
She’s reading this thread and you’ve given some really good pointers for her. Thank you all!
She could ask the prof. if there might be an opportunity to stay on campus to do the work so she can have direct contact with him/her as needed and maybe get a chance to get some more in-depth involvement in the project.
My son did this type of research last summer after taking a week long intensive on research at Michigan. A lot of data gathering but in his case also interviewing. He and his partner where followed weekly at least by a graduate student through FaceTime etc. Plus they had meetings with each other. They both got paid a stipend and got $10,000 for their organization they started and my son was able to take 2 summer school classes to boot. There are many different types of research not restricted to being on campus.
Knowing her general major area would be quite helpful, honestly. I’m
struck that she has to apply to the college for a stipend. Most STEM profs seem to have grants and funding to pay summer researchers (but maybe it is more hit and miss with social sciences). A new prof might not have as many funding sources set up as a new prof.
In STEM subjects, students often apply for REUs at different colleges than the one they attend (REU apps consumed D2’s winter break one year - when her grandma was in hospice - because the prof she was working with at her college was “not sure” if he had funding for the upcoming summer. He told her he had funding mid-Jan right after all the apps were submitted. She thinks he had it all along, just was behind on his accounting tasks so couldn’t say for sure. Grr…)
@intparent At my D’s LAC her professors applied to the college to get my D a paid position – the college itself funded a number of student researchers under endowed scholarship programs.
I believe Lindagaf is referring to a college stipend she’d get at her particular college for work that’s otherwise unpaid.
Interesting comment from Happy1 about libraries. Do you have a good college or U library near home, if needed? DH had multiple choices here (or Harvard,) as needed. Granted, he was the prof, doing his work. Maybe your D doesn’t need library access. But if she does and you’re covered, she can learn about access and/or lending privileges in advance.
^^^I understand…just sayng in my D’s case the college itself (a LAC) had resources which it used to pay students for doing work on research projects (the professor’s project and student researcher had to be approved by the college). So in cases where stipends were not available from a third party grant (ex. some smaller projects that did not go through the grant process) the college seemed to have funding available. Anyway…this is getting off topic but I wanted to try and clarify.
My daughter has done lab based research on campus, as well as off campus in a hospital setting. She was also involved in summer research involving travel up and down parts of the east coast. Last summer she was offered a stipend to do research remotely through another school…in the midwest…but turned it down. My point is that there are many ways to conduct research…including remotely. My D has has gotten paid for most of her research, but her current research is for credit. She never had to apply for a stipend… it was automatically offered by the organization, professor, etc.
Currently…she has been involved in non lab based research for almost two years. She periodically meets with her research team ( maybe 2-3 times a month?) but was able to work remotely last year while she was studying abroad.
Does your daughter want to be on campus over the summer? My D spent 2 summers on campus… the first time she hated it because the students often left on the weekends to travel etc and she found it lonely. Last summer she loved it and had a lot of friends around.
I think working remotely can definitely work, but with everything…details are important… and we don’t have all of that information. Can she begin a few weeks before coming home? This way she has some initial guidance etc. Is this the type of work that can be done remotely over the summer, but then provides a team to meet with periodically once school begins again?
And while it doesn’t have to do with the research directly, Maine is an amazing place to be in the summer. Payback for winter. So if it can be done on campus, that could be great. Also fun to be in that community without the stresses of a full course load. Just sayin’…
My D did two summers of paid research at her LAC, her first summer for 12 weeks and the second summer for 8 I think (they had two options)? She was recruited that first summer for a biology project being worked on by upperclassmen but they needed a strong math student and she was offered the position. Her second summer one of her professors offered her a research project in some type of software/data field. She loved both, had a great time, spent the time on her regular campus and was paid well. I would believe that Bates must have their own summer research options, don’t they? I think it would be much more fun to do the research on campus.
Many profs don’t conduct research in lab settings or direct research teams. In my social science area, a high school or college student would do work that could easily be done at home on the computer. Cleaning data sets, merging information on state or local policies into an existing data set, etc. A lot of scholarly work is quite solitary.
Our understanding from similar LACs is that many offer (usually) affordable on-campus housing and competitive stipends to support students doing summer research with profs. There is usually an expectation that students who got the research stipend will participate in some sort of poster or other research presentation back on campus in the fall. While non-lab based research may not require a student to be physically on campus, the opportunity to interact with the supervising faculty member and other students on campus is a benefit. Just because the professor says it can be done remotely doesn’t mean she couldn’t live on campus to do the work. As this is the first year this faculty member is on campus, they may not be as familiar with the funding and housing opportunities as well as the expectations for collaboration and supervision. From the original description of the proposed research, it’s not clear whether this work would be more a (1) research assistant role, supporting the prof in their own work, or (2) independent, student-led research supervised by the prof. While those lines can be blurry, my understanding is that LACs are generally looking to support with stipends the independent, student led research, whereas the former is more of an hourly research assistant role.
I’d suggest your daughter reach out to some other faculty as well, and go back to the 1st year professor to explore whether they would support her being on-campus and get a sharper view of what the expectations are.