<p>Hi, i just visited penn this weekend and am in love with it! I was hoping someone could shed some light on the research oppertunites that are available to undergrad students...i have spent the past summer and will spend this summer doing research at cold spring harbor, and i love it, and want to pursue a career in science research. That being said, is the availability to work in a lab very limited or would i have a wide array of oppertunity?</p>
<p>from what I understand the longer you are there the more opportunities are available to you. As a freshman you will have few if any opportunities to do research, but over time you will be able to work with different teachers and professors on projects and such. I know the especially encourage juniors and seniors to participate in research within a team of other students and professors. I hope that helps, it’s all I know about it really. I applied to CAS and I hope do be able to do some research myself.</p>
<p>To see a listing of research positions currently available to Penn undergraduates, check out the Research Directory of Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF):</p>
<p>[Center</a> for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships–Research Directory](<a href=“Penn CURF”>Penn CURF)</p>
<p>For example, there currently are 190 positions listed under Biomedical Science:</p>
<p>[Research</a> Directory–Biomedical Science](<a href=“Penn CURF”>Penn CURF)</p>
<p>Click on any position to get a detailed description.</p>
<p>Freshmen have plenty of opportunities to do research. I myself started the summer after my freshman year and I know plenty of people who started around second semester freshman year or during the summer. Penn is very research focused in all disciplines. The Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships is a great resource to use to find both opportunities and funding. You can also just email professors and ask to meet with them. Everyone I have emailed has been very helpful; that’s how I got my first opportunity and my current position. I also hear that it is very common for undergraduates to be authors on papers, my current PI showed me several papers with undergrads listed.
If you are focused on the biomedical sciences, there are opportunities both at HUP and in the Biology department. Two of my friends work in evolutionary biology related labs and one friend is at HUP.</p>
<p>^ PI = [Principal</a> investigator](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principal_investigator]Principal”>Principal investigator - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>HUP = [Hospital</a> of the University of Pennsylvania](<a href=“http://www.pennmedicine.org/hup/]Hospital”>http://www.pennmedicine.org/hup/)</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>Thank you for your insight! That seems like something im looking for and will keep you in mind when it comes to how imto applying next fall and my decision</p>
<p>*that (not you lol)</p>