Research Work

Research I would argue is crucial for getting matriculated into a medical school. This is because many schools expect you to do research at their institution! Also, research shows a level of intelligence and skills that are not traditionally found in course work. Sure, you might be able to get an A in organic chemistry, but can you research, plan, execute, and troubleshoot a real life experiment? This is a unique analysis of your skill set because you are placed in a scientific context. Also, you can make actual contributions to science and your field of study at these major research institutions. If you go to a school that doesn't have a lot of research funding, this might definitely be more of a challenge, but I believe most accredited U.S schools offer research opportunities.

How to become involved in research

First we need to do a little introspection in ourselves and ask: what do we actually want to research, what are we actually interested in? You don't have to know exactly what, you don't have to have some burning passion for sciences. But, we could at least start investigation. Ask an AI software just to make a list of current major research topics and provide papers for you. Start skimming through the papers and see what you like and don't like. If you like nothing, we are in a bit of a pickle, and you need to do even deeper introspection as to why you are in the field. Even you don't like bench research at all, try looking at clinical research. If you are not interested in that, we have a bit of a red flag. Not all scientists are physicians, but all physicians are scientists

Once you have an idea of what you would like to research, go to your schools faculty profile and skim through the different Principal Investigators (PI's). They tend to be clustered by academic interest so it should be easy to scan. Once you find people that you are interested, email them! Here is an email template that you can use:

Dear Professor Franklin,

Hello, my name is Arthur Morgan, a third year student studying economics and business here at UCI. I was browsing through the different research fields available and came across your faculty profile. I saw that you pioneered "Franklinomics" and was interested in learning more about the theory and application of this specialized field.

I was reading through your study of "Franklinomics and the Kirson Equation: How Drama meets Computer Science" and was interested in learning about the AI tools you used to help complete your research. I found it fascinating how you were able to make an AI algorithm to tackle your specific research questions.

My future aspirations are to work for the department of commerce at the U.S treasury. I have faced many challenges as a result of rapid changes to economic policy in the U.S and my family has suffered because of it. I want to be the change in the system by integrating a wide variety of economic theories and new AI technology to improve commerce in the U.S so that no family has to struggle like mine. The tools and knowledge from you lab would be instrumental in progressing my journey and make me a more profound thinker overall by entering the realm of research. Hoping to be in touch with you soon!

Sincerely,

Arthur Morgan

Economics and Business B.S Candidate

President of Cooking Club

The outline of the template: 1) who you are 2) what your ambitions are 3) how you found out about the lab 4) why you are interested in the lab 5) if you could learn more about their research work.

Researchers are very busy, so they might miss your email. Send a polite follow up email maybe a week after and if there is no response, then let it go. If you are actually interested in their lab, you should probably read some of their papers and really try to understand what they are doing. You do NOT have to come up with a whole project, that is not expected for undergraduate students with no research experience.

If your email is well received they will probably schedule a time to interview you. This is more of an informational interview usually to see if you are a good fit for the lab and vice versa. Just because a lab says yes does NOT mean you need to go to it. Apply to a lot of labs and pick the one that is the best fit for you. A clear example would be mentorship style. If you know you are going to need a lot of direct oversight, don't go into a lab that values "throwing students into the action" or a very "hands off approach" to teaching". It doesn't mean that these methods of teaching are wrong, you just need to find out what works for you.

The amount that you can do as a research undergrad is highly variable per lab and the opportunities at each school are very different. Investigate resources and advisors to help you see how to maximize your experience. A publication on your record looks fantastic for any post graduate school or work you plan on going to.