HOW TO JOIN A RESEARCH LAB
Are you a Mount Holyoke undergraduate who keeps hearing about "research" as something that some STEM majors do? Want to learn more about what that entails and how to get involved? We've compiled some resources below to help! We offer perspectives and advice from both sides of the spectrum: a sophomore who has recently joined her first research lab and a faculty member who has worked in seven labs on her journey from her undergraduate days to starting her own lab at Mount Holyoke.
Why do Undergraduate Research?
Research lets you move from learning things that are known to asking questions about things that are unknown: you will get to be the very first in the world to learn how an aspect of our world works.
Research is a central part of science; like most skills, it is learned best by doing.
There are careers that are fully focused in research, and Ph.D. programs that will pay your tuition and a stipend as you earn a research degree. Trying research out as an undergraduate gives you a chance to discover if it’s something you enjoy, and builds your skill set for future endeavors.
Your scientific “lab”—both your faculty mentor, other students in the lab, and even alumnae—can be another family within your Mount Holyoke community.
You will have chances to travel, meet other scientists, and present your research to others!
Finding a Research lab
The first question you should ask yourself is what are you curious about?
What high school and/or college classes have you liked?
It's totally okay if the answer is you're not sure or you're interested in a bunch of things.
Your undergraduate research doesn’t define what you can do or achieve after your undergraduate degree. The experience of learning how to do research in one area builds lots of transferable skills that will help you if you transition to another area of research entirely.
Keep taking courses outside of your comfort zone!
Once you have found a general area of interest, search for professors who do research in these fields
Start with the Mount Holyoke department “People” pages—faculty will have 2-3 sentences about their research interests and their full profiles will say more. If faculty have their own lab website with more information, you can find a link to it there.
Faculty People Pages at Mount Holyoke (you can always find more with Google!)
Attend a department event on faculty research. Many STEM departments and/or student organizations host events showcasing faculty research. Keep your eyes out for fliers/emails or ask a professor if their department holds such an event.
Annie: I recommend talking to your academic advisor or the professors you are already taking classes with. Additionally, looking at faculty profiles, lab websites, going to research seminars, or poster sessions were extremely helpful for me in learning, and deciding what research labs I wanted to join.
Joining a research lab at Mount Holyoke is a great option because you can do research (for academic credit) during the school year as well as during J-term or the summer. But there are also lots of opportunities to do research at another University.
UMass Amherst may have year-round opportunities, and many research universities will host undergraduates in their labs for the summer.
There are summer undergraduate research programs you can apply to at many universities, especially for students from historically underrepresented groups.
If there’s a city you’d like to live in or an area of research that you’d love to explore, consider sending faculty emails introducing yourself and your interests. Especially if you can bring your own funding (via Lynk), many faculty are excited to help mentor a student interested in their work!
Red arrows: where to look for links to more information.
Blue boxes: summary of a faculty member's research interests.
Faculty research in Chemistry + Biochemistry
The Chemistry and Biochemistry programs have put together additional information about our research labs and how to get involved. We've shared this information at department teas and STEMPOC socials, but want to make it more available. These pages are linked below:
Contacting Faculty
Reach out confidently
I know reaching out to professors can be intimidating, but having conversations with professors can help you figure out if their research lab is a good fit
Every lab culture can be different and so I found it helpful to reach out to current students in their lab
Going to office hours or emailing professors is a great first step of communication
An essential part is to do your research on their research
You should be familiar with their work and why their research is appealing to you
Information to include in an email inquiry about research
Name, year, (prospective) major
Something you find interesting about the faculty member's research
A concrete question—are you currently accepting new students in your laboratory? Would it be possible to set up a time to discuss research in your lab or other paths to get involved in research?
It can also be helpful to ask a faculty member to share a research article with you that you could read in advance of a meeting. This is a great way to demonstrate interest but only do this if you are able to commit a few hours to read it carefully and prepare a couple of questions for the meeting.
Be sure to use a professional format in your email.
Begin with "Dear Professor ______".
It is nice to end by thanking the professor for their time, and a signoff such as "Sincerely," or "Best Wishes."
If a faculty member doesn't reply within a week, feel free to send a follow-up email to the effect of "I wanted to make sure you had seen this, since I know it's easy for emails to slip through the cracks."
Here is a sample email that Annie wrote to Professor Berry about learning more about her research:
Dear Professor Berry,
I hope you are doing well in these unprecedented times!
My name is Annie Williams and I am a First Year at Mount Holyoke College with an intended major in Biology or Biochemistry. I wanted to reach out to you to learn more about your research lab for my Chem199 class. The interview will take about 30 minutes and I would greatly appreciate it if you could also send along a journal article that relates to your research before the interview.
Regarding availability, I am free Mondays, Wednesdays. and Fridays after 1 pm as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays after 11 am. Please let me know if any of these times work for you.
Sincerely,
Annie Williams
During a Meeting
Faculty will likely spend some time telling you about their research program. Listen but also be prepared to chime in with questions. This isn't the time to smile and nod—if something doesn't make sense, stop them and ask!
Ask lots of questions. Here's a list of topics suggested by Professor Kyle Broaders:
Questions about Research
Lab structure
Day-to-day work
The professor's career path
Experience needed
Potential career preparation... etc.
Outcome
Sending a follow-up email to express thanks and share any thoughts you have after reflecting on the meeting, is a great touch.
Whether or not the professor agrees to take you or not, thank them for their time and they might even be able to help you find a different lab that better fits your interests
Don’t take a “no” personally—there are many, many reasons that faculty might not be able to take a student into their lab, including space, funding, and project openings.
When you are fearless of “no,” you can more easily keep reaching out until you find a lab and research opportunity where the stars align.
How to apply to research Labs
Katie: In the 2021-2022 school year, both the Chemistry Departments and Biology Departments have introduced centralized application forms for students wishing to conduct research in labs within the department. To view applications forms and learn more about this process, see the links below:
Chemistry Department Research Application Form
Biology Department Research Application Form
What it's like starting out in a Research lab
Annie: These are a couple of things that I have felt when first joining the Berry Lab. This is my own experience and so your research lab experience might look super different from mine, but whatever you are feeling is valid!
Information overload
There is a very steep learning curve
During NanoMeetings (Berry lab meetings), it felt like everyone else spoke and understood some other language besides English. There were just so many new terms and jargon and I felt embarrassed for not knowing what my PI and labmates were discussing.
With that being said, it is incredibly important to be patient with yourself!
Although this sounds super cheesy, "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"
Every single one of your labmates has been in your shoes
Especially when you first join a lab, no one expects you to know and understand everything
Questions
I don’t think I can explain how many questions I have asked my lab mates as well as my Primary Investigator (PI)
I feel very lucky to be in a collaborative lab group setting where everyone in the lab is there to learn and support one another
FAQ
1) When should I join a research lab?
This can depend on a lot of factors, and there's no single "right" answer.
Different faculty have different preferences for the amount of coursework that students have to complete before joining their lab. Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty have put together some additional info on our research interests and when/how students tend to get involved in our labs. If there's a faculty member in another department whose research you're interested in, the best option is to send an email to ask when students typically join their research lab, and if there are courses they like for students to take beforehand.
2) Are there additional resources that could help me learn more?
Yes! Here are a few resources Annie has found helpful:
3) What the heck is a "PI"?
"PI" stands for "Primary Investigator" and is a term often used to describe the head of a research laboratory. Grad students and postdocs are more likely to talk about their "PI" than their "boss."
4) I have some additional advice that I would love to share with other students who are starting on this journey? Can I contribute to this page?
Yes! Please email kberry@mtholyoke.edu with edits, suggestions, or your own story and advice. We'd love to add it.