How to Get Involved
These are the first few steps of how to get involved with research. This can be done as early as freshman year.
Write out list of different topics you are interested in. Don’t be afraid to choose research topics that are “outside” your field. Most to all science and engineering disciplines are related.
There are chemists, physicists, mechanical, chemical, electrical, material engineers who conduct research on batteries, even mathematicians and computer scientists which you might not expect.
Find out who does research related to your interests. Write out a list of Professor’s you can possibly work under.
Make your list as extensive as possible because many professor’s don’t have room or resources to take in undergraduate researchers.
Ask to meet with Professors or even their graduate students.
Send a polite email (sample email located below) to Professors asking them for a potential meeting to discuss research opportunities.
Many might not have room but can connect you to another professor who might be willing to take students.
That worked best for me. I was given a list of math professors in order of most likely to say no to yes and that helped. I got to number 5 before I got a yes but learned a lot from 1-4.
Work with the group until you can piece together a small project you can present at conferences.
You might even get your name on a paper which will increase your chances of getting into graduate school much more.
Preferably, you want to join a group with a graduate student willing to mentor you. The professor is going to be very busy and you might not see him/her that much. A graduate student will be able to give you more time and care to help you along the way and can know more closely your immediate struggles in the lab.
Sample Email to a Professor
Figuring out how to write to a Professor can be intimidating sometimes which is why CALESS is providing you with two different emails you can send to a Professor as a Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, or Senior+
Who is providing the steps listed above?
All information on this Page was written by Everardo Olide.
Currently a Battery Manufacturing Engineer at Ford Motor Company
He graduated from the University of California, Davis in Spring 2015 with a B.S. degree in Mathematics and a minor in Physics and studied at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor earning his PhD in Applied Physics..
He established the Academic Committee in Fall 2014.