Doctormo24 said:
I know an organic professor at my University. He is the Graduate Chemistry Director and also a organic teacher. I was just wondering, how would I go about asking him for research? What should I say? How? When?
1. Make sure he is not an egotistical jerk-off that would exploit undergrads (you can tell this by talking to a person after about a minute probably... some professors are interested in academic development of undergrads... others are NOT and will just use you so be careful).
2. Ask yourself how much of a commitment you can make. Many profs want a long term commitment such as 2-3 semesters because it is difficult to train a new lab member. Don't do this for your resume.. you'll be miserable if you're not actually interested.
3. Have reason for your interest... like oh I enjoyed your class and would like to get some hand-ons experience in the lab. Remember that the labs you take as an undergrad are often useless in a real lab where there is no lab manual or anything like that.. requires much independence and critical thinking
4. You can either do this by e-mail or in person at office hours.. I like e-mail better because it gives a better exit strategy and doesn't put people on the spot but doing it in person can also be better than e-mail because they can see you and interact.
Approach the prof and ask if any opportunities are available.. make sure to be polite and give him an exit strategy so he doesn't look like an dingus if he doesn't want undergrads. Ex. I know taking on an undergrad can be difficult in research, but I was wondering if you had any research opportunities available in your lab... express your interest briefly here as defined in # 3. Also add that if he doesn't, would he know anybody else that has an opportunitiy.. networking can be useful. Or consult your dept.. usually schools have a posting of undergrad research opportunities.
Make sure the opportunity actually involves lab work rather than washing glass. It is best to paired up with a grad student or something like that.
5. Then you get an answer and proceed logically from that.
