Difficulty With Summer Research Program

[Maybaxter]

Hi,
I was selected for a summer research program. I sent a thank you email and asked about time scheduling to both researchers and received a "looking forward to working with you" response. It has been a while since then and I sent another email last week asking about scheduling for research and have not heard anything. I do not want to annoy them or be rude but I dont want them to forget about me. What should I do?
Thanks

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[Dagrimsta1]

Wait for a bit and email them closer to the start date of the program (1-2 weeks?).
If you still don't hear a response, you sure it wasn't a fake?

 

[Maybaxter]

Hey, thanks for the response. The issues that there is no exact start date. It's at my dream medical school.

 

[chickpeagoals]

Shoot, what hours is the lab open? Maybe you could show up in person and ask when would be a good time for you to start.

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[boogiecousins94]

is there either

a) a administrative person who's coordinating it/are there other students too? (like a formal program)
b) an assistant to this research person?
c) a departmental contact, what dept are they in? Try and find an admin for that dept

If this was an informal thing as in not an official program I would try and call or something but if its an actual program with multiple students (even if not the same lab) I would try to contact who's running it

 

[Maybaxter]

I really appreciate these ideas and I will do exactly that. I will call on monday and show up on tuesday if not resolved. Thank you guys a ton!

 

[aldol16]

If it's an actual program, shouldn't there be an orientation meeting and things like that? I don't know what type of lab you're working in, but if it's any basic science lab, there should be a lab safety course you have to take before you start working in the lab. Perhaps your PI will discuss that with you the first day but usually with these programs, they have everyone together at the beginning as a welcome and then they keep everyone together for the lab safety course before letting you all go to your respective labs.

 

[boogiecousins94]

For reference I've done both an official summer program and an informal 10 week internship where it was just the PI letting me work there for the summer. Granted the PI was a dept chair so he had a secretary etc. that got me all set up, but I think best bet is to see what dept the lab is in (say dept of translational biology for example) and go on the website, see who the administrators are or who is a secretary etc and contact them if the PI doesn't answer. Unless you live very close to the lab I wouldn't just show up if they didn't tell you a specific time to start or day to come

 

[BeddingfieldMD]

Though admittedly not the most professional response, since you are going to provide these folks with lots of cheap labor this summer...it's not completely unexpected. Busy research physicians are typically swamped with emails. They've got a lot of other--and bigger--fish to fry than worrying about the random pre-med that's going to do some work in their lab this summer in exchange for a good letter of recommendation and resume point. It's probably an accidental oversight; I wouldn't read too much into it.

As others have suggested, you should call their administrative assistants Monday and ask what's up. These folks frequently are the ones who actually run the labs and keep the docs in line. If that doesn't work and you live nearby the school, then certainly just showing up to the office and speaking to an assistant is an option, as well. My guess is a phone call will get you some confirmation and a better idea of your schedule this summer.

Congratulations on getting accepted to the research program! Good luck!