Does anyone know of any good biology research opportunity?

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FuturaDocta

Pop_Princess_MD
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Lately I have been getting increasingly interested in research, but I just don't know enough about the opportunities out there. I don't want to limit my choices by just taking advantage of whatever opportunity comes my way, then seeing that there was something I would have liked way more. So, I thought I should ask some of you... Can you share any of your research experiences? Do you recommend others to do the same thing? Thanks! :)

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med school bio research lab.. doing low thought process work to save the PhDs from having to spend their (more valuable time) doing this. Got me into the lab for a fair number of hours.

cell & molecular research lab. learning assays, westerns, histology. Seemed like a foreign language. Got me more familiar with these areas.

Most important thing is for you to do SOMETHING rather than waiting until you can find the perfect thing. Try something out for 6 months to see if you like actually doing it. I've worked in professions where I really enjoyed the coursework to enter the profession, but then really did NOT enjoy the profession itself; I don't think there's any way to know this until you do the work for a while.
 
no, but i may have some opportunities for you in chemistry. :)
 
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Hey Thanks! How do you like the bioresearch and how did you apply for that? Do you just send one of the phd's an email of interest?
 
Look at the professor's bios on your school's webpage. This should list their field of research and recent publications. Find one that interests you. Tell them you think their research is interesting, ask if they could use a lab assistant. Bio research is so varied that you really can't make a decision based on one person's experience. My grad experience involved standing in Rocky Mountain National Park at sunrise with a recording device studying animal vocalization. Other people spend days pipetting or running gels. At the undergrad level (in terms of putting it on your application for med school) research is research is research. They don't care what you do it in because you're not going to become an expert in that field as an undergrad. You'll just barely scratch the surface, so the content doesn't really matter. Its all about the process. Pick something that you don't hate and go with it.
 
Look at the professor's bios on your school's webpage. This should list their field of research and recent publications. Find one that interests you. Tell them you think their research is interesting, ask if they could use a lab assistant. Bio research is so varied that you really can't make a decision based on one person's experience. My grad experience involved standing in Rocky Mountain National Park at sunrise with a recording device studying animal vocalization. Other people spend days pipetting or running gels. At the undergrad level (in terms of putting it on your application for med school) research is research is research. They don't care what you do it in because you're not going to become an expert in that field as an undergrad. You'll just barely scratch the surface, so the content doesn't really matter. Its all about the process. Pick something that you don't hate and go with it.


Really? That sounds great to me because I really want to do some ecology research, which really interests me.
 
Honestly, adcoms could give two craps if you pipetted your way through ugrad research that you didn't fully understand or did something cooler that you enjoyed. Its being able to put "research" (preferably including some an author-ship at the end), what the research is in is meaningless. Most people will study some obscure fruit fly gene that they cannot relate back to their science knowledge as a whole. Might as well do something cool that will net you good stories and life experience.

My interviewers loved hearing my wildlife biology stories. I spent the entire time with one (to a school I was accepted, I might add) talking about elk bugles.

Do something you'll enjoy.
 
if you want to do some aquatic ecology, i have been co-running a fresh water aquatic turtle study outside of orlando florida... to date, we have marked, measured, and released over 3000 turtles.... we head down about twice a year, once in march(spring break) and once in august(before fall semester)... this year, we have been hammering out several pubs which, i cannot guaruntee i would be able to get you in on that... but we can give you ecology research experience... anyways, if you or anyone else is interested... send me a messege...

ps- the costs of going down is not that bad... we get free campsites from the parks and setup a grill for our meals... you'll spend most of your trip funds on transportation and even that gets cut if you live around any of the other researchers(carpool)...
 
What is it that your professor researches? I have two very different interests in research: ecology (big guys) and neurology (little things). I really think that both are great.

Freezer, do you know of any zebra mussel jobs/research?
 
I do research in a fly lab. Most of the people in my lab research Fragile X, but I am researching ALS. I really enjoy it and I'm going to be doing it full time this summer. I got into the lab because my PI was my cell bio professor and I heard that she needed a student, so I just emailed her and we met and I decided to start working in her lab. If you have professors who do research that is interesting to you, find out if they need undergrads.
 
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