Having trouble finding PI willing to let me work in their lab during school year

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Beyonce2.0

Beyonce2.0

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Hi, I've been having trouble with trying to find a lab I can work at. I'll be entering my sophomore year this coming fall and I figured I would start emailing now so that I can secure a spot ahead of time. So far, I have emailed 2 PI's affiliated with my school and major, both of which have said no. I'm wondering if it's something about the way I have formatted my emails or just the fact that I haven't reached out to enough people. I just want to make sure that I'm doing it right so that I can continue and hopefully find a lab. Here is how I have been formatting my emails:


Dear [PI name],

My name is [name] and I will be entering my sophomore year at [school] this coming semester, with a plan to major in biology. I am emailing you to discuss the possibility of me working as a research assistant in your lab beginning this upcoming school year. A bit of background on me: [here I write my background of working in a few labs during high school summers]

[Next I write about my interest in the work their labs do, both in terms of how it connects to the research I've done and to what I've learned in my college classes]

If feasible, as I will be in [city] for the next few weeks, I would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you in person soon to further discuss your research, as well as the possibility of working for you next semester. Additionally, I have attached my resume to this email for your reference. Thank you again for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,
me


Is there anything in the email you guys would recommend changing? Is it too long/short? Should I maybe be calling to set up meetings instead of emailing? Any help is appreciated; thanks in advance!
 
You're going to need to email way more than two PIs. They probably just didn't have positions available, most likely it's got nothing to do with what you said.
 
It seems fine. Maybe a bit long, you could cut out the background which is evident by your resume. This kind of stuff is hit or miss. Just keep trying, something will turn up. Make sure to look in other departments too, you might find something you are interested.
 
The letter is too long and I might find a slightly better way to word I'm emailing about the possibility of being a part of your lab. Start off by giving a bit of background about you a sentence or two why their lab and why it interests you and maybe ask in a more bit more delicate way I am emailing you to inquire if there are any research projects I might be assistant your lab with?

That said your letter isn't a big issue---it won't turn PIs away But you need to email way more than 2 PIs. In my experience at least half the PIs I have ever cold emailed don't respond. If after 50 emails you still can't find something then maybe we can talk(it takes like 2 min per email 50 if you do 10 a day for 5 days is nothing)
 
Are you asking to get paid or not? If you're willing to volunteer, say that specifically, instead of saying working as a research assistant. Don't need the background part as it should be on your resume already.

send to >20 people
 
I emailed >25 PI's before I got my first lab position, since many of them prefer prior experience. You want the letter to be reasonably long, but not too long. State your background and why your interested in their lab above all other labs. Also, be sure to highlight your previous research experience, it means less time training you by the PI/postdocs/grad students.
 
I went through about 6 or 7 PIs before I ended up at my lab. In all honesty, a lot of it has to do with luck. A PI might not need a student, might already have too many people, might not have a decent project for an undergrad. Just keep at it!
 
Talk to your professors about joining a lab. They'll know which colleagues would be open to students and which have taken on students in the past. Also, I would use the word "volunteering" instead of "working," as they may think that you're looking for a paid position.
 
1) Emphasize you'd be working for credit/free, not seeking a paid position
2) Start with reasons you're interested in their work. Many will read the generic opening part and archive you thinking you're spamming dozens of people with a copy/pasted email.
3) Email A LOT more than 2 PI's. It took me about a dozen tries, and those dozen were pre-filtered for people who had worked with undergrads before by running them past my advisor.
4) Helps to have a reference of some sort, some name you can drop they might be familiar with. For me this was mentioning that they'd been recommended to get in touch with by my professor/advisor, plus the name of the PhD that had supervised me at my part time lab job.
 
As others have said email more profs. Alternatively you could ask your undergraduate adviser if they know of any undergrad friendly labs
 
If you aren't looking to get paid( and frankly it's probably unreasonable to) that should be clearly stated in your letter that's probsbly one of the most important things any PI reading your email will look for
 
Thank you so much for all your advice! What I'm getting from this is 1) email a lot more PI's (which I was planning to do, I just freak out easily and wanted to make sure I wasn't emailing 20+ PI's with a crappy email); 2) state clearly that I want to volunteer to help with any research projects, because my email could be interpreted as wanting pay; 3) articulate more clearly why their lab particularly interests me and cut down on some stuff that could be found in my resume.

Thanks again; I'll be sure to put all this to good use! 🙂
 
Beyonce, change your profile picture for anonymity.

Anyway, I got lucky. Asked one professor who loved me for my love of the subject and more specifically his research interest. He took me in days later.

Also got an amazing (many would say better) offer a few months later to work in a lab that is one of five at my school currently publishing on a monthly basis in that area of research. I had to turn this down simply because my loyalty runs deep and I invested way too much interest and time into the previous professor and his research.

Just keep cold emailing people. Something will come up. Good luck!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
onyisraw said:
Beyonce, change your profile picture for anonymity.

Anyway, I got lucky. Asked one professor who loved me for my love of the subject and more specifically his research interest. He took me in days later.

Also got an amazing (many would say better) offer a few months later to work in a lab that is one of five at my school currently publishing on a monthly basis in that area of research. I had to turn this down simply because my loyalty runs deep and I invested way too much interest and time into the previous professor and his research.

Just keep cold emailing people. Something will come up. Good luck!
Click to expand...
That's a picture of beyonce...

Hopefully your choice doesn't hurt your med options down the road, not good to have tons of time into a lab but not much produced from it
 
PIs know you don't know much about their research. I think its more important to show that you're going to be dedicated and motivated to actually contribute.
 
efle said:
? It's not hard to read one or two of their recent papers and have a decent idea of what's going on in their lab
Click to expand...
Yes but often times undergrads try to make it seem like they know more than they do just because they read a paper.
 
keevwu said:
Yes but often times undergrads try to make it seem like they know more than they do just because they read a paper.
Click to expand...
I could see that. I was one class away from finishing my Neuro major so I understood pretty well what was going on by reading a couple papers and their latest grant proposal. But for someone like OP with just the freshman year intro classes and limited lab experience papers must largely be gibberish.
 
UPDATE: After cutting down and re-working my email a bit, I emailed a few more people and just got a reply from a PI who is willing to meet with me, so that's something! Thanks for the help, everyone!
 
Beyonce2.0 said:
UPDATE: After cutting down and re-working my email a bit, I emailed a few more people and just got a reply from a PI who is willing to meet with me, so that's something! Thanks for the help, everyone!
Click to expand...
Awesome! Read a paper or two of theirs to get a good idea what they're all about. Be ready to ask questions about who you'd be working in the lab with/who'd supervise you, whether you'd be joining into a big project with a grad student or starting something bite sized yourself, etc
 
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