How to ask to help with research?

[estradiol9]

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Hello,

I've found a list of professors at my school/department that have done research and what kinds of research. I was hoping to read more about their work and then reach out to those I would be interested in helping. I am not looking to be paid, just help out and hopefully gain some experience and knowledge while doing so. How should I go about approaching them? Most of them are professors I have not had. A few of them I am familiar with already. Would it be okay to just shoot them an e-mail and tell them I read about their research and I was wondering if they needed anybody to help/assist?

I don't have any research experience. I am a sophomore biology major. (Junior credit wise though?) I have taken a few laboratory courses.

For those of you that have research experience, how did you go about getting involved?

 

[necoli]

Sometimes you have to bite the bullet and ask. Just be upfront with them about your knowledge and lack of experience.
I would advise that you to stop by the offices of the professors that you know and personally explain your situation to them, and ask if you could participate in their research. That is pretty much how I did it.

 

[fishbait63]

Email them, and ask to meet them in person.

Honestly most professors do not care if you have research experience because for the most part it would rarely be in what they are specifically doing. Make sure you are willing to put in the time... if you aren't your just really wasting your time and theirs because the training process takes a while

 

[unluckybanana]

I basically emailed professors that I thought were working on interesting projects. Generally they will ask to interview you, and if you do well, they will start training you.

So just basically. You just ask them. I was turned down like 3 times, before someone said yes.

One thing about research though, you have to be willing to put in the time. Depending on what you are working on, expect to spend 12-30 hours in lab every week.

 

[northpenn]

Be ready to have a thick skin if you are sending emails. Most professors won't even respond to you.

 

[Notsobs]

back when i was looking for a research position, my mentor told me to just mass spam professors whose research i was interested in. I sent out maybe 15-20 emails, and I only received 2 or 3 back in response. It's good to send out as many emails as possible (provided you are interested in the research) because a lot of times you won't even hear back from them. also, one or two of the ones that responded set me up with group interviews so that they could get to know us better and decide. one lab had 10+ people trying to get in for one research assistant position (unpaid). it might be hard for you to find a position, depending on your undergrad institution, but don't give up!

 

[RookTookIt]

Send a bunch of emails. Like northpenn said, many PIs won't even respond. I would make each one slightly personalized and attach my CV.

 

[estradiol9]

Thanks guys. I'll start working on my e-mails and make sure to make them personal.