How to get involved in research?

[patrick1674]

Hey Guys,
I was wondering how does someone get involved in research?
I go to a pretty big public university, but besides from asking my current professors, how would I go about doing it?
Just email PI's whose research interest me? And then just introduce myself and explain why I want to do it and just say that it would be for volunteer work?
I figure that doing it for "free" I would get better success in replies vs. if I were to asked to get paid for it.

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[IPremed2010]

http://www.columbia.edu/cu/biology/ug/research/

A very good summary on how to get started.

 

[edharian]

Sounds about right to me. You could also check out the National Science Foundation's REU program.

 

[Remuneration]

Asking your professors cold may not be terribly helpful, but establishing yourself as a student with interests within and beyond the scope of the class would could put you in a good position. Even if they cannot personally take on more students, their recommendation might go a long way in finding a temporary home in the department.

Although, if someone's work in particular does interest you, it certainly couldn't hurt to shoot them an e-mail. If you're a freshman/sophomore, just a earnest interest might be enough. If you're an upperclassman, hopefully you can elaborate on your interests and demonstration an understanding of the material appropriate to a strong student of your field.

It also couldn't hurt to befriend graduate students. They can often give you a better feel for who's looking to take on students and offer opinions on and recommendations to potential mentors (although you're not really in a position to be too choosy).