People get paid for undergraduate research?

[reluctantoptimism]

I recently reached out to a professor to get involved in some new, interesting research and was told that I would not be compensated. I never realized that undergraduate research assistants were paid; to anyone doing research who uses this forum, do you receive compensation? I previously held a research position and there was never any mention of payment and I simply worked for the experience.

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[WedgeDawg]

I was "paid" in that I got a stipend for most (but not all) of the research I did in college. Most labs don't have room in the budget for an undergraduate unless the lab is pretty well off, got a grant specifically for teaching/training/etc, or you're doing your research through another program that provides funding (as I did).

 

[phuynh94]

Some professors list the research experience as a work study job; students get paid around $9-10/hr, but the department is only responsible for ~$3/hr (or at least, that's how the grad student explained it to me). Other times, students get "paid" via a research stipend that they apply through the university.

 

[Chelsea FC]

I got up to $8000 in stipend to do research. They are numerous of places out there that offers them

 

[Nerdeka]

At my school, it's either grants or paid grunt work that one could move up in.

 

[CowboyNiceguy]

I got paid $10/hr when I wasn't doing it for course credit.

 

[idontwatchgreysanatomy]

I have an under the table paid RA gig for a professor. I'm getting a $2000+ monthly stipend for an NIH fellowship and another $2000+ monthly stipend plus full ride from an NIH grant. Paid undergrad research is out there, just gotta look for it.

 

[eteshoe]

I was paid with 'A's' for the quarters in which I took research for credit. Other than that I made not one penny (excluding summer research programs) from UG research.

 

[deleted600623]

I got paid $10 an hour for a summer doing 40 hours a week. Depends on the PI and how much money they have for their research.

 

[jqueb29]

I got paid $12 an hour, but it was more like "$12 an hour" as I was only paid for 10 hours a week no matter how many I worked (often 30+)...but considering I would have done it for free, I was quite content.

 

[Cookiess]

Some schools provide undergraduates awards/grants/stipends to participate in research during the school year and summer. At my school, the funding comes from the undergraduate research department rather than the research lab itself and research labs rarely paid undergraduates for research otherwise. Most of the work study positions seemed to be more geared towards lab tech duties (making solutions, washing plates, etc.) rather than involvement in actual research. It can be school dependent and lab dependent though.

Summer research programs usually give some stipends and I know research labs will sometimes hire college graduates to conduct research.

 

[WhittyPsyche]

I get paid under work study from the university itself, as well as separate hire as a project assistant for specific grants. In other words an hourly rate as long as I'm working on that project that's detailed in the budget. Once it's complete it falls back to just work study ($10/hr)


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[JustAPhD]

I was paid a stipend with free meals during the summer but during the semesters I was "paid" with credits.

 

[ed*26]

I will begin to be paid part-time (~$9) this summer for the lab I have been working in for free for the past 1.5 yrs. It's likely that I will be paid for a set amount of hours, regardless of how many I actually work. Still a huge improvement from 20+ hours/wk for free. This happened mostly because there has been a large influx of money and projects, but not so much PhD students yet.

In the past I've received grants through my school (about $8000 in total) to help offset the costs.

 

[piii]

lab i worked in for 3 years during undergrad, unpaid during the semesters working 15-20 hours (got class credit for one semester too), paid full time in the summers.

 

[Skydive Fox]

Yup, my university pays $10/hr (max 20 hr per week) for Undergraduate Research Assistantships, whereas a regular student job pays the state's minimum wage of $8.25/hr (also max 20 hr per week). The UGA's are pretty competitive and sparce in comparison though and require a poster presentation at a research forum every April. There's obviously volunteer research options as well, though. You're pretty much Daddy Warbucks here if you're pulling a UGA 20 hrs a week

 

[Gibbward]

I got "paid" during my summer research gig but that was it. $500 each month and free housing, but no meals so I had to buy food myself. During the semester, I did not get paid, but I was also in a small liberal arts school that didn't have a lot of research funding.

 

[kanda1o]

I was paid hourly at the lab I was at through the huge grant we got. But man, when that thing ran out...talk about a buzzkill.

 

[tessellations]

I'll be getting paid hourly this summer in my lab. I get credit during the school year.

 

[Nucleophile1]

I got a summer stipend to do research. I do not get paid during the fall/spring semesters, but I do get class credit.

 

[Goro]

Honestly, I've never heard of UG students getting paid for their labor. It's a volunteer position where they get free labor and you get skills, and hopefully a poster or paper to show it, plus a nice LOR.

There might be positions where there are stipends, but these will be the minority.

Or the PI has had a bad experience with a greedy pre-med??

I recently reached out to a professor to get involved in some new, interesting research and was told that I would not be compensated. I never realized that undergraduate research assistants were paid; to anyone doing research who uses this forum, do you receive compensation? I previously held a research position and there was never any mention of payment and I simply worked for the experience.

 

[ortnakas]

At my undergrad, the options for regular during-the-school year lab work seemed to be:

1) "merit-based work study" where you got paid $8-10/hour (partly paid for by the lab and partly by student financial services)
2) research for credit (3 hours of work ~1 credit, pass/fail or easy A depending on the PI)

Summer research programs often pay some sort of stipend, but many are unpaid too.

 

[ZombieDante]

Wow. At my university you don't get paid or even college credit.

 

[NotASerialKiller]

All research assistants, students or otherwise, get paid at my school. Then again Canada is a dream-like utopia where everyone is respected and loved and there's nary a Trump in sight.

 

[Lucca]

Some labs do some labs don't here. I was offered a position in one lab that paid 15$/hr. These tend to be the larger, bigger money labs. I took the offer that was just a volunteer position because I liked the mentor better.

 

[salemstein]

I did research in UG, but heres what I figured: Those that don't get paid/ or get paid a one-time stipend have a high chance of doing for "involved" research, like ones that get published. Those that get paid hourly have a higher chance of doing more grunt work.

 

[WhittyPsyche]

I did research in UG, but heres what I figured: Those that don't get paid/ or get paid a one-time stipend have a high chance of doing for "involved" research, like ones that get published. Those that get paid hourly have a higher chance of doing more grunt work.

That actually does not make any sense.

The ones that get paid hourly beyond a stipend in my experience are those that have outlined in the grant from whatever sponsor be it NIH or some foundation the need for a program assistant/coordinator etc and in these positions some manuscript involvement is highly likely. In my experience, these lead to authorship.

My counterparts at other labs who aren't paid are doing data entry or grunt work and aren't paid. Some get stipends in the summer. If they have authorship it's part of a senior thesis/ other major related requirement for them to have an independent project with the PI being a mentor.


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[Skydive Fox]

Some labs do some labs don't here. I was offered a position in one lab that paid 15$/hr. These tend to be the larger, bigger money labs. I took the offer that was just a volunteer position because I liked the mentor better.

Passed up for a volunteer position?! That's nearly double my uni's student job pay! My peers and I would be ecstatic at any $15/hr research opportunity.

 

[protego]

I was paid $10/hr when I wasn't getting course credit.