Question for the research people

[katryn]

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Basically, the question is: How did you all go about getting into research?

I'm done with my undergrad (have been since '07), not currently in school, working full time, etc etc. Can't exactly afford to quit my day job kind of thing.

I'd love to be able to say that I continued improving my application while waiting on interviews, and research is one of the areas that I haven't touched on yet. What I'm looking for is something I could do after work, as an open ended sort of thing...as in, if I get into vet school I would be happy to keep going until classes start, or I would gladly continue if I don't get in. I have enough free time that I'm able to come in on a dedicated schedule too if needed. If I don't get in this year, I am very interested in finding a job in research/lab work just for something new and different to do and put on my resume.

Having never done this before, I'm kind of at a loss for where to go looking. I'm not in school so I don't feel like I can just contact random professors and say "hey, need help?". Also, it doesn't make sense that research companies/labs in the area would take volunteers, although I could be wrong. Any suggestions on where to start? Also, for those of you at Tennessee's vet school, is it kosher for pre-vets to contact the vet school about research volunteer opportunities?

 

[GellaBella]

Well if you are close to any universities you actually can just email professors whos work you are interested in. Tell them that you have applied for vet schools and are interested in gaining research experience. Mention that you are interested in their work and are wondering if they might be able to take an after work volunteer (this will depend on if they have people available after your working hours to train/oversee your work). Attach a CV and also mention that if they do not have a position open, could they forward your application to anyone who might have openings.

At my university emails circulate all the time from people requesting things like this. Oftentimes someone is able to take that student on.

and fyi It will be much easier for you if you are looking to volunteer vs. expecting to get paid. Good luck!

 

[BlacKAT33]

Well if you are close to any universities you actually can just email professors whos work you are interested in. Tell them that you have applied for vet schools and are interested in gaining research experience. Mention that you are interested in their work and are wondering if they might be able to take an after work volunteer (this will depend on if they have people available after your working hours to train/oversee your work). Attach a CV and also mention that if they do not have a position open, could they forward your application to anyone who might have openings.

At my university emails circulate all the time from people requesting things like this. Oftentimes someone is able to take that student on.

and fyi It will be much easier for you if you are looking to volunteer vs. expecting to get paid. Good luck!

👍 i started my first research/lab job by getting academic credit for it. much easier for a professor to give you credit than money. I was hired after one semester and worked for a year later.

my other research job was a fellowship, so you have to apply for it. It is almost impossible to get some of them though, so i recommend to all my friends to personally write the PIs a cover letter (in the email) and attach their resume. I helped 2 friends get in last yr by this system 🙂 You should send out about 10 though, 1 or 2 will not give you a big chance if the fellowship is competitive

If these ways don't work, you can get hired by a contracting company and work in a science lab as a technician. For this you probably need some experience. If you have some lab experience from your bio/chem courses that would be good. All of NIH's technicians are contractors. Similar to this, you can straight up apply to bio-tech company's at a base position. My bf works at a genetic testing company and they hire new post-baccs all the time. But again, this requires a BS in a science field usually.

As for your "after work" hours. I don't think you will find that in a lab or research job. Most of the time people who have these jobs end up working overtime anyway because you have to "tend to ur experiments" lol its annoying, especially when you need to go in on weekends to keep the experiment going at a timely fashion. When i grew cells, i had to go in every other day (no matter what) because they would die if they weren't fed enough

 

[168135]

At my university, a lot of the time, the professors don't even advertise if you have a position available... you have to be constantly asking around. I applied for two research positions and when they asked me why I haven't applied for any research jobs in the past was because the only way I heard about them was when it was too late. I'd walk into class and a student will be talking about their awesome new research job.

I lucked out. A prof went to a conference with us and since then, he would say hello to me in the hallway and asked me if I was attending different things going on around the school... he advertised in his class, which I wasn't taking, about how he was looking for a student, and my friend in that class told me and encouraged me to apply. Once I talked to him about the job, he told me of another professor who was looking for someone and encouraged me to apply too.

Talk to professors and talk to students.

 

[NittanyKitty]

Yup, I would also recommend going to professors first. Try to find out about different areas of research available at the university. What floats your boat? Nutrition? Immunology? Cancer studies? Behavior? Find labs that have interesting research, read up on what they do, and talk to the professors. See if they would let you start by scrubbing dishes or doing basic lab work for academic credit. If you do well, you can easily worm your way into a lab and start doing actual research work.

Sometimes you luck out and you'll get a P.I. that is willing to take you on as a lab assistant right away. Just takes some searching and patience and you WILL get lucky! Good luck!