Undergrad Research Position

[U23527]

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To anyone reading this, I have a question about a research position I'm pursuing. First, some background info.

I emailed a professor for a research assistant position, and I landed an interview. I went to the interview, and it went very well. At the end of the interview, the professor told me that, if I want to, I can come to one of their weekly lab meetings to get a feel of the lab environment before I commit. They told me to just email them later to get more information about the meeting. About an hour or two after the interview, I sent the professor a "thank you" email. In the email, I stated my interest in attending one of the weekly lab meetings and asked for more information. I sent the email four days ago, but I haven't received any responses yet. The professor took a few days to respond to my other emails, so it might be that the response should be coming soon.

My question is, should I email the professor once more to follow up in case they didn't get a chance to view/forgot about my email? Or should I just wait another day or two?

Thanks in advance!

 

[FreeRadicals]

Wait another day or two as it was just the weekend and it is also summer. I'd say shoot another email by Wednesday mid-day if you don't receive a response.

 

[evasive fish]

This is very typical of PIs: they may take a few days to answer e-mails; they may be out of town, on vacation, sometimes they have clinical responsibilities (if they're physicians), or sometimes they just need reminders because they're so busy. As @FreeRadicals suggested, it's a good idea send an e-mail again just in case they saw your first e-mail and then forgot to reply.

 

[MyOdyssey]

To anyone reading this, I have a question about a research position I'm pursuing. First, some background info.

I emailed a professor for a research assistant position, and I landed an interview. I went to the interview, and it went very well. At the end of the interview, the professor told me that, if I want to, I can come to one of their weekly lab meetings to get a feel of the lab environment before I commit. They told me to just email them later to get more information about the meeting. About an hour or two after the interview, I sent the professor a "thank you" email. In the email, I stated my interest in attending one of the weekly lab meetings and asked for more information. I sent the email four days ago, but I haven't received any responses yet. The professor took a few days to respond to my other emails, so it might be that the response should be coming soon.

My question is, should I email the professor once more to follow up in case they didn't get a chance to view/forgot about my email? Or should I just wait another day or two?

Thanks in advance!

In case you're shy about emailing the PI so soon, labs often have administrators who handle the administration of the lab. You might email the administrator and just say that the PI invited you to the next lab meeting and that you're confirming that with the administrator and by the way, you didn't catch when the next lab meeting will be.

And you might copy the postdoc/grad students you met during the interview process.

That way you avoid emailing the PI again so soon but you also get an answer from someone (the administrator) whose job it is to coordinate/schedule things.

 

[Green Plant]

I wouldn't worry too much about the PI not responding. A lot of PIs are busy with traveling and grants this time of the year. If you don't hear back in another day or two I would recommend sending another e-mail along the lines of "Hi Dr. X, I was just following up on my previous e-mail... etc"