UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

…into the abyss.

Barrie Robison

2022-11-07

WHO AM I?

// Evolution // Data Science // Video Games // Horror Fiction

Barrie Robison

Department of Biological Sciences

Institute for Interdisicplinary Data Sciences

Polymorphic Games

University of Idaho

WHO ARE YOU?

midjourney // a terrified undergraduate researcher

Briefly:

  • Your name
  • Your major
  • Your career goal(s)
  • Your darkest fear

THE PLAN

Approximately:

  1. Explain WHY you are at University.
  2. Explain how undergraduate research might help you achieve your goals.
  3. Explain how to find potential research mentors.
  4. Explain some of the mechanisms that support undergraduate research.
  5. Tell you that everything will be OK.

WHY ARE YOU HERE?

University is expensive, stressful, and difficult… yet here you are.

  • My parents expect me to…
  • Everyone else is going…
  • I want a good job…
  • Parties!
  • Sportsball (watching, not playing)

  • I want to invest in myself.
  • I want to learn about…
  • I want to be the best version of myself.
  • I want a fulfilling career…
  • I want to solve an important problem.

AN IMPORTANT DISTINCTION

Getting an education vs. getting a degree.

UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

Benefits

  • Disciplinary skills
  • Soft skills
  • Perseverance and Grit
  • Demonstrated experience
  • Network building

HOW TO FIND A MENTOR

Your Interests vs. Faculty Interests

THE SCRIPT

  • Are the research questions compelling?
  • Field work vs bench work.
  • Math? ($%*& no! to theory)
  • Programming?
  • Scale of biological organization? (molecules to ecosystems)
  • Model organism? (simulations to microbes to plants to humans)
  • Basic vs. Applied

THINKING ABOUT RESEARCH

Differentiate between:

  • Methods, Tools, Approaches, Model systems AND
  • Disciplines, Questions, Hypotheses, Motivations

FINDING THE INFORMATION

  1. Pay attention to WHO IS TEACHING YOUR CLASSES!
  2. Faculty websites…
  3. Ask your peers.
  4. Ask your advisor.
  5. Meet with me (or another non-terrifying faculty member).

NARROW YOUR LIST

Try to get to a ranked list of 2 to 4 faculty who align with your interests and what you want to learn.

REACH OUT

  1. Start with an email.
  2. First impressions matter.
  3. Complete sentences are nice.
  4. Why are you interested in their lab (the hardest part).
  5. Never cut and paste and no bulk emails!
  6. Perseverance versus peskiness.

HOW FACULTY SCREEN CANDIDATES

  1. Forgetting to reply.
  2. Grades.
  3. Written and verbal coherence.
  4. Intellectual curiosity.

WHAT FACULTY WANT

We enjoy investing time in undergraduate training if you bring…

  1. Intellectual curiosity.
  2. Diligence, reliability, eagerness to learn.
  3. A mostly functional personality that won’t piss off the rest of the lab.
  4. Intelligence, talent, etc…

MECHANICS

There are a variety of ways to engage in undergraduate research.

  1. Course credit (Biol 301, 401)
  2. Paid as IH (usually from a grant)
  3. REU, INBRE, and other funding mechanisms
  4. Volunteering (which I DO NOT RECOMMEND)
  5. Some special classes (such as VIP)

IT WILL ALL BE OK!

midjouney // an anxious undergraduate

some text

brobison@uidaho.edu