Finding out about potential mentors
In order to find a mentor you will need to decide what research
area interests you. You may want to discuss this with your academic
advisor or a professor or TA in one of your courses. Often they
can give you ideas about faculty who are working within your area
of interest. However, there are several ways you can learn of
potential mentors on your own. All involve identifying a faculty
member on the basis of his/her area of research and reading about
his/her research before approaching them.
Consult the Timetable for listings of all departments on campus.
Find departments that sound interesting using the index. Under
each departmental listing, an address for the departmental office
is given. Go to the departmental office and ask for a list of
the faculty and their research interests.
Visit the web pages of biological sciences departments on campus.
Many departmental web pages have links to web pages of individual
faculty members where descriptions of their research can be found.
Visit a new web site, Undergraduate Research Clearing House. At
this site some mentors on campus post announcements about specific
research projects they are seeking undergraduates to work on.
Use a searchable database to search for a topic that interests
you. One such database is the Community of Science.
Reading about a potential mentor’s area of research
Read about the research of potential mentors. The faculty web
page that you visited probably has a brief overview of the research
projects going on in that mentor’s laboratory/ research program.
In addition, many faculty web pages list some of the publications
that the faculty member has authored. You may want to locate some
of these publications at a campus library and read them for a
more in-depth background before approaching the potential mentor.
You may find that these publications are written at a level that
is hard to understand, given your exposure to specific scientific
areas thus far, but you will probably be able to get a basic idea
of what the research involves by reading the Abstract and Introduction
portions of the research article.
Approaching a potential mentor
Once you have an idea of the mentor’s research, you are
ready to contact the mentor. You may choose to do this initially
by email or to send him/her a packet containing a letter of interest
and some information about yourself. In some cases, you may be
able to contact the mentor by going in person to his/her office
or lab or by calling them on the telephone.
In an initial contact with a potential mentor, you will want
to convey some of the following information about yourself and
your research interests:
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Background information about yourself including your name,
address, phone number, email address, your area of research
interest, your educational background (for example, course
work in biology, chemistry, physics, computer sciences),
and any previous research experience. You may find that
a simple one-page resume is the best way to organize this
information and to make a good impression on the potential
mentor. Many mentors also like to see a copy of your academic
transcripts.
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The amount of time you are able to commit to a research
project. You should also indicate when this time is and
give an idea of what your other weekly commitments are.
Often it is helpful to show a potential mentor a copy of
your weekly class/work schedule.
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What you read about the mentor’s research that particularly
intrigued you. Also, you will want to identify a general
area of the mentor’s research you read about that you
might like to work on.
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What your motivation for pursuing a research project is.
For example, are you considering a career in research and
looking for an opportunity to try it out? Have you learned
about a topic in your course work that fascinated you and
you want to investigate it in more depth?
Following up on your initial contact with the potential mentor
If the potential mentor you contacted does not respond to your
email, phone call, or letter, you will want to contact them again
after about one week or so. If you initially e-mailed the mentor,
you might want to try sending a letter this time or calling them
on the phone. Getting in touch with a mentor often takes several
tries. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear back from
them immediately or if you cannot reach them right away. Keep
trying! Although mentors are extremely busy people, they are almost
always happy to talk to undergraduates about their research.
Once you are able to contact the potential mentor, you should
ask if they received the information that you sent them about
yourself and your research interests, restate your interest in
getting involved in a research project and ask if they might be
interested in meeting with you to discuss the possibility of your
working on a research project with them.
Meeting with a potential mentor
Usually when a potential mentor agrees to meet with you, they
are interested in finding out more about you before they make
a commitment about acting as your mentor. The potential mentor
is probably interested in hearing about your interests in research
and in judging your level of motivation and enthusiasm. Be prepared
to explain what you hope to get out of a research experience,
why you are interested in this mentor’s research and what
general type of project you are interested in. Be sure to ask
the mentor to describe the research projects going on in his/her
labs and which projects you might be able to get involved in.
Remember that the mentor is an expert in his/her field but that
you are only starting in this area. Now is the time to ask the
basic questions that you need to understand the project and the
science involved. There are also some other important questions
you may want to ask a potential mentor. These include:
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Have you had undergraduates working in your group before?
How did it work out? What are some of those undergraduates
doing now?
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Who would directly supervise my work? Possible answers
range from the professor to post-doctoral researchers, graduate
students, and more experienced undergraduate students. In
nearly all cases, you would be assigned a supervisor and
not be "on your own".
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Is there potential to eventually work on my own project?
Most mentors will reward hard work, reliability, and acquisition
of skills by giving an undergraduate increasing amounts
of responsibility and independence.
At some point in this conversation, if you feel this mentor/research
project is right for you, you will want to ask him/her if he/she
will be your mentor and allow you to work on a project you have
discussed. Good luck!
Understanding undergraduate research from a potential mentor’s
point of view
Faculty have research opportunities for undergraduates BECAUSE
they have been successful in obtaining funds for doing research.
It is of some importance that you understand the nature of this
process, as it greatly affects the way faculty members do business.
To get research funding a researcher writes a proposal to a funding
agency, e.g. National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture,
to build a case for why they have an important and interesting
scientific problem and why they, in particular, have the background
and insights to make progress on this problem. The latter part
demands two things: firstly, they need to show a history of getting
science done and the expertise to do the proposed science and,
secondly, they need to lay out a research plan that convinces
the critical reader that it is highly likely that they will learn
something important, even if some of the testable hypotheses happen
to be wrong.
It is a truism in science that no one ever "solves"
any problem, but instead they change the nature of the problem.
That is, any important problem worth funding will not be completely
understood in the 2-5 year time frame of a grant (the time frame
and the amount of cash depends on the agency and a bit on the
nature of the proposal). One might argue, for example, that it
is important to understand how a bacterium can grow on cyanide
and therefore propose to identify the central proteins(s) for
cyanide utilization and find the genes. After several years, when
the initial funding is about over, a researcher may have done
all that but probably will still not really understand things.
For instance, the researcher may have found that there are more
proteins and genes involved and it is still not quite understood
how the bacterium gets energy, so THESE questions are proposed
for the next grant cycle. If, again, things have gone well, then
the researcher may next propose a more molecular analysis of specific
parts of proteins for the next cycle. Note that we are talking
about perhaps 10 years of funding here.
Now all of this process will involve not only the faculty member
and undergraduates, but graduate students, post-doctoral fellows
(people who have received their PhD degrees and are getting more
experience and broadening their backgrounds for application to
jobs in academics and industry), and staff scientists, all of
whom need to receive support so they can continue the research
and whose time-frames almost certainly do not match any specific
grant period. As you can see, when one runs a research lab, it
is not merely a "nice idea" to renew your grant at the
end of every grant period, but it is critical for the people who
are supported by that grant (and their families). It is therefore
important to everyone in the research group that the group, as
well as the individuals, get science done because otherwise there
will be no research group in the future. The faculty member is,
in essence, responsible for supporting a research "family".
When you ask to do undergraduate research, you are seeking to
join that family.
Put yourself in the shoes of a faculty member. You have a research
group with one or a few funded projects and everyone is working
hard to get science done (which is measured by the production
of quality publications in peer-reviewed journals). You do not
have "extra" piles of money lying about and you and
the people in your lab do not have extra time either. Essentially
all of their careers depend on how much good science they get
done.
Now a bright young undergraduate approaches you and asks to join
the lab. What that undergraduate is really saying, certainly without
knowing it, is "Will you and the students and staff in your
lab, who are trained to do science and whose careers and even
livelihood depend on the continued production of good science,
take the time to teach me to do some science, too? " Why
on earth, when you think about it this way, would anyone say "yes"?
Well, there are several important reasons: (i) The only way any
of us got into science is because, at some point in our lives,
someone said "yes" to us. Most faculty still remember
that. (ii) This IS a university and we therefore owe it to the
students, both undergraduate and graduate students, to teach research
skills. (iii) Good undergraduate researchers are fun to have around.
It is neat to see their interest and excitement at things that
the rest of us have long since taken for granted. (iv) Very good
undergraduates, with the right mentoring become very valuable
members of the research group.
What will cause a faculty member to say "yes" when
you ask to join a research group? First, there must be a group
member with time to mentor and there must be physical space available.
Assuming that these requirements are met, the faculty member will
look to see how likely it is that the undergraduate will "pay
back" the research group, as well as the individual who spends
time training them - by getting things done. The undergrad must
be able to learn to do some things and then do them carefully
and reliably so that others in the group can trust the results.
The faculty member will look for students who are motivated and
interested and will have the time to spend so that there is a
good chance that they will "pay the group back". A student
shows motivation by knowing something about the research when
they knock on the door and by displaying enthusiasm. If someone
is not enthusiastic about getting in the door, they will probably
not be enthusiastic about doing the work. As for "time to
spend", there are a couple factors: the amount of time the
student can commit per week and the number of semesters they are
likely to be around. In both cases, the longer the better, as
it becomes ever more likely that they will become a valuable,
trained member of the group. Most faculty will have almost no
interest in a student, however bright and motivated, who knocks
on the door at the start of the spring semester of their senior
year and can commit 10 hours per week. That is enough for the
student to learn something, it is true, but not enough time for
the student to get anything done. A research group simply cannot
afford to make this sort of commitment very often. Therefore the
earlier in your undergraduate career that you join a group, the
better, especially if you can spend a summer or two, which is
absolutely terrific for providing the extended time periods necessary
to learn the process of doing science.
Despite the best intentions, a research experience may occasionally
just "not work" for you. Be open with your mentor about this and
be prepared to fulfill any time commitments you've made. Try to
avoid leaving a group on a bad note. Your current mentor may help
you identify settings more suited to your interests and skills.
So why do all of this?
If you think that you have any interest in being a scientist
at any level, you really must get involved in a research group
for the following reasons (in no particular order): (i) You would
like a letter of recommendation for you that says: "X worked in
my lab for Y years. They were conscientious and motivated. They
thought about their science and were very careful. They were honest
and interacted well with others in the lab. They will be an excellent
addition to another research group." This is the sort of
thing (perhaps with a few more details!) that will get you a job
and/or get you into graduate school. Science is NOT the body of
facts that exists in books, but rather is an approach to critically
and honestly analyzing the world. If you show you have these traits
of a good scientist, then you will be a valuable member of other
research groups. (ii) Doing science ought to be an amazing and
liberating opportunity. You will rapidly see the extent of human
knowledge and have a small but significant part in the long process
by which we as scientists gradually understand the world. You
will begin to understand the nature of "fact" and how
very difficult it is to know things with certainty and how much
we need to view the world in terms of "degrees of confidence"
about all of our conclusions. This will affect not merely your
view of science, but your view of all claims about the world.
(iii) You will learn if you like research in the agricultural
and life sciences. Indeed, the science you do as an undergraduate
in an agricultural and life science research group anywhere on
campus is the same as what people do in industrial labs around
the country. The specific problem and the specific tools might
vary, but the process of science and the interactions among scientists
in a research group, are essentially the same. That means that
you really can do "real science" here. This is in contrast,
for example, to the difficulty in doing "real business"
here at the UW. You can, of course, play "real music"
as a music major, but you are not actually spending much of your
time doing the real-world things that a professional musician
does to pay the bills). (iv) You’ll probably be a better
student. In your courses, especially in breadth courses like chemistry
and math, it can be tough to see why this information might be
valuable, partly because many of these classes are taught as if
all the students will major in that field. However, when you spend
much time in a research lab, on almost any project, the use and
importance of understanding math and physics, and especially chemistry,
will become pretty obvious. Moreover, when you are sitting in
your organic chem lecture, you will see molecules that will remind
you of some that "your organism" makes or uses. This
connection is, for many of us, a major reason why we became more
interested in the subjects and, of course, therefore became much
better students.
Bottom Line:
The time you spend in a research lab will be the most important
period of your undergraduate career. If you take charge of your
career in this way, it truly will change your life and open doors
that you did not know existed. It will change your view of the
world, your ability to understand that world and show that you
are a unique human being who can contribute in unique ways to
the unraveling of the world’s puzzles. UW is the absolutely
perfect place to do that, as it has one of the largest and best
agricultural and life sciences research structures on earth, so
the opportunities for undergraduates to become involved in research
are without comparison.
Do it.
