i'm a rising junior in chem, and i'm pretty sure i want to start doing some research this summer, even if it's unpaid.

has anyone done this? how did you go about getting a research position? i only know personally of one other chem student who has done this, but she was asked at the end of her freshman year to join a research group.

5/5/2006 1:17:37 AM

prob help out at a pharmacy, thats what one of the girls i know is doin...what u wanna do with your chem degree? that would help narrow it

5/5/2006 1:56:22 AM

you're starting a little late, in the future check out Research Experiences for Undergraduates sponsored by the National Science Foundation. These are paid summer research fellowships at places all over the country, I did one in Costa Rica and it changed my life.

5/5/2006 2:15:12 AM

Find a professor whose research interests you and volunteer to wash dishes/do the dirty work in their labs. That would get your foot in the door. Very few labs turn down free labor.

5/5/2006 2:28:20 AM

i haven't figured out what i want to do with my degree yet. i am looking at either law school, pharmacy school, or grad school.

i emailed dr. gunnoe, who's in charge of undergrad research, and he told me it was very late, but my friend who has done research said it wasn't late at all - so i don't really know who to believe. i know the REUs are way past deadlines, but that's not what i'm looking for - i want to research with a faculty group here at state.

5/5/2006 2:31:33 AM

You'd be surprised how many REU positions may or may not be open. Largely depends on the number of undergraduate students in that department and how many REU's are typically available. I remember accepting an REU for the ST department and there were still a couple openings in May.

I personally wouldn't accept an unpaid research position. You can be a dishwasher in a lab and still earn a small SOMETHING. If you are getting 6 credit hours of undergraduate research credit ... that's a different story. Regardless, its definitely something worth doing, as you'll most likely pick up a good deal of experience in a research lab.

5/5/2006 6:30:54 AM

finding a professor and researching their interests is definitely the way to go

1. google any professor from your major and chances are, they'll have a page with their various research projects; browse their website to get a feel for their research
2. shoot them an e-mail beginning with a "hope you are doing well" or some pleasantry and then explain your situation and why you want to work in their lab, or, if they don't have a position, if they could point you in the right direction. attach a cv/resume
3. follow up. a lot. some professors want to see perseverance, others are too disorganized to keep track of hundreds of e-mails a day. professors will almost always respond positively (for you) to constant nagging
4. ...
5. profit


there's no time frame for these things (unless you're talking about applying for REU/NSF stuff) the main thing is being proactive as shit and not getting discouraged by rejection, because it will happen. good luck.

5/5/2006 11:16:10 AM

Word of mouth works best. Start with a professor you have had a class with that knows you in a positive light, and although they may not have anything for you, professors talk amongst each other. He may have a friend with available openings, and suddenly you are coming referred from a collegue instead of just some random student making a cold call. It can make the world of difference, especially since it IS late in the game for most formal opportunities. If you haven't already, you need to update/create your resume because it is one of the first things you will be asked for.

5/5/2006 11:24:15 AM

Quote :

"I personally wouldn't accept an unpaid research position. You can be a dishwasher in a lab and still earn a small SOMETHING. If you are getting 6 credit hours of undergraduate research credit ... that's a different story. Regardless, its definitely something worth doing, as you'll most likely pick up a good deal of experience in a research lab."

I wholeheartedly agree, but just because you're getting 492/493 research credit doesn't mean you still can't get paid a stipend. That's where things like the REU are really great. I know there's lots of Physics and Statistics REU's here at State, but a quick look at the site and I just found a chemistry one as well.

Quote :

"North Carolina State University Research Experience for Undergraduates at North Carolina State University, Department of Chemistry Department of Chemistry Raleigh, NC 27695 Primary: Lin He 919-515-2993 Lin_He@ncsu.edu Secondary: Paul Maggard 919-515-3616 Paul_Maggard@ncsu.edu Research Topics/Keywords: Chemistry"

Here's the NCSU Chemistry REU website http://www.ncsu.edu/chemistry/chemreu/index.html

At the very least you should be able to find someone that can hook you up from there, and it's never too late to start making contacts for next year and the near future.

5/5/2006 12:23:13 PM

yeah, i pretty much missed the boat on the REUs.

5/5/2006 2:56:12 PM

It might be too late for summer research employment at the university, but that doesn't rule out industry. This wouldn't help your future aspirations as much as undergraduate research, but at least it's experience in your field. Being an intern at a company will also give you some idea of if you really want to earn your living as a chemist, or go to law or pharmacy school.

I was helping an advisee look through the university career center adds. I seem to recall a few for summer internships in the RTP area. You'd want to search as more than just chemist as a keyword. I believe there are some choices for quality assurance, scientist, research.

Here are some people in chemistry that can be good contacts.

Go talk to Dr. Gunoe for summer research, even if he says it's late. It won't cost you anything but time to talk to him and fill out the application. Somebody may get word on a grant that just came through and be looking to hire. If not, at least you have some idea of who you might want to research for during the semester for credit.

Try Dr. Brown. Technically, the man is the new undergraduate advisor (Boss is retiring.). Brown came from industry and has kept his contacts.

Also, try Dr. Bill Switzer. He seems to forward a lot of email where somebody's looking for an NCSU student. Usually it's a graduate the company's looking for, but he may have a line on some local internships. You'd be surprised what might come up at the last minute from local companies. Summer internship money is "use-it-or-lose-it". Companies would much rather use it then ever have a program reduced in budget due to lack of qualified applicants. My spouse works at a local biotech establishment and wanted me to give him some last-minute candidates last year, because they didn't like their pool of applicants.

My advisee (a junior) landed an analytical job with an RTP company for the summer. She has family that works there. Her goals are different, though. She's stopping at a 4-year-degree. She's also done research during the semester for pay in one of the nutrition labs. She wound up doing quite a bit of microbiology.

Good luck in your search.

5/5/2006 10:19:30 PM

Yes, you're very late in starting the search for this but it's probably not impossible. Talk to your advisor. They'll know who is actually looking for someone and who has a decent track record for undergrads. If there's someone new in the department they may want free undergrad labor.

A lot of people will tell you "don't work for nothing". I worked for nothing for two years. Why? If I found a job in my department that paid, it'd be mostly dishwashing. I worked for a new professor who had no grant money to pay anyone, but at the same time, when I started had no grad students and therefore could devote a great deal of time to teaching me how to do things. The mentor relationship that started then continues strong today; even after grad students joined the lab my professor has made it a point to continue working with me personally on an independent project rather than just throwing me to a grad student to be his or her lackey. If you can possibly afford it, value a high-quality undergraduate research experience that allows you to get a glimpse of what would be required of you in graduate school and make a good decision on that over getting paid $8 an hour to do mindless glasswashing that wouldn't prepare you to make the important career decisions you're going to face in the next year or two.

5/6/2006 3:20:47 AM

check the ncsu undergrad research website. search for it yourself.

5/8/2006 1:17:56 AM

yea, I have done undergraduate research in the chemistry department for 2 years now; it's all about asking the professor that you are interested in working for whether or not they want to take you as a student; they probably won't pay you since it comes out of their own grant money but I'm sure they wouldn't mind teaching you laboratory techniques and starting you on a project under a grad student...hope this helps!

[Edited on May 8, 2006 at 10:13 PM. Reason : .]

5/8/2006 10:13:08 PM

ah, a professor replied back. woohoo.

5/8/2006 10:35:11 PM