Undergraduate Research

There are several ways that undergraduates can get experience working in a research laboratory:

First, look through your class schedule and decide how many hours per week you can work. The times that you have available will help determine which projects you can work on. Keep in mind that you'll need to spend some time on homework, sleeping, and having fun; if you're taking 18 credits this semester, this is not the best time to commit to lab work. Lab experience can make a good academic record look even better, but it won't "rescue" a poor academic record, so don't let the lab work come at the expense of your coursework.

Next, look through the descriptions of the research conducted by scientists at Columbia University in the Departments of Biological Sciences, Chemistry (which includes labs in biochemistry) and Psychology (which includes labs in the neurosciences). These are all on campus, and easy to get to between classes. There are also opportunities in the Zuckerman Mind, Brain & Behavior Institute (https://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu ), which is located at 129^th & Broadway. Many students also work on the Health Sciences Campus, on 168th Street, which you can get to in about 15 minutes on the free shuttle bus (or on the 1 uptown subway or M4 bus). The bus leaves about once or twice an hour, so this option is best for those who have several long blocks of time available, rather than just an hour or two between classes. Most students work in the basic science departments. Read through the description of approved SURF mentors research topics on the surf mentors page including links to their websites, and choose 5 or 6 scientists whose work sounds interesting. Don't feel that you have to go to some "big name", established scientist. In most of these labs, which are very large, you won't be working directly with the lab head anyway, but will be assigned to work with a lab technician, graduate student, or postdoctoral fellow.

Once you identify a few potential mentors, you can find their email either on their web pages or in the Columbia directory.

Contact these scientists and say that you're an undergraduate student who would like to get some experience working in their lab. Make sure to mention something about their research (you will need to do your homework) You'll either get:

A. No response.

B. "No, sorry, I can't take any more students." There are many reasons why a scientist may not want you to work there. Firstly, there may already be a lot of people in that lab, and if everyone is crowded around the same equipment, no one will be able to work very efficiently. Secondly, you will be entering the lab as a novice and someone will have to train you in the techniques that you will use. If the other people in the lab are particularly busy this semester, they may not be able to give you the attention needed to train you. In any event, don't take it personally if you get several rejections. Just go through the list of scientists and choose the next 5 who sound interesting.

C. "Maybe. Come in and we'll talk." Make an appointment to meet the scientist. If the lab is uptown, check the shuttle bus schedule to see when it would be most convenient to schedule a meeting. Here are some things you can do to prepare for an interview:

1. Read the description of their research interests if they've put this on the web. This will probably be too technical for you to understand completely. Find the key terms in this description, look them up in the index of your biology textbook (e.g., Purves or Becker) or online, and read the relevant sections of the text. The professors will not expect you to know about their own research, but they will expect that you to remember a little basic biology.

2. Put together a description of your background. This doesn't have to be as formal as a resume, but it will be helpful if you can bring a page that lists: your name, address, email, phone #, science courses (including math and computer sciences) you've taken or are currently taking (and the grades, if they're good; omit them, if they're not), any lab experience you've had, computer skills, career goals, other noteworthy experience. This can be useful both as a conversation starter, and as something for the professor to keep on file, in case it is not possible to make a place for you in the lab right away.

3. Bring a timetable that shows your class schedule, so the professor can see the times that you'll be available.

4. The scientist will probably ask whether you've worked in a lab before, and if so, what you did. If you have some lab experience from high school, you should review beforehand in your own mind what you did, so that you'll be able to give a coherent, concise, 3-4 minute description of the purpose of the experiment, the techniques you used, your interpretation of the results.

5. Dress nicely, but casually. This is not a business interview, and you don't want to give the impression that you're so concerned about your three-piece suit or your three-shade nail polish that you won't be willing to get your hands dirty at the lab bench.

The interview is not a cross-examination, but simply an informal conversation to help the scientist decide if you seem eager and able to learn, whether you'll get along with the others in the labs, whether your schedule makes it possible to work on a particular project. At the same time, you should be thinking about whether you'd like to work in this particular lab. Most students are very satisfied with whichever lab they work in, but if you feel uncomfortable at the interview (everyone in the lab looks unhappy, the scientist doesn't seem able to explain things in a way that you can understand), you may want to try a different lab.

The type of work you'll be offered will depend in part on how much time you have available. Many students start out by working 5-10 hours/week, doing routine maintenance: feeding animals, ordering supplies, making up solutions, preparing equipment for experiments, and helping other lab workers in their experiments. After getting some experience, students may be given independent projects to work on, but many such projects require a larger time commitment (10-15 hours/week).