Undergraduate
Research Opportunities
·
Find out what
interests you – or doesn’t. This is a
perfect time to explore a variety of fields, approaches, working styles, career
paths.
·
Shop around
for graduate schools. Network with
professors and researchers.
·
Summer
research programs are more
intensive—you are generally expected to commit full-time to the research
program without taking summer classes or working other jobs. Good summer projects are designed for you to
get results quickly; you learn a lot in a short period of time.
·
School-year
research is part-time
(typically 10 hours per week), with work hours arranged around your class
schedule. Doing research during the
school year requires time management, and progress can be slow. However, school year research may allow you
to stay long-term on a project and is more likely to lead to senior thesis
projects, publications and opportunities to attend professional meetings, as
well as integration into a research group.
·
Think about
what interests you, then find out who does it – check out faculty webpages, ask
your course instructors and TA’s about research areas in their department.
·
Approaching
faculty or researchers - be clear about
what you’re asking for! Do you want your own research project or do you
want to assist others? Do you want
credits? Do you want a senior thesis
project? Will you volunteer or do
you need to be paid? What time
commitment can you make?
·
Novice researchers should look for organized research programs
which provide programmatic support such as arranged housing, weekly group meetings,
social activities with other research interns, etc. Experienced researchers can be more adventurous about finding their
own placements, not necessarily within the scope of a formal program.
·
Think about
your primary motivation for doing
research. If you are interested in
graduate school, then look to the institutions where you might go. If a particular research area gets you most
excited, then find out where that work is being done. Professors are an excellent source of information about who does
what and where.
·
Interdisciplinary research can be very exciting and challenging, and
is an excellent way to learn about a wide variety of career paths that you
might take with a given background/degree.
·
Use the web to go shopping. If
want to go to a specific institution, then go to their website and hunt around
the academic department and research center websites.
What do application reviewers most want to
see? They want to see a convincing and
appropriate motivation for doing research.
They want some evidence that you are capable, reliable and mature. They want to see that you have done your
homework.
·
Statement of Interest Essay: This
is a critical piece, and demands your best effort. Discuss in detail your
personal motivations, the WHY you want to do research. Sharing an experience or mentor that/who
excited you about your particular interest is a good example. Do not write a generic multi-purpose essay
for 10 different programs. Better to choose 3 to 5 programs and hand-tailor
your essay to match the research focus or other attributes of each program.
·
Recommendation Letter(s): This is the second most critical piece. Get letters from professors/instructors who
know you personally, preferably someone who knows the full range of your
abilities and who can write you a strong letter (don’t be afraid to ask them if
they will be able to write “a strong letter” for you). Letter writers should be from the same or related
field/area as your research interest.
Other Things to Keep in Mind:
·
Application Deadlines for formal summer
programs are generally
February to March. You should plan to
start searching for programs in JANUARY.
·
Start and End Dates will be very different for programs at
semester-system vs. quarter-system schools.
Contact the program coordinator to discuss the possibility of starting
and ending late/early – some places will be very flexible.
WEBSITES
for Undergraduate Research in Science and Engineering:
UCSB Programs Overview:
http://research.ucsb.edu/undergrad/funding/funding_opportunities.shtml
Programs Organized at UCSB
for UCSB Students:
Beckman Scholars Program: Summer and academic year research for UCSB Bio/Chem/ChemE
majors.
http://csep.cnsi.ucsb.edu/undergrad/beckman_scholars
California Alliance for Minority Participation (CAMP): Summer research for UCSB under-represented
students.
Center for Energy
Efficient Materials (CEEM) Undergraduate Research: Summer and academic school year
research internships for science and engineering majors.
http://ceem.ucsb.edu/programs/ugrad-research
Center for Nanotechnology and Society: Summer research internships in social
science and humanities.
http://www.cns.ucsb.edu/undergraduate-summer-research-internships
Cooperative International Science and
Engineering Internships (CISEI): Summer
internships in Chile, the Netherlands, Ireland, England, China and Germany:
http://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/CISEI/
Diagnostics for Monitoring
Disease-Undergraduate Research Experience & Knowledge Award
(DiaMonD-UREKA): Summer
internships in Dublin, Ireland:
http://csep.cnsi.ucsb.edu/undergrad
Early
Undergraduate Research and Knowledge Acquisition (EUREKA!): Academic
year research experience for freshman and sophomores.
http://csep.cnsi.ucsb.edu/undergrad
McNair
Scholars Program: Academic year and summer research programs
for UCSB underrepresented students:
UC Leadership Excellence through Advanced Degrees (UC LEADS): Two-year program including research
internships at two UC campuses.
http://education.cnsi.ucsb.edu/ucleads/
Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URCA): Funding for undergrad research projects.
http://www.ltsc.ucsb.edu/urca/index.php
Research Interns in Science and Engineering (RISE): School Year internships are for UCSB
students only.
Programs at UCSB Primarily
for non-UCSB Students:
Internships in NanoSystems Science, Engineering and Technology
(INSET): Summer internships
for California community college students.
http://csep.cnsi.ucsb.edu/undergrad/inset
National Nanofabrication Infrastructure Network (NNIN): Summer internships.
http://www.nnin.org/nnin_reu.html
Research Interns in Science and Engineering (RISE): Summer internships are primarily for
non-UCSB students.
Summer Applied Biotechnology Research
Experience (SABRE) Summer
experience for science and engineering undergrads and grads.
http://www.icb.ucsb.edu/sabre/
Nation-Wide One-Stop
Shopping:
National Institute of Health (NIH): For biomedical-related research only:
https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/sip
National Science Foundation (NSF): “Research Experience for Undergraduates”
(REU) programs, for all science, engineering and mathematics fields, including
behavioral and social sciences:
http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education: Lists programs sponsored by a range of
government agencies, including EPS, Dept of Energy, Dept of Defense, NOAA, etc.
http://www.orau.gov/orise/edu/uggrad/undergrads.htm
Other National Major
Agencies and Laboratories:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA): Undergraduate
Student Research Program, at several institutions:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): NOAA
Coastal Services Center:
http://www.csc.noaa.gov/cms/fellows/undgrad_opportunities.html
National Laboratories Science Undergraduate Laboratory
Internships:
http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/SciEd/erulf/choose.html
Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships, CNSI, UCSB -- 2011