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Undergraduate Research Guide
A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR GETTING INVOLVED IN RESEARCH
STEP-1: EXPLORE YOUR INTERESTS
Psychological research varies greatly in both content and methodology.
Spend time thinking about the kind of research that interests you. What topics have
most interested you in your psychology courses? Which methods excited you? What
skills do you wish to gain? What sort of research experiences do you want to have?
What style of work do you enjoy?
You need not have a specific topic of research in mind when you begin to explore
research opportunities. However, before approaching a potential mentor you should
have thought about where your interests are concentrated and what excites you
about research.
STEP-2: LOCATE A SET OF POTENTIAL RESEARCH MENTORS
Browse the research descriptions of faculty research on the CMU Psychology web
site to get an idea of the variety of psychological research conducted at CMU.
Be aware that you may find that the style of research that interests you most is not
represented in the research interests of the CMU Psychology faculty. Psychological
research spans many departmental boundaries. You may find suitable research mentors
in other departments (e.g., Biological Sciences
or at the University of Pittsburgh.
A great variety of psychological research is conducted in the Pittsburgh area.
Many of our students have found research mentors from other departments and other
universities. Almost every department has a list of faculty research interests available
on the web. Use the web to browse faculty interests to locate possible research mentors
whose interests match your own.
In doing so, however, be prepared to be flexible. As a new researcher, you will need to
be open to opportunities. The most important things you gain from early research
experience are a feel for the flow of research, some general research skills, and the
development of a relationship with a research mentor. Any research topic will provide
you with these experiences. As you develop as a researcher, you will move into
research areas that more and more closely match your personal intellectual interests.
STEP-3: APPROACHING A FACULTY ADVISOR
Once you have found potential faculty mentors you will need to find out whether
there are research positions available.
Schedule an appointment with the faculty member to express your interest in the
research project. You should let the faculty member know you would like to find out more
about the research and the possibility of working on the project. Faculty members are
very busy people, so be respectful of your prospective mentor's time. Email is a good
way to communicate your interest initially.
Make sure to do your homework! Use the web to find research articles relevant to
the research project(s) ongoing in the laboratory or request them directly from your
prospective faculty mentor. Read all that you can and try to understand the basic
principles of the research, the methods and the general conclusions before your meeting
with your prospective mentor.
Arrive at your meeting prepared. Be prepared to discuss your qualifications with
your prospective mentor. Have a copy of your transcript and be ready to explain
why you are interested in their research program.
You should also have a clear sense of your expectations:
What interests you about this area of research?
What do you wish to get out of the research experience?
What are your long-term educational or career goals?
How much time can you commit to the research project
(hours/week and number of semesters)?
What skills do you already possess that might be useful to the research?
Ask questions! If you've done your homework, you no doubt have questions about the
research. Now is the time to ask. What sort of research work will you be conducting?
What are your mentor's expectations? What sort of responsibilities will you have?
How much of a time commitment is required? What skills will you be expected to learn?
Don't be discouraged if your chosen mentor is not available to work with you. Be aware
that your prospective mentor may not have the time or resources to work with a student
at the current time. Usually, this is no reflection upon you but rather a result your
prospective mentor's busy schedule or full laboratory. There are other opportunities
out there!
STEP-4: ONCE YOU'VE FOUND A RESEARCH POSITION
As a new researcher, you will need to master the basics. Most often, you will begin
doing routine work to get involved in the research project and allow for your mentor to
observe your ability to work responsibly. You will probably begin working on a small part
of a much larger project. As you gain skills, you will advance in your responsibilities.
Take an active interest in the research. Be responsible and detail-oriented. Your behavior
in the lab will hasten the trajectory toward independent research. Find out what others in
the lab are doing and get a feel for the "big picture" of the research being conducted.
Ask questions and continue doing your homework by reading material related to the
project. Don't be frustrated if you do not understand everything at first. Once you become
familiar with the bigger questions, the smaller issues will fall into place. Often, mentors
are reluctant to demand additional levels of responsibility from new researchers.
You should take an active role in communicating your desire for greater responsibility
with your mentor. Go the "extra mile" and do more than is strictly required of you. If you
wish to do more than routine laboratory tasks, this is the best way to demonstrate to
your mentor that you are ready for the responsibility. The more you put into the
experience, the more you are likely to get out of it.
STEP-5: HAVE FUN!
We all love research so much that we've decided to spend our lives doing it.
This is your opportunity to find out if you find it as intellectually engaging,
challenging and fun as we do. Enjoy!
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