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Tiana
Student
Colorado Springs, Colorado
1
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Advice on Figuring Out Research?
The college I'm planning on intending offers undergraduate research, so I was wondering how to decide what I wanted to research about. I'm majoring in Biology with an emphasis on Marine Biology, and interested in climate and marine life conservation.
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1 answer
Karin P.
Lecturer, Academic Advisor, Career Coach
642
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Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
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Karin’s Answer
Hi Tiana,
That's great! By all means, get into undergraduate research. You don't have to decide the rest of your life at this point. You probably also don't have to start in your first semester (unless the program is structured in a way that you have a research module every semester).
If the college "offers" undergraduate research, it's probably a formal program (like REU) that is extracurricular. It could also be a module with a course code. You should be able to look up faculty who are involved in the program or in the module and what their research area is. There might even be a list of available projects.
Pick something that interests you. If there is something about Marine Biology, or Climate or Conservation, pick that. If there is something else that tickles your curiosity, that's fine too. This is not the time to specialize. This is the time to get your feet wet in research and explore your interests (or even things that you didn't know could be interesting).
The other option is to look up faculty research interests, talk to professors, graduate students and TAs about their projects. You can then approach individual faculty and ask if you could join their research as an undergraduate.
When you start your program, you'll have orientation sessions for the program. You should also talk to your academic advisor. They can tell you all about how things work.
I hope this helps! All the best!
KP
That's great! By all means, get into undergraduate research. You don't have to decide the rest of your life at this point. You probably also don't have to start in your first semester (unless the program is structured in a way that you have a research module every semester).
If the college "offers" undergraduate research, it's probably a formal program (like REU) that is extracurricular. It could also be a module with a course code. You should be able to look up faculty who are involved in the program or in the module and what their research area is. There might even be a list of available projects.
Pick something that interests you. If there is something about Marine Biology, or Climate or Conservation, pick that. If there is something else that tickles your curiosity, that's fine too. This is not the time to specialize. This is the time to get your feet wet in research and explore your interests (or even things that you didn't know could be interesting).
The other option is to look up faculty research interests, talk to professors, graduate students and TAs about their projects. You can then approach individual faculty and ask if you could join their research as an undergraduate.
When you start your program, you'll have orientation sessions for the program. You should also talk to your academic advisor. They can tell you all about how things work.
I hope this helps! All the best!
KP