Department of Integrative Biology

Develop a list of possible mentors:                                                                                          

There are very few central list of research opportunities, and the vast majority will never be listed anywhere. Students need to search for faculty or graduate students who are willing to mentor them. Most often, research begins with volunteering in a lab. Approaches to finding these opportunities include:

• Look broadly at OSU life science research units of interest. Look for "faculty" or "research" sections of these website. Review the research pages of faculty using the search window on the OSU homepage to find their department website. Create a list of faculty and labs that are engaged in work you might be interested in.
• The SUREscience summer research program matches College of Science students with mentors and does not require experience, but it is competitive and requires solid academic performance. Students should seek opportunites to volunteer in addition to any SUREscience application.
• Review the Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and the Arts opportunities list
• Review the list of OSU students jobs that may include research duties 

Contact mentors you are interested in working with: 

Emails or meetings with mentors are professional interactions similar to job interviews. The best approach is to contact faculty or graduate students directly to see if you can set up a meeting to discuss volunteering. A few tips: 

• Do not send blanket emails. Address each professor or graduate student individually and try to set up a meeting.
• Unless positions are advertised, students should propose volunteering. Volunteering can lead to paid positions.
• Volunteers are not expected to have experience. If you do have experience, let them know about it.
• Students are not expected to work many hours when volunteering. Be honest about what you can commit to.
• It is a good idea to put together a resume to attach to your email. Review the resume tips on the careers website.
• You should wait at least a week before you expect a response to emails. If you do not hear back from a faculty member you can stop by and talk to them about your message or politely follow up by email.

Once you find a mentor, then you can consider some of the many research funding opportunities at OSU and elsewhere.