Finding research opportunities: 

  1. Find faculty in areas you would like to conduct research by using any of the following approaches:                                                                                          

    Look up life science units of interest to find faculty of interest. As stated above, be broad with your initial searches in different academic units. Look for buttons related to faculty or research on the websites of units you are interested in.
    OR
    Talk to faculty who teach courses you enjoy to see if they can assist you with finding research opportunities in those areas. Students in BI 212 or who have completed BI 212 and performed well can speak with Dr. Jeff Chang or other facilitators about the CONNEX undergraduate research program.
    OR
    Apply to summer research programs such as the OSU Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and the Arts program (URSA - formerly HHMI). Many of these programs are fully funded and some of them, such as URSA, do not require previous experience.
    OR
    A limited number of paid campus positions which involve research are listed on Beaver JobNet each term.

  2. Look up the research pages of faculty you found above by using the search window on the OSU homepage or looking up their department website. Read over their research and see what projects you are interested in. 
  3. Contact faculty you are interested in working with. Their contact information can be found using the online Find Someone at OSU tool. Emails and discussions with them should be treated as professional interactions similar to job interviews. A few tips to keep in mind:
    • Unless positions are advertised, students should generally propose volunteering to gain experience. Volunteering can lead to paid positions over time. If you have work-study money, let them know because it makes you more reasonable to hire.
    • Students 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 they are volunteering. Be honest about what you can commit to and make sure you do all of it.
    • It is a good idea, though not essential, to put together a resume or CV that you can attach to your email. See the Career Services science resume tips and science resume sample, and Career Services staff can look over a draft of your resume, as well.
    • Students can apply for funding to support research in a lab, though this generally does not happen initially since it involves a proposal to work on a project which you develop over time with the faculty member running the lab.
  4. There are also many regional and national research opportunities outside of OSU.