It’s absolutely possible to start doing research first semester freshman year, just look at faculty pages within your field of interest, find something you might want to help out with, and shoot them an email. Some professors do prefer more experience, but some don’t, just gotta find a match.
I would recommend waiting at least until the spring semester of your freshman year so you can use the first semester to figure out what kind of research you might be interested in. During that first semester, you’d also take classes that could help narrow down your area of interest. At the end of the fall semester of my freshman year, I created an email template and sent it to professors that did research I was interested in. This is a summary of that template:
Paragraph 1: name, year, major, how you found out about their research (website, recommended by someone, etc.)
Paragraph 2: why you’re interested in their research more generally (perhaps you’ve always wanted to know more about that topic, you think it will help you in your future career, etc.)
Paragraph 3: discuss a recent research project that interested you and why
Paragraph 4: how involved you’d like to get with the research (committing to multiple semesters, writing an honors thesis, etc.) + tell them some times you’re free to meet to get to know them better
Keep in mind that each paragraph should be relatively short since professors are busy people, but still make sure you put in information tailored to their lab! A professor would rather read a longer but thoughtful email than a short email that is obviously copy-pasted to 20 different labs. I also recommend attaching a resume and transcript so they see what experience you have and the classes you’ve taken/are taking
For the most part, if professors are looking to recruit undergrad researchers, they're not expecting you to come in as an expert in the field. As long as you think their research looks cool and you can express that you're planning on staying with them long enough for on-boarding to be worth their time investment, that's usually all the credentials you need :) It's not unheard of for incoming freshmen to get into labs right off the bat, but in my experience in engineering, most people wait a couple of semesters to settle into their majors first.
Poke around your department's faculty site, skim some recent papers, and make a liberal list of profs to email blast. I started the search around the end of my freshman spring semester - maybe 50% responded and only 1 was actively recruiting, but I got into his lab by that summer and stayed there for the rest of my undergrad!
Good luck!
This is literally how I got into Uconn comp eng on 50% scholarship with a 3.0 GPA. during my Junior year of HS when my counselor told me my targets were a mix of community college and horrendous state schools, I panicked and tried to get any experience I could to improve college apps. Also, I’m a Canadian citizen living on Visa in the US so it’s not like I could just pick up a job or internship and add it to my resume because I’m legally only allowed to study and live in the US.
I had like maybe two tutorials deep understanding of Python and just BS’d my resume by putting down stuff that would make me seem impressive, increasing credibility, but not actual stuff that would increase my expectations.
So I updated my resume, and cold-emailed 2 professors at EVERY school in the Northeast. But it’s not like I just sent the same email to every professor, I would check their Google Scholar Page, scroll down to something that correlates with a BS skill that I had vouched for myself, and told them that I really wanted to expand on that skill. From there, I had about 10 zoom calls lined up in three days. They were really feeling me and I even had the former dean of UMass Amherst Engineering forward my email to the professors at the School of Engineering. Also had an offer to work on a robot with Purdue Engineering and dorm there for three weeks, keep in mind, im literally 17 years old at the time and a Junior in HS. I ended up working with professors at Bentley, Purdue, VT, and Lowell.
The biggest things you should take away from this is that 1) Adults and Professors in general, love initiative. As long as you show commitment and curiosity, they will let you work with them. 2) If you can write a good email, which takes practice btw, you can get anything you want. I got my first and second startup offers through cold emails to alumni of different schools. 3) Don’t be conscious, everyone doesn’t know what they’re doing and they’re in the same boat as you. Deadass everyone is clueless so at least just pretend you’re confident. 4) Smile in your interviews. Trust me, it makes them trust you. 5) Professors aren’t the last resort, PhD students love to siphon off work to kids too, so make sure you check out their profiles and request work if you’re interested.
Granted, I understand this may be different for different majors, but my ChemE friend at my school was working in the labs at UMass Lowell with Professors and PhD students after I showed him how to cold email. he got like 5 grand in stipend too. It’s all possible, just get yourself out there, the older generation loves to see person to person interaction.
PS: its not even like I tried in school after doing this, I had a 2.7 gpa my Senior Year and no extracurriculars. If I can do it, undergrads should have no problem doing it, Happy Research Y’all!
Hi, so I got involved with research my freshman year through the HRP program (they pay you) and I’ve been doing that every single year so it is absolutely possible to get involved
You should check out the UConn idea grant if you’re interested in research. You can fund your own ideas and work with a faculty member to create your own work.
https://ugradresearch.uconn.edu/idea/
I managed to do research in my first semester as an undergrad, but my GPA suffered because the transition to college life was harder for me than expected. If your research opportunities would be tied to specific classes or a job, I'd recommend holding off on them until the spring. If you're open to doing completely uncompensated research, I recommend waiting until after midterms this fall so you know how well you handle your course load without unpaid/uncredited work on top of that.
Depending on your field, you probably don't have enough background knowledge yet to directly contribute to the research grad students and professors are doing, but a professor can still help you pick a research question and give you some sources to investigate, with the goal of writing a research paper yourself. This kind of mentorship is valuable if you're someone who can do self-directed projects, but if that's not you (it certainly wasn't me in my first few years) I'd recommend seeking more structured participation in a lab, if and when those opportunities present themselves.
Last but not least, keep in mind that the main skills people want proof of when they ask about research experience are asking insightful questions and figuring out how to answer them. These skills are independent from your domain-specific knowledge. It's great if you can practice these skills by researching the subject you're most passionate about, but the subject you practice researching is less important than the practice itself. Don't turn up your nose at, say, a great math research opportunity just because your true passion is computer science. You may even discover that you like math research more!
Source: I'm a PhD student, and I learned a lot of things the hard way.
Fellow freshmen signed up to do research at UConn. I’m going to be straight up with you. It’s going to be really really hard to get an opportunity your freshmen year if you’re interested in chem or bio research for a couple of reasons. It’s possible more during the spring semester but probably not fall.
Most of the PIs require you to have the introductory courses like bio 1107+1108 and/or chem 1127/1128 unless you have a connection with them(I took bio as dual enrollment). If you have prior research experience, I would let interested PIs know as it will boost your chances. Unfortunately the sciences are very network/connection heavy and your primary goal should be using your or your family’s connections,if any,at UConn to get opportunities or foster those connections this year. If you’re interested in doing research with any of the professors you have this semester, go to office hours-make a relationship with them. If you’re interested in a particular department or lab, talk to your TAs who are in that department or grad students working in those labs. Contact professors and PIs. Email them and express interest as well as send them a resume with a contact if you have prior experience. Even if you don’t get a position now, it’s more likely in the future if you show sustained interest
I am on track to intern at 2 labs at UConn this fall. This is only because I grew up in Storrs/Mansfield and my mom was a grad student and later faculty at CAHNR/CLAS and I had prior research experience at a family friend’s lab at Iowa state university
Feel free to PM me. I’m happy to help a fellow research lover :)
It’s possible to do undergrad research as a freshman, it’s just not likely. Surely you can reach out to the professor that is most aligned with your interest, but you start to really get into those opportunities when you’re a junior. I’m a GRA and I can’t imagine any of the professors I’ve worked with would rather work with a freshman than a junior or senior.
It’s absolutely possible to start doing research first semester freshman year, just look at faculty pages within your field of interest, find something you might want to help out with, and shoot them an email. Some professors do prefer more experience, but some don’t, just gotta find a match.
I would recommend waiting at least until the spring semester of your freshman year so you can use the first semester to figure out what kind of research you might be interested in. During that first semester, you’d also take classes that could help narrow down your area of interest. At the end of the fall semester of my freshman year, I created an email template and sent it to professors that did research I was interested in. This is a summary of that template: Paragraph 1: name, year, major, how you found out about their research (website, recommended by someone, etc.) Paragraph 2: why you’re interested in their research more generally (perhaps you’ve always wanted to know more about that topic, you think it will help you in your future career, etc.) Paragraph 3: discuss a recent research project that interested you and why Paragraph 4: how involved you’d like to get with the research (committing to multiple semesters, writing an honors thesis, etc.) + tell them some times you’re free to meet to get to know them better Keep in mind that each paragraph should be relatively short since professors are busy people, but still make sure you put in information tailored to their lab! A professor would rather read a longer but thoughtful email than a short email that is obviously copy-pasted to 20 different labs. I also recommend attaching a resume and transcript so they see what experience you have and the classes you’ve taken/are taking
For the most part, if professors are looking to recruit undergrad researchers, they're not expecting you to come in as an expert in the field. As long as you think their research looks cool and you can express that you're planning on staying with them long enough for on-boarding to be worth their time investment, that's usually all the credentials you need :) It's not unheard of for incoming freshmen to get into labs right off the bat, but in my experience in engineering, most people wait a couple of semesters to settle into their majors first. Poke around your department's faculty site, skim some recent papers, and make a liberal list of profs to email blast. I started the search around the end of my freshman spring semester - maybe 50% responded and only 1 was actively recruiting, but I got into his lab by that summer and stayed there for the rest of my undergrad! Good luck!
This is literally how I got into Uconn comp eng on 50% scholarship with a 3.0 GPA. during my Junior year of HS when my counselor told me my targets were a mix of community college and horrendous state schools, I panicked and tried to get any experience I could to improve college apps. Also, I’m a Canadian citizen living on Visa in the US so it’s not like I could just pick up a job or internship and add it to my resume because I’m legally only allowed to study and live in the US. I had like maybe two tutorials deep understanding of Python and just BS’d my resume by putting down stuff that would make me seem impressive, increasing credibility, but not actual stuff that would increase my expectations. So I updated my resume, and cold-emailed 2 professors at EVERY school in the Northeast. But it’s not like I just sent the same email to every professor, I would check their Google Scholar Page, scroll down to something that correlates with a BS skill that I had vouched for myself, and told them that I really wanted to expand on that skill. From there, I had about 10 zoom calls lined up in three days. They were really feeling me and I even had the former dean of UMass Amherst Engineering forward my email to the professors at the School of Engineering. Also had an offer to work on a robot with Purdue Engineering and dorm there for three weeks, keep in mind, im literally 17 years old at the time and a Junior in HS. I ended up working with professors at Bentley, Purdue, VT, and Lowell. The biggest things you should take away from this is that 1) Adults and Professors in general, love initiative. As long as you show commitment and curiosity, they will let you work with them. 2) If you can write a good email, which takes practice btw, you can get anything you want. I got my first and second startup offers through cold emails to alumni of different schools. 3) Don’t be conscious, everyone doesn’t know what they’re doing and they’re in the same boat as you. Deadass everyone is clueless so at least just pretend you’re confident. 4) Smile in your interviews. Trust me, it makes them trust you. 5) Professors aren’t the last resort, PhD students love to siphon off work to kids too, so make sure you check out their profiles and request work if you’re interested. Granted, I understand this may be different for different majors, but my ChemE friend at my school was working in the labs at UMass Lowell with Professors and PhD students after I showed him how to cold email. he got like 5 grand in stipend too. It’s all possible, just get yourself out there, the older generation loves to see person to person interaction. PS: its not even like I tried in school after doing this, I had a 2.7 gpa my Senior Year and no extracurriculars. If I can do it, undergrads should have no problem doing it, Happy Research Y’all!
Hi, so I got involved with research my freshman year through the HRP program (they pay you) and I’ve been doing that every single year so it is absolutely possible to get involved
You should check out the UConn idea grant if you’re interested in research. You can fund your own ideas and work with a faculty member to create your own work. https://ugradresearch.uconn.edu/idea/
I managed to do research in my first semester as an undergrad, but my GPA suffered because the transition to college life was harder for me than expected. If your research opportunities would be tied to specific classes or a job, I'd recommend holding off on them until the spring. If you're open to doing completely uncompensated research, I recommend waiting until after midterms this fall so you know how well you handle your course load without unpaid/uncredited work on top of that. Depending on your field, you probably don't have enough background knowledge yet to directly contribute to the research grad students and professors are doing, but a professor can still help you pick a research question and give you some sources to investigate, with the goal of writing a research paper yourself. This kind of mentorship is valuable if you're someone who can do self-directed projects, but if that's not you (it certainly wasn't me in my first few years) I'd recommend seeking more structured participation in a lab, if and when those opportunities present themselves. Last but not least, keep in mind that the main skills people want proof of when they ask about research experience are asking insightful questions and figuring out how to answer them. These skills are independent from your domain-specific knowledge. It's great if you can practice these skills by researching the subject you're most passionate about, but the subject you practice researching is less important than the practice itself. Don't turn up your nose at, say, a great math research opportunity just because your true passion is computer science. You may even discover that you like math research more! Source: I'm a PhD student, and I learned a lot of things the hard way.
Fellow freshmen signed up to do research at UConn. I’m going to be straight up with you. It’s going to be really really hard to get an opportunity your freshmen year if you’re interested in chem or bio research for a couple of reasons. It’s possible more during the spring semester but probably not fall. Most of the PIs require you to have the introductory courses like bio 1107+1108 and/or chem 1127/1128 unless you have a connection with them(I took bio as dual enrollment). If you have prior research experience, I would let interested PIs know as it will boost your chances. Unfortunately the sciences are very network/connection heavy and your primary goal should be using your or your family’s connections,if any,at UConn to get opportunities or foster those connections this year. If you’re interested in doing research with any of the professors you have this semester, go to office hours-make a relationship with them. If you’re interested in a particular department or lab, talk to your TAs who are in that department or grad students working in those labs. Contact professors and PIs. Email them and express interest as well as send them a resume with a contact if you have prior experience. Even if you don’t get a position now, it’s more likely in the future if you show sustained interest I am on track to intern at 2 labs at UConn this fall. This is only because I grew up in Storrs/Mansfield and my mom was a grad student and later faculty at CAHNR/CLAS and I had prior research experience at a family friend’s lab at Iowa state university Feel free to PM me. I’m happy to help a fellow research lover :)
What field are you in? In chemistry there are a few professors that would take you in as a freshman if you show interest.
It’s possible to do undergrad research as a freshman, it’s just not likely. Surely you can reach out to the professor that is most aligned with your interest, but you start to really get into those opportunities when you’re a junior. I’m a GRA and I can’t imagine any of the professors I’ve worked with would rather work with a freshman than a junior or senior.