Tips on Finding Undergraduate Research
Undergraduate research is an invaluable experience, whether you decide on professional/graduate school or entering the workforce after completing your bachelor's degree. Learn more about how undergraduate research can benefit your future by visiting the College of Natural Science Experiential Learning page.
Undergraduate research positions may often start as volunteer positions, and volunteer positions can sometimes lead to paid positions. However, there can also be paid positions.
The College of Natural Science has various research-specific scholarships and awards that can also help fund students' research endeavors in an MSU research lab.
How do I seek out undergraduate research opportunities?
In general, many students seek them out by directly emailing the professors/principal investigators (PIs) and/or lab managers to ask if there are any open undergraduate research assistant positions in their labs. Students typically learn more about faculty’s research through reading their biographies as well as exploring their lab websites for more information.
Some professors may also have an undergraduate research assistant application form on their lab websites, so studens can apply via those forms.
Research opportunities at MSU may be posted on Handshake.
Summer undergradauate research opportunities exist within and outside MSU. However, most students looking to join a summer undergraduate research program will often go elsewhere. Often, Department of Physiology faculty receive postings and flyers from colleagues at other universities and forward the information to academic advising. These summer opportunities can help students get research experience for graduate school as well as help connect them to faculty outside of MSU.
About MSU SROP: The Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) is a gateway to graduate education at Big Ten Academic Alliance universities. The goal of the program is to increase the number of underrepresented students who pursue graduate study and research careers. SROP helps prepare undergraduates for graduate study through intensive research experiences with faculty mentors and enrichment activities. Learn more about MSU SROP here: https://grad.msu.edu/srop
A full list of approved research study abroad programs can be found https://educationabroad.isp.msu.edu/explore/education-abroad-basics/program-types/research/approved-programs-research-abroad/
If you have any questions about summer research study abroad opportunities, please contact:
- College of Natural Science: Sarah Whitaker, Director of Experiential Learning and Education Abroad, whitak41@msu.edu
- Lyman Briggs College: Anne Slavin, Assistant Director of Education Abroad & Away and Academic Advisor, schrock7@msu.edu
You can engage in research across disciplines, so don't feel like you need to limit yourself to research directly related to your major. Undergraduate students have engaged in research in related fields such as psychology, engineering, microbiology, integrative biology, chemistry, biochemistry, animal science, sociology, public health, digital humanities, pharmacology & toxicology, and more.
How do I compose an email expressing my interest in a possible undergraduate research opportunity in a lab?
Students will need to be persistent when finding opportunities. Many students are looking for research positions, and faculty members don’t always have time to respond to all inquiries. Don't feel discouraged if you don't hear a response back!
However, here are some email tips that can help you stand out:
- Write in a formal, clear, and concise style
- Do not compose an email like a text message.
- Make sure that you proofread your email for spelling and grammatical errors.
- Use multiple paragraphs as needed to structure your email. Avoid long walls of text.
- Include a greeting to address the professor/PI: Dear Dr. (Last Name),
- Introduce yourself and let them know you are looking for undergraduate research opportunities or applying for a position in the lab.
- In a clear and concise manner, talk about why you are interested in the professor’s
research.
- This means you will need to do some homework ahead of emailing the professor.
- Review the faculty member’s biography in the directory, their research lab website, and read one or more of their recent journal articles
- Look for articles where the professor is listed as the first or last author. The last
author in science articles is usually the Principal Investigator (PI) – the head of
the research lab.
- Example: In the citation, "Wolverine, M., Warrior, W., Buckeye, O., & Sparty, M. (2017)," M. Sparty is the principal investigator.
- Reflect on the following questions to help you explain your interest in their work
- Why is this research interesting to me? What am I curious about?
- Does this research have any connections to my coursework? If so, how?
- What do I understand about the research, and what do I have questions about?
- What do I hope to gain from my involvement in research?
- What experience(s) do I bring to the table that would be valuable in a research setting?
- This means you will need to do some homework ahead of emailing the professor.
- Attach your updated resume to the email.
- If possible, provide day(s) and time(s) that you are available to come into the lab
in the semester you would like to start engaging in undergraduate research
- Availability should be confined to typical business hours: Monday through Friday between 8am-5pm.
- Thank the professor for their consideration.
- Use a signature at the bottom of your email, including your name, major, email, and phone.
Other MSU Undergraduate Research Resources
Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Office
Pathways to Research Program
The Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Office hosts the Pathways to Research
Program (PTR) every semester. You can learn more about the program and apply (if applications
are open) at https://urca.msu.edu/pathway.
Other URCA Resources
List of opportunities, which includes information about research study abroad programs
and summer research opportunities: https://urca.msu.edu/opportunities
Got More Questions?
Any further questions can be directed to ugrsrch@msu.edu
Career Services Network (for resume review and interview preparation)
If you need your resume and/or cover letter reviewed prior to reaching out to research labs/faculty, we recommend scheduling a career advising appointment with one of the career advisors in the Career Services Network. You can also view the Career Services Network resources on writing resumes and cover letters.
Handshake
Research opportunities at MSU may also be posted on Handshake, MSU's career management platform. All enrolled students at MSU have a Handshake account they can set up to look for on-campus and off-campus jobs and internships.