By Shreya Murthy, OUR Peer Research AmbassadorWhen I tell people that I am doing research, I usually get asked, “which lab are you in?” My response is always, “my lab is my backpack!” For many social science researchers, this is typical, as their research usually requires a very powerful laptop and a notebook. This presents some advantages and challenges to researchers. Continue reading
By Ariane Garrett, OUR Peer Research AmbassadorPublishing papers is the primary way that scientific knowledge is disseminated within the academic community. Therefore an essential part of becoming a successful researcher is learning how to write an academic paper. Throughout your undergraduate research career you may or may not have the opportunity to be published. Regardless, learning how academic papers are written is useful knowledge for anyone interested in pursuing a research career. Continue reading
By Maria Latta, OUR Peer Research AmbassadorThere is a major misconception that students need to conduct research in their major. In reality, you can find projects that you are passionate about and that are relevant to your future goals in a seemingly unrelated field. Continue reading
By Brendan Hogan, OUR Peer Research AmbassadorMeeting with faculty you’re interested in working with can be intimidating. However, this important step towards getting involved in research does not need to be stressful. The following tips can help you build connections, and ultimately, secure a research opportunity.
By Shreya Murthy, OUR Peer Research AmbassadorThere’s no question that if you are interested in research for any reason, it is a valuable experience. However, one the most important parts of the research process is finding a research mentor. The information below will help you navigate this step. Continue reading
By Maria Latta, OUR Peer Research AmbassadorWhether you are working on lab work, human subjects research, an outreach project, or a creative endeavor, you have probably faced at least one setback along the way. I certainly have. Some of the challenges I have faced are: my experiments produced results that didn’t support my hypothesis, my IRB approval was delayed and required revisions, the organizations I partnered with underwent changes that impacted the timeline of my project, and I have just had mental blocks on how to move forward. Continue reading
By Kavita Rana, OUR Peer Research AmbassadorResearch is a long and rigorous process and typically requires patience and determination, but it is also rewarding and helps students gain knowledge in their fields of interest. At the end of the day, your research experience is what you make of it. As you dive into research, I’d like to share a few tips I’ve learned along the way that have helped me make the most of my research experiences and shape my own research career. Continue reading
By Ian Sands, OUR Peer Research AmbassadorConference presentations are an essential part of any research community. Whatever field you end up doing research in, attending conferences allow laboratories to communicate their recent projects, obtain feedback from their peers, and remain informed regarding up and coming technologies that are gaining attention within that respective field. On top of that, these events allow you to represent your lab and network yourself to other interested parties for potential collaborations. With all this in mind, it’s important to take time to prepare in order to set yourself up for success and represent your research well. Continue reading
So you’ve heard of research, and you know that it’s happening at UConn. Maybe you have friends that work in labs, your professors have mentioned their work in lectures, or you stopped by to see the poster presentations at Frontiers in Undergraduate Research. Whatever your exposure, research sounds exciting and important, and now you want to get involved, too! Continue reading
Imagine this, you’ve written an email to a professor whose research project is the one you know you want to join; you’ve read it over twice, and it states everything you need to include. But now you’re hesitating to send it because a million different possibilities are running through your head. You start second-guessing your qualifications and your reason for sending this email in the first place and it takes a while to muster the courage to hit send (or even worse, you never hit send!). Continue reading