Student Research Blog

20 Seconds of Courage

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By Abigail LaFontan, OUR Peer Research Ambassador

20 Seconds of Courage. By PRA Abigail.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 →

Taking the GRE: Who, What, Where, When

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By Ariane Garrett, OUR Peer Research Ambassador

Taking the GRE: Who, What, Where, When. By PRA Ariane.Are you considering graduate school? The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) might be just the test you are looking for! There is a wealth of detailed information available online about the GRE, and although this is helpful it can also be overwhelming. Through this post, I hope to give a brief overview of the exam and discuss my experience. Continue reading →

Balancing Coursework and Research

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By Chenghong Deng, OUR Peer Research Ambassador

Balancing Coursework and Research. By PRA Chenghong.From my experience with research, the more you do, the more you feel you need to do, which makes it important to plan ahead and balance your time between coursework and research so that your academics don’t suffer.

When I first joined a research lab, I was so excited to start working on my own projects. I spent almost all the time I had in the lab. Although I made a lot of progress on my project, I did not work hard enough on my courses. Continue reading →

It Is Okay to Be Told “No”

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By Mary Vlamis, Peer Research Ambassador

Trying to get involved in research as an undergraduate student is daunting. It is uncomfortable to enter, or in this case attempt to enter, academia as it is unlike anything you have encountered before. Fortunately, we have the tools to help you with this learning curve to make it as easy as possible. The other source of anxiety most students face is the fear of rejection. No matter how perfectly you construct your first email, or how much you research for your first conversation, there is always the lingering thoughts of, “What if they say ‘No.’” And even worse, “What does that say about me?” The short answer is that it will be okay if you are told no, and that says nothing about you. Continue reading →

Change Grant – 3 Reasons to Apply

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By Maria Latta, OUR Peer Research Ambassador

You might think a pre-pharmacy student would want to be working in a lab on drug discovery and most of time you would be right! But with me, things were different.

I have a passion for sociology that I discovered when I was fulfilling my gen-ed requirements my first semester. And after taking a Methods in Social Research course, I knew that the best way to for me to continue pursuing sociology and pharmacy was through research.

Continue reading →

Developing an Elevator Pitch

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By Emy Regan, OUR Peer Research Ambassador

As someone who has engaged in research and creative activity, I have learned that marketing yourself and your work is a key step in the process itself. An important way to do this is through an elevator pitch, or a short but impactful statement describing what you do and why you do it. This elevator pitch is the first impression of your research or creative projects that you’ll share with your peers, mentors and employers, so you’ll want to make it attention catching and easy to understand. Continue reading →

Creating a Research Presentation

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By Divya Ganugapati, OUR Peer Research Ambassador

If you are ready to embark upon the exciting and rewarding journey of presenting your research – congrats! Whether complete or in-progress, take a moment to acknowledge all of the hard work you have put in to make it this far in your undergraduate research career. Now is time for the fun and creative part – displaying your research. Continue reading →