"How to" ... Find a Research Position

All interests, majors, and future career goals can benefit from research, and you must have heard how 80+% of students at Hopkins are involved in research.  Contrary to popular belief, this does indeed involved the humanities and social science people too!  Remember that you don't have to be a science or engineering major to do research.  To put icing on the cake, you don't even have to research in your own major! 

There's research churning in practically every department at Hopkins, and the faculty are glad to have anyone who wants to help to jump on the bandwagon.  From Civil Engineering research working with a coastal wave simulator to research on art & museums, from traveling across Europe for classics research to going downtown to fight cancer, there's bound to be someone researching what you're interested in!

Now, let's break this down.  How do you actually find a research position?

1. LOOK FOR AN INTERESTING NICHE 

Let's expound on this broad statement.  If you want to do research for pay, the first place to look is the Student Employment website.  Here, it is typical to find Principal Investigators (PI) from the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution to list "help-needed" posts.  You simply have to fill out an on line application, and you can apply via the Internet!  However, if there isn't a listing at the moment that fits your primary interests, you can start off doing research for credit or as a volunteer.  Look for faculty members whose work looks interesting.  Find people working in areas that you'd like to learn more about.  You can find this information in the faculty research directories for the School of Engineering and the School of Arts and Sciences. 

But that's not all.  Since the Hopkins Medical Campus is located within 20 minutes of the Homewood campus, you can also look for faculty in the School of Medicine, School of Public Health, or School of Nursing.  (You are not limited to the posts on the Student Employment site!)  And if you're interested in doing research over the summer, you could even try looking at other universities, research and development divisions of companies, and other divisions of Hopkins including the Applied Physics Lab or the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington D.C.

2. DO A LITTLE BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Once you've found a handful of faculty members whose works look interesting, take a look at what they're actually doing.  Using tools like the Social Science Research Network, PubMed, or Google Scholar, you can find some papers that have been published by a research team or read the abstracts.  If there are not any papers listed by those particular investigators, read reputable papers that focus on the same strain of research interest.  You probably won't understand most of the detailed content, but at least you'll get a better idea of the type of research that's going on.

3. E-MAIL PROFESSORS

Now that you have a good idea of what research each professor is involved in, start sending out e-mails. Customize each e-mail to the faculty member -- introduce yourself and then share what you find interesting about his or her research.  Ask if they have any research positions open in their lab or research team.  Be sure to specify whether you're a simple volunteer or whether you're hoping to receive credit/pay.  [Note: due to complexities of faculty research funding, it may be easiest to do it for volunteer or for credit.  Actually, researching for credit is a wonderful way to get it documented on your transcript and to receive a decent grade.]  You may even want to include a resume (Freshmen: it can include upper-level high school courses taken and/or relevant experiences). 

4.  WAIT FOR REPLIES

It may take a couple of days before the faculty member or a graduate student from his or her research team will get back to you.  Furthermore, be prepared to not receive word at all.  That is why it is suggested to begin with a handful of faculty members (suggested ~10).  You'll probably get replies that say "Sorry, we're full" or "Sorry, we won't be able to take you in right now", but you'll get some that say "We'd love to meet with you to talk about working here".  Reply back to BOTH and promptly arrange meetings with hose who have positions open and extended the invitation.

5.  KNOW YOUR STUFF

You probably won't be expected to know much about the work that a specific group is doing, but you're going to be expected to have enough background knowledge or a willingness to learn.  If you've ever done research before, the professor or graduate student will probably ask you about what you did and what the results were.  If you haven't done research prior, they'll want to know why you're interested in pursuing undergraduate research (Q: how do your interests link with research?).  If the meeting goes well, you'll hopefully be offered a spot on the team.  Often, once a student thoroughly works in a particular research lab, the PI will aid the student in formulating his own project.  This is a priceless opportunity!

And voila, you've found yourself a research position.  Once you get a good grasp on the work you're doing, you can even apply for funding to create your own research projects.  Incoming and current freshmen in the School of Arts and Sciences can apply for a Woodrow Wilson Undergraduate Research Fellowship which provides funding up to $10,000 to be used over a span of four years.  Any undergraduate can apply for a Provost's Undergraduate Research Award to do work during the semester or over the summer ($3,000 stipend).  The School of Engineering also has the Vrendenburg Scholarship which allows engineering students to go abroad over the summer to do research or an internship. 

Once you're doing research, you might get even more doors opened to you.  Maybe you'll be able to scrub into brain surgery or work in a clinic in another country.  You might even get published in a journal or present your work at a conference.  All you need to do to get started is put in a little effort and this is a great start!