undergraduate research

01
Oct

Mentoring Matters with Dr. Mary E. Konkle

Dr. Mary E. Konkle is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Ball State University (WHERE). Connect with her on Twitter at @mechem44996100 .and by email mekonkle@bsu.edu

Q1: If you had a mentor(s) as an undergrad who you credit for the career path you're on now, please share a little bit about who they were and what they did that made such an impact.

12
Sep

Notebook Keeping: Quick Tips to Get Started

—from the Lab Manager's bench

Ideally, on your first day as an undergrad in the lab, your mentor will give a thorough tutorial on proper notebook keeping.

Unfortunately, from the inquires I regularly receive from undergrads, (and grad students and postdocs who mentor undergrads), notebook keeping is often an afterthought until a few weeks have passed.

01
Aug

10 Things to Expect Your First Semester of Research

A gloved finger holding a microfuge tube and a pipette tip being placed in the tube

—from the Lab Manager's bench

Even if you have previous lab experience from a high school or college lab class, the first few weeks of a new research experience in a professional research lab will have its challenges, surprises, and likely be quite different from what you're expecting.

Güray Hatipoğlu

In this guest post Güray Hatipoğlu shares how his undergrad research experiences helped him find his current career path even though it wasn't an easy journey.

Starting out

In the beginning, as a first-year chemistry student, I didn’t t know all the differences among organic, inorganic, and analytical chemistry, or have a solid interest in any branch. So, I randomly chose to specialize in organic chemistry and found a faculty member who invited me to join their lab for one half-day a week.

 A list of 10 things that are split between two columns. The first column lists 1. Fatigue. 2. Rewards. 3. Frustration. 4. Elation. 5. Hofstadter's Law. The 2nd column lists 6. New and deeper connections. 7. Incomprehension. 8. Personal growth. 9. Feeling like a real researcher. 10. Resenting the return of the semester.

— from the Lab Manager's bench

For some undergrads, this summer will be spent lounging on the beach reading and hanging out with friends. Days will be spent blissfully sleeping until a parent annoyingly insists that it’s time to get up and do something.

But alas that’s not for you.

01
Apr

The One Letter to Rule Them All

THE ONE LETTER TO RULE THEM ALL  how to help your research mentor write the strongest recommendation letter. Ask early. Update your CV. Write a self-assessment statement. Send everything in a single email. Stick around. Remember the thank you.

— from the PI’s desk

Why this letter matters so much

As an undergrad, one of the reasons you devoted so much time to a research experience was to earn an epic letter of recommendation--one that speaks to your strengths, resilience, character, self-reliance, cultural competencies, ability to solve problems, and contribute to a group effort.

This letter will be a comprehensive endorsement of your graduate, medical, preprofessional school application, or for a job complete with specific examples that influenced your PI's opinion. This one letter has the potential to outweigh all other letters from a professor whose class you attended, or from someone who oversaw a volunteer program you participated in for a semester.

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