Any students who have taken Biochemistry 3A03, I would really appreciate your advice!

For three months now, I have been looking for a professor who would be able to take me for the summer (preferably 4 weeks full-time) to do the Biochemistry 3A03 lab research course. It has been pretty fruitless and I realize now that the medical science laboratory is probably the last place I should go for such a short period of time. Apparently I have to go for training and write a test that would allow me to work in the lab, and especially in immunology the experiments are extremely long and you need to be there for 12 hours at a time.

So basically the immunology professors in interviews (from Hlth Sci 3II3 and 4II3) told me I should really go for the biochemistry professors for September 2010, especially because I will be taking 4 academic courses alongside the Biochemistry 3A03.

My question is.. which professors are most likely to take Biochem 3A03 students? I have emailed around 15 professors now with very personalized emails and so far they have all rejected (although I must confess I was asking for a summer position). Around 5 of them said they are full for the entire year though. My resume is in the email.

Should I be emailing any particular professors from the chemistry faculty, or biology faculty? I just feel really confused right now as there are SO many professors-and only a few of them would be willing to take on a student to do a 12 week supervised project.

I'm tearing my hair out at this point so ANY advice would be appreciated as to what professor you worked for and how you went about getting the position. I feel like I'm doing something wrong.

It has to be a prof from the faculty of biochemistry. They can have cross-appointments with other faculties; however.

Originally Posted by jordan19

It has to be a prof from the faculty of biochemistry. They can have cross-appointments with other faculties; however.

Yes that's agreed.

Jordan, have you taken this course? If you have, I'd really appreciate more details

No I haven't. But I did my research last year and was planning to do it this year. I had already talked to a prof for a supervisor, and he agreed to take me on - however, I'm not sure whether I still want to do it.

From what I've gathered from profs, most are willing to take students on as they don't have to pay you, and well - you can get research done. However, since this research project is really short, they may not have small projects for you to do - or they may be unwilling to take you on especially if you lack experience, and need a high degree of training (if it's your first time in a research lab).

Your mark is really dependent on the prof - from what I've heard, as long as you put in the effort/hours, you'll do well (and especially if the prof likes you).

My suggestion would be to keep trying to find professors - there are many who'd take on you as a student. Look at past thesis profs, they are listed somewhere, you just have to find out who they are.

Originally Posted by jordan19

They may be unwilling to take you on especially if you lack experience, and need a high degree of training (if it's your first time in a research lab).

My suggestion would be to keep trying to find professors - there are many who'd take on you as a student. Look at past thesis profs, they are listed somewhere, you just have to find out who they are.

Thank you Jordan! I will keep on with the search! I'll be updating this thread.. just for any future students who may be in my position in the future.

As I do not have any research experience, I think this is why I may be having trouble. But I will find someone eventually.. even if it may mean my death!

Originally Posted by Parnian

My question is.. which professors are most likely to take Biochem 3A03 students?

It's a bit difficult to say. Like Jordan said, some profs don't have a small enough project that would benefit both you and the lab, while others already took on 4th year thesis/senior project students (who started looking around in December/January) and just don't have the bench space for another Undergraduate.

Originally Posted by Parnian

As I do not have any research experience, I think this is why I may be having trouble

I actually found this interesting: usually if a student lacks lab experience, the prof will offer them a summer position before the lab course so that they get experience and get use to the laboratory culture.

Originally Posted by jordan19

It has to be a prof from the faculty of biochemistry. They can have cross-appointments with other faculties; however.

I think they're pretty lenient about this. I knew someone who did a 3A03 project with a supervisor from the Department of Pathology (with no cross-appointment with biochemistry).

It seems like you're doing everything right Parnian (i.e.emailing profs one by one and not sending bulk emails). If you want, you can PM me a sample email and I can go over it for you to try to polish it up a bit.



All I can say now is keep trying: you'll find a supervisor eventually. If you haven't already, try looking for potential supervisors in the Institude of Infectious Disease Research (IIDR): http://iidr.mcmaster.ca/
A lot of the professors in this institute are from the biochemistry department and the head (Gerry Wright) was the former Chair of BBS, so you might find some luck there.

Thanks Kenneth! This morning I emailed 15 professors, and received about 10 rejections. One of them is waiting for confirmation in July as to whether a few of his students are leaving in September or not so that I can take their position. Tomorrow I will look at the IIDR website and emailing several of those supervisors. As they are more prestigious, I will try to make my emails very specific to each one. It's been very frustrating but with your advice, I'll keep trying.

Persistence is key