Hii, I'm going into my second year in biochem/biotech and I was wondering whether there were any research opporunities for lower-level students?

Originally Posted by musicislife

Hii, I'm going into my second year in biochem/biotech and I was wondering whether there were any research opporunities for lower-level students?

You should ask professors and researches, just send them professional e-mails with all the information they need. They may have projects which you can work on. My friend is tackling like 2-3 projects right now, but he doing his 5th year this september. But I'm lower year could also get a position somewhere, all we are doing is reading articles and collecting data from those articles (the initial stage of research). Even if you can only get this stage and are dropped after it, it's still a good experience and resume filler.

Biochem kids often work with profs in the biochem dept...it's up to you to email them and ask, and there are also a lot of external positions that people apply for (sick kids, princess margaret, etc). There's no shortage, it's just up to you to put in the effort to look.

If your're in science/biochem/etc: MAKE SURE TO GET TO KNOW ALL OF YOUR PROFESSORS!

Its a lot easier to get a research/intern position if you have some established relationship with them, and demonstrate genuine interest in the various research and current news in the field.

Pshh so naive, biochwm stidents wanting a research position are a dime a dozen, if you get it you'll be very lucky, too many ppl in ur program

The best way to find out is to contact professors directly and ask them if they need any research assistants. Like SydWidgets said, there are A LOT of students looking for research positions and not very many profs. The lower your year, the less likely you are to have someone say yes. But it doesn't hurt to try!
You can also check McWork/Work Study positions on OscarPLUS. There usually are a few research positions in the Science/Math/Eng departments.

If you get to know your own profs during the year, its actually easy to get research positions. Biochem is sort of designed so you can achieve that easily, from my experience. I'm going to have to disagree with the comment that said there are too many people in the program, and getting a position will be tough, from my experience it was the exact opposite. Those who tried, and had decent marks, got summer research positions with the profs they wanted to. You just have to know how to talk to people and make sure your not shy and make the effort to talk to your profs and TAs, they hook you up well

Good luck!

Don't be afraid to look outside your department as well - I know some biochem (or is it chem bio? :S) students working in Chemical Engineering research labs this summer.

Unfortunately it's a bit late for this year/summer, but you can look into NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards that your department may have.

For the biology department, I believe the average to apply is 10 and all you need is a supervisor/prof who is willing to take you on for the summer When I did this, I e-mailed some profs (some of which I didn't know) and it worked out in the end!

Typically, you need 11+ cGPA for a NSERC: USRA and not everyone can get it. Luckily, there are other ways of finding work in research. You can start by asking your profs if they need somebody to work in their lab.

Originally Posted by Ivan Q.

Unfortunately it's a bit late for this year/summer, but you can look into NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards that your department may have.

For the biology department, I believe the average to apply is 10 and all you need is a supervisor/prof who is willing to take you on for the summer When I did this, I e-mailed some profs (some of which I didn't know) and it worked out in the end!

Just out of curiousity, what did you end up doing for it? Like what did you research?

Originally Posted by RyanC

Just out of curiousity, what did you end up doing for it? Like what did you research?

I worked with fruit flies! I was paired up with the Ph.D candidate and helped him with his project.. so I was mating of flies, taking care of the stocks, making fly food, etc. I also got a chance to look at different formation of veins on wings and spent a bit of time with another student looking at GFP. I thought it was a really good first lab exposure

This is what I pulled up from the biology website, for those who might want to bookmark and save it for next year. Kathy is amazing and really friendly if you have any questions.

http://www.biology.mcmaster. ca/sch...ard_USRA.ht m

Also, if you are looking to go into grad school.. having something like NSERC on your CV will really help you when you apply as a grad for funding/scholarships through NSERC, SSHRC, etc!

Kathy2 mentioned McWork, which is also another great way to get your foot into the door! I had a couple of friends who did this during the summer.

I just got myself a research position for next year in a professor's lab. I literally emailed 10 profs, after reading through all of their research articles. In the emails, I wrote about what interested me about their research, and about my background.

Make sure to sound very interested in their research. Enthusiasm is key! I got responses from about 3 of them the day after, and about 6 in total.

Even if you don't get a research job, you'll definitely be able to find a volunteering position at least. And maybe you can work your way up towards a paid position later on.

Good luck!

Thank you so much! Does anybody have any idea of when to email profs? I.e. september, summer, etc?

Originally Posted by musicislife

Thank you so much! Does anybody have any idea of when to email profs? I.e. september, summer, etc?

When are you interested in working in a lab, for the summer or for September?