I will soon be starting my freshmen year of college and I was wondering what is the best way to get my research category under my belt. Should my research be broad or more specific?
Undergrad Research
- Thread starter NeuroCarr
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Whatever you want, just look for a lab with a track record of the following:
1) productivity - don't do what I did and join a lab that hadn't published since the 1990s
2) multiple undergrads going through the lab and having a good experience
3) PI that seems invested in having all levels of students in the lab (undergrad, grad, post-doc)
4) have some upper level students that can help you get your bearings
5) most importantly - a topic you're interested in! research is more fun if it interests you
1) productivity - don't do what I did and join a lab that hadn't published since the 1990s
2) multiple undergrads going through the lab and having a good experience
3) PI that seems invested in having all levels of students in the lab (undergrad, grad, post-doc)
4) have some upper level students that can help you get your bearings
5) most importantly - a topic you're interested in! research is more fun if it interests you
Well i am extremely interested in neurosurgery. Ive been shadowing 2 neurosurgeons for about 3 years. However i haven't seen any schools really offering research in this field. any suggestions?
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Absolutely no one is expecting you to do neurosurgery research as an undergrad and in fact it may not even be advisable as a lot of clinically oriented research requires some clinical background in order to be properly understood.
However, I’m sure your school has some basic neuroscience research going on - perhaps take a look at that if it interests you. It won’t be immediately applicable to neurosurgery but that doesn’t matter at this point.
As an undergrad, the subject is less important than the experience, as long as it’s at least somewhat interesting to you. Anything in the basic or translational sciences would be a good place to start.