Before you go to talk with a potential mentor, read one or more of his/her papers listed on the lab's website or identified through library database searching. You will not understand everything, but you should be prepared to ask a question or two about its content. You do not need to have a specific research project planned before contacting potential mentors; projects are often suggested by mentors or developed in conversation with mentors.

If you have worked in a lab before, you will almost certainly be asked about that experience. You should be prepared to describe your work and especially indicate WHY you did it. You should be prepared to describe in a few sentences how the work you did fits into a larger biological context.

Bring a resume and transcript to the interview.

Ask the mentor how you will be guided as you get started with your project (i.e., with whom you will be working on an every day basis). In some labs you may begin working under supervision of one of several lab members (technicians, post-docs or grad students), learning some basic methods and skills and getting introduced to the project goals and strategies. You might consider also talking with this "bench mentor" before joining the lab to make sure the person is willing to be responsible for guiding an undergraduate's project. In other cases you will work directly with the laboratory head.

Many faculty welcome undergraduates into their labs during the summer. Summers often provide a better opportunity to learn the basics quickly and accomplish a good deal of research, so ask about research opportunities during the summer months. In some cases you may be able to earn money working in a lab in the summer and then do research for academic credit during the academic year. (See note below on sources of funding for research during summers).

If the lab head agrees to mentor you, the next step is to register for BIOL491.

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