Undergraduate Research Network
What Research Groups Look For: Universal Characteristics for all Research Groups
What Research Groups Look For: Universal Characteristics for all Research Groups
Author: Kelvin Chan (kc3rr@virginia.edu)
Date: 4/10/2012
Greetings everybody! My name is Kelvin, and I’m a third-year majoring in biochemistry and policy economics. I am the chair of the Undergraduate Research Network, and I have been doing research in molecular neuroscience since my first year at UVa.
For the following article, I aim to tackle what a lot of first and second years ask me:
“What do professors look for in an undergraduate?”
“What do I tell the professor when I see him/her?”
The answer is: “whatever you want” (Kelvin, that wasn’t really helpful…). Just be yourself; don’t try to be someone that may seem “ideal” to the research lab.
Let me tackle one myth that bothers a lot of undergraduates: qualifications. Most professors assume you do not have experience in their field of research. Thus, undergraduates are not expected to have advance knowledge of the material for research. In fact, many research mentors prefer first or second years because they provide a higher investment-return (stay for 3-4 years, as opposed to 1 year – then off to graduate). Your mentor will provide you with the papers and suggested reviews to read over and digest.
There are three main things that many professors look for: honesty, interest, and teamwork. In Mr. Jefferson’s University, honesty plays a critical role in student life; it also plays a critical role in academia. Since plagiarism and falsification have been rampant with the dawn of the internet age, it is ever more important to have students maintain their integrity as people who produce original work.
Interest encompasses many things including passion, past experiences with the material, and demonstrated pro-activity for the subject. Grades also fall under interest. After all, your interest toward a subject should be strongly correlated to how well you do in that subject (at least, in the view of an economist). Be sure to have a good sense of what your specific interests are, and how to articulate them. Telling a professor, “I’m interested in Biology!” will most likely elicit the response, “That’s good, so are the other 500 Biology majors”. Knowing a professor’s work in light detail is also a plus. If it’s too hard to understand, don’t be afraid of admitting it – professors love to explain their work.
Teamwork is pretty important. You may have your own paper or project to work on, but in the end, you’ll have to go through at least one person for editing and finalization. Being an amicable person to work with is something that is desirable in research, and at the workplace.
Ultimately, professors will choose people whom they think will work best with him/her, and the staff. Each professor has different preferences for whom they want, and it would be hard to summarize that in one article. The three traits I’ve spoken about are universal to all research groups at UVa. Good luck!