Research Resources for CNS Students

Interested in getting involved with research on campus? Here are some steps to get started!

Written By: Maria Henriquez and Zoe de Beurs

Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Stephen Hawking, Issac Newton, and most importantly you! Being a Texas Scientist provides a myriad of opportunities to change the world through science. One of the great ways that the University of Texas College of Natural Sciences provides opportunities to students is through cutting-edge research. UT is a Tier One research school, which means that students have access to a wide range of active and relevant research at many levels. Many great faculty are passionate about the research that they do and are excited to share it, even to undergraduate students! By doing research, you can help to answer exciting new questions and be on the cutting edge of current scientific problems. Participating in research can also strengthen graduate, medical and job applications. Additionally, you can find a wonderful community of like-minded scientists and mentors!

However, knowing how to get into a lab group can be really tough if you’re not in the right circles. Even approaching a professor that you have probably never met can be daunting - it’s not always easy as it sounds. In this article, we hope to help you get your foot in the door with tips and tricks to get into a research group in the College of Natural Sciences.

How to Find Research

There are many ways to find research within CNS. One option is Eureka, a website dedicated to connecting UT students with professors and their associated lab groups. However, while Eureka is a great resource, not all labs are posted and the site is typically geared towards social studies research.

Some other common ways to find research are to look at departmental web pages, read people’s bios and personal websites, and skim recent articles published by UT faculty. You can also go to “Research Areas” on the CNS Main Website to find areas that are interesting. By clicking on a specific area of interest, you will be provided a list of professors involved in that research. If one of these professors has a website, look to see who is in their laboratory. Do you happen to have had one of their graduate students as a TA? Do you know one of the upperclassmen in the lab? Even if you don’t recognize any of their students, feel free to reach out to them and ask them about their experience working for this professor. They were in your position once and they want to help you! You can also usually see subgroups as well as current projects the lab is working on to figure out what is best for you. If you can’t find the lab website, you can usually find it by searching “Last Name + Lab Group + UT Austin”

How to Contact a Faculty Member

Emailing a faculty member can feel very intimidating, but with a few simple steps, we hope to demystify the process for you! Here are some general tips and tricks as well as an example email and a template (downloadable PDF) that you can use to contact professors.

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General tips and tricks

Try to make your email specific to their research interests! Professors love talking about their own work so they appreciate your interest and the time you took to read/skim some of their work.
The template below has a lot of {fill in the blanks} so that you can tailor the email to your professor. The more tailored, the more likely you will get a response. However, also keep the email brief because professors tend to be busy people.
If you do not receive a response within ~5 days, feel free to send a brief follow-up email. If you do not receive an email after this, they probably do not have time or space in their lab.

Don’t give up! There are plenty of professors doing fascinating research at UT so email another professor. Sometimes, it takes emailing 10+ professors before someone says yes, but you only need one yes!

What Do I Do If They Do Not Respond?

If a professor does not respond, follow up with them after about 5 days to see if they may have accidentally lost track of your email. Most importantly, do not give up! Many undergraduates email anywhere from 3-10 faculty members before they get a response or find a good fit. This is completely normal and is not personal! They may just not have space in their lab at the moment. So don’t be discouraged and try emailing other labs with similar research!

What to Expect From a Meeting

The professor may invite you to meet with them. This is usually a short meeting (10-15 minutes) to check why you’re interested in joining. If they agree to meet with you in the first place, this means that they are likely to let you join as long as you seem dedicated and generally interested in the work. They will likely ask you a few of the following questions:

What do you want to do in the next ten years? Do you want to go into academia?

This is mostly a question focused on whether you are committed to research and if you are looking to get a PhD. Taking you on in their lab can be a large time commitment, so they want to know that you are committed. If you’re not entirely sure, that is totally fine! But if you might be interested in pursuing a PhD, be sure to mention that!

How and why did you hear about the lab?

Most professors just want to hear your honest thoughts about how you heard about the lab and made a decision to reach out. You don’t need to give a super dramatic monologue or to tell them your whole life story. It might be a good idea to talk about previous research experience (it’s okay if you don’t have any!) here.

What kind of research/subgroup in the lab are you interested in?

This question seeks to check whether you’ve looked into their lab and done your research on what they specialize in. This is also a good indicator to your professor about what area you could help in when working in the lab. If you’re not entirely sure, you can also ask them what might be some possible projects you could join.

Other questions that may arise from this meeting other than the big three above are:

Why do you want to get involved in research? What made you reach out to us? Do you have prior experience? What are your future goals for after you graduate? How much time can you commit to research? (hrs/week, number of semesters) Do you have questions for me?

Make sure to be as open and honest as possible to the professor and be clear about your goals.

Getting Paid or Receiving Credit For Your Research

When you are just joining a lab, it can feel uncomfortable to ask whether you can receive financial compensation or research credit for your research work. However, it is important that you at least ask. Some faculty have funding to pay you and some unfortunately do not, but they may be able to give you course credit instead.

If you would prefer to be paid and your professor does not have much funding, there may be a few other options for you:

Work-Study: Do you qualify for work-study through your financial aid? If so, this may be an option that your professor can provide. If you qualify for work-study, then ~70% of your salary would be paid by the federal government and only ~30% would need to be covered by your professor.
TEJAS: The Texas Excellence in Jobs and Service (TEJAS) program provides financial support to CNS undergraduates doing research at UT. To be eligible for TEJAS funding, you must receive financial aid and you must find a research position. For more information on eligibility, check their website here.
Ask the department: Sometimes departments may have funding to help support you if your professor does not. Try to talk to your professor about asking the department for funding to compensate you for your time.
Student Researcher Award: The Office of Undergraduate Research offers two $1,000 Student Researcher Awards each spring. These awards directly support students as they enrich their current academic studies and future careers, and allow for students to participate in research opportunities regardless of financial ability. More information can be found at: https://ugs.utexas.edu/our/scholarships/student-researcher
TIDES Advanced Summer Research Fellowship: if you have at least one prior research experience, you may be able to apply for funding ($4,000) during the summer from TIDES. For more information, see their website: https://cns.utexas.edu/tides/undergraduate/funding-opportunities
LSAMP Summer Research Academy: The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program provides a stipend ($4,000), a travel allowance, and a housing allowance for research at a UT system school. For more information, see their website.

Other Resources

There are many other resources across campus that can provide funds for conference travel or lab equipment. Below we outline a few resources from the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Senate of College Councils.

Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF; up to $1000): Through the URF, the Office of Undergraduate Research provides support for specific scholarly research projects conducted by full-time UT undergraduate students enrolled in any department. The fellowship can cover costs associated with academic research projects conducted by students who are supervised by a UT faculty member, lecturer, senior lecturer or full-time research scientist/engineer. More info at: https://ugs.utexas.edu/our/scholarships/urf
Research Conference Awards (typically $100-600): These awards from the Office of Undergraduate Research can cover expenses for research or creative activity that has been accepted or submitted for presentation at a (virtual) academic or professional conference. More info at: https://ugs.utexas.edu/our/scholarships/travel
Senate Undergraduate Research Scholarship ($300-$1000): The Senate of College Councils supports undergraduate research through this scholarship by covering specific costs associated with academic research projects. More info at: https://utsenate.org/scholarships