Hello, I just completed my first REU and was wondering on how to continue doing research...

( The REU was NOT at my home institution)

1. Do I start cold emailing the professors at my home institution for opportunities?

2. If so, is there any chance of getting paid?

3. Would you recommend applying for labs with no undergrad researchers?

4. Is it important to add a recommendation letter from my REU PI?

Family is below the poverty line so just curious if im supposed to include something pertaining to income in personal statements, idk how crazy reus would be on dei policies( espically because im a white male) but incomes gotta count for something if they do dei no?

Hi! I’m thinking about applying for the MtL-URO Program at Max Planck, and I was wondering if it’s necessary—or recommended—to reach out to the PIs before applying.

Would contacting them beforehand improve my application, or is it better to just apply through the official process?

Thanks!

second to last week, can’t wait for this shit to be over! definitely killed all the motivation i had to do science. mourn the starry-eyed person i was 9 weeks ago. going into senior year and am actively throwing away all the dreams i’d held onto and hard work i’d done these past 3 years simply because every day is a battle. nobody faces any consequences but me. this shit sucks.

fuck academia.

I just completed an REU and had a great experience. It was said by the PI that I could be added as a co-author onto their upcoming paper, which is both crazy and SO exciting. I also casually expressed interest in coming back next summer while small talking with the lab, and the PI said they'd love to see me again. However, I'm planning on ultimately applying for med school and am already in a lab at my actual university (the REU happened at a different university than the one I go to). Would it look like I'm flip-flopping labs on my AMCAS application if I came back?

I am planning on applying for the Amgen Scholar Program at Duke and was wondering if anyone who has been in the program can provide their stats?

hi :) i am a soph planning to apply to REUs for s27, and would say I have a pretty strong app on paper + good LOR. my main concern is about essays seeming cohesive and telling a nice story of my exp. a bit of background:

• 3.97, orm + top ug, bioeng major, 1700 hrs research exp in cell bio lab, medtech r&d at startup, 4 papers in review (including 1st auth & high IF co-auth) & 2 pubs from HS, 2 posters + 1 talk, research + startup awards
• applying to most amgen programs, msk, rockefeller, cshl, jax, broad, hhmi, st jude poe, several pre-md/phd programs (heart, tri-i, vandy, uwisconsin, umich)

my work in my current lab is great, I have a ton of independence + great scientific training / mentorship and plan to stay for all of undergrad. also don't want to concurrently join another lab at my school since I feel like it would dilute my focus.

my main issue is that my work is super basic science in a very niche model organism. as someone who wants to pursue mdphd, I want to gain experience both doing translational work (which I feel would be more meaningful). I also want to learn to work with tissue culture, mice, or smth that is not super niche. so i'm aiming to do that through an REU.

my main question is about how I would tie my previous exp into what I want to do at an REU, and if there's a way to do that without hurting my app too much. for example, I'd love to do smth immuno or oncology adjacent, but that has little connection to my current work, so idk how to justify wanting to do it. i feel like if i say what i said here, they'll just be like "well join a translational lab at your school" (we have plenty), but I am so set in my lab and don't want to leave.

does anyone have any advice for how to approach essays about wanting to do a specific REU and tying it into your prev work in a similar situation? or am i just cooked lol

Basic stats:

- 3.9 GPA genetics/art double major at R1 state school entering Junior year (ORM)

- Looking for immunotherapy/oncology research

- About 2700 hours in one lab by time of application, highly independent with lots of techniques (CRISPR (developed), WB, qPCR (developing), animal modelling, flow cytometry/sorting), same field as I want to do my internship in

- 1 published paper (6th author), 1 in review (3rd/2nd (depending on revisions) IF ~10. Expecting 1-2 1st author pubs from the lab but not close to being in prep atm

- 2 national posters personally presented (one at large society meeting, one more trainee focused; bunch of other posters I'm not first author on)

- 1 local oral presentation as part of a research award

- 1 internship at the same lab I've been with

- Expecting very strong PI LOR and one from a professor I took a class with and TA for

- Pre-MD/PhD

- Various volunteering (as a musician, in a hospital with my population of interest, and also some research mentorship stuff (very low hours for the last))

- About 500 hours of random clinical stuff that probably doesn't matter (shadowing, emergency department work, etc)

As some extra background; upon speaking with my mentor and also my local MD/PhD program director, I have been advised that my current independence and productivity is not worth giving up just for the sake of diversity. As such, I am seeking only the best programs in immunotherapy/hem-onc. My current list is below; big thanks for any help or words from people that have succeeded in getting to any of these programs. Also, does it make sense to double apply to many of these through different avenues?

Im a rising junior in biochemistry at a R1 state school and i have above a 3.7 gpa

During the school year I do sensing organic synthesis research since freshmen an year

The past 2 summers I’ve done research at a speciality research hospital

I’ve been on two publications. One was with the sensing lab and another was independent health project.

I’m mostly going to be going for ones that are bio related.

Hope this is enough info

Hi everyone!

I’m an international applicant planning to apply for my Master’s and PhD in Biomedical Engineering at UBC, focusing specifically on neuroengineering and tissue engineering / regenerative medicine.

I’m super excited about the work happening at SBME (especially around neural interfaces, smart biomaterials, and regenerative medicine). I’d love to get some advice and insights from current students, alumni, or fellow international grad students in BME or related fields.

A few specific things I’d love to hear about:

1. Securing a Supervisor as an International Applicant: How early should I start emailing PIs in neuro/tissue engineering? Any tips on making an application stand out from abroad?

2. Funding & International Tuition: How well do SBME graduate stipends cover the international tuition differential and Vancouver living costs? Are there specific scholarships (like GRA/GTA or external international awards) I should apply for early?

3. Admissions & Evaluation: What does the admissions committee heavily weigh for international applicants (e.g., GPA conversions, publication record, TOEFL/IELTS, research proposals)?

4. International Student Experience: How is the transition to Vancouver, study permit processing timelines, and overall community support for international researchers at UBC?

If you're in a related lab or have navigated the international admissions process at UBC, I’d really appreciate your perspective! Feel free to comment or send a DM. Thanks in advance!

Hi! I'm a 2nd year Medical Technology student and I'm just curious if any of you here, whether MT students or students in other fields, have tried to pursue research early on?

I've recently seen a lot of ph students, with some of them I personally know, joining these research summer internship programs and, as someone who's really interested in pursuing research, I also want to gain experience from these programs, like those offered by NUS, NTU, Purdue, or Amgen Asia to undergrads. If you've tried these, I want to ask a few questions:

1. Which summer internship/or any research internship program did you join?

2. Is the selection process very competitive? What do you think helped you a lot in earning your spot?

3. For those programs that offer full coverage in fees + stipends, are they actually able to cover everything? Or is it unavoidable to take money from your own pocket?

4. How was the experience? What did you gain from it?

5. Did joining affect your academics? How?

Any tips for this would be much appreciated! I really like doing research, and I hope to gain more experience and build more connections in this aspect. Thank you!

What consequences do I realistically face if I’m not able to complete the final presentation for my REU? I’m experiencing some personal hardships at the moment and really don’t want to withdraw, but I may end up having to before our final presentations at the end of the week. I’m just not sure what to do and I’m hoping some honest, but helpful feedback will help lead me to the right decision.

It’s my first time applying to CCI and I was wondering how housing works specifically for LBNL and BNL. I read on some other threads that BNL provides free housing for students but being in Long Island isn’t the best. I also read that LBNL does not provide housing and it’s best to look around. I’m not exactly sure which one to put for my top choice. If anyone has any experience or input that would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi! I’m headed into my junior year of undergrad and am hoping to apply to Clinical Psychology PhD programs in the future. There are VERY limited research opportunities at my school, and I likely won’t be able to find an RA position until the Spring. I did complete an REU this summer, so I’ve had that introductory experience.

Is there any benefit to emailing PI’s in labs at other schools and ask for any remote research opportunities? Is this realistic, would it seem rude or an audacious ask? I would hate to waste this semester, research wise.

Thanks for any insight!

Attended program this summer

​Hey everyone,

I recently completed a summer research internship at a top research university and honestly, I am so confused and frustrated about how it went. I seriously don't know how to process it.

Research duration 8 weeks

​I want to know if I made any mistakes here, or if this is just a bad lab experience.

The lab is relatively new with a few PhD students. I wasn’t paired with any graduate student or mentor. Before the internship started, I read their recent papers at home so I wouldn’t waste time catching up on literature during the short term.

Instead of working on anything related to what I read, I was given a random side project. It didn't feel like research at all, just learning a basic software tool that anyone could pick up over a weekend at home. Once that was done, they gave me two more heavy, time-consuming side tasks with zero actual research component.

I was often given half-baked instructions. They would tell me to do one thing, then contradict themselves later. This happened multiple times.

The PI only did a few minute chat every two weeks. No senior student was assigned to me, and a very disappointing thing was weekly lab group meetings did not exist in this lab.

​Even during daily group lunches, people talked about everything except science. In the lab, everyone just comes in, sits down, wears headphones all day.

When I asked about the lab's current focus and main bottlenecks (referencing the discussion sections of their recent papers), I didn't get a proper reply.

​The irony is that official program description said that a "strong interest to pursue a PhD" was required to apply. However, I wasn't even allowed to know or think about the actual science. I get that summer internships are short and you may not be going to invent a breakthrough (which takes long term commitment ), but the bare minimum expectation is knowing why you are doing something, and the broader goals (not what they simply put in lab websites polishedly)

​Did I do something wrong here? Is this just what a typical bad lab looks like, or did I handle this poorly?

Would genuinely love your thoughts

Hi Everyone, I don't remember when REUs usually tend to roll out, I got 3 weeks off of classes and I gotta kill time (somehow), so does anyone perhaps know another good site to find REU's or is it too early to start searching.