Ease of finding research at Brown?

Emotive
Wed, 27 Apr 2016 00:10:00 +0000

To OP: I find it necessary to add a few more comments here. It is one thing to find research work in a lab, but quite another to find a faculty who is going to mentor you, create research opportunities for you and is willing and even eager to guide and support you throughout your academic studies and beyond. So that you know, there are such individuals out there. If you communicate with them, you would be able to better gauge their level of interest and willingness to support their students.

My D identified and contacted individual faculty members with similar research interests in several universities and inquired about undergraduate research opportunities in their labs. She traveled to each place and met with them. It is quite telling to hear about the treatment and responses she has received. While one faculty was a bit dismissive (kind of “I don’t have time for you”) the others have been quite supportive and accommodating.

I think this is more of a personality trait-- how the researcher views (undergraduate) students and his or her role as an educator/mentor. It makes your experience much more rewarding if you can identify such individuals beforehand, if research experience/accomplishment is important to you.