<p>[UCSD</a> Summer Research Opportunities](<a href=“http://sea.ucsd.edu/summer_research/]UCSD”>http://sea.ucsd.edu/summer_research/)</p>
<p>most people start during, or the summer following, their sophomore year. most people also just email a prof whose research they like and see whether the prof is taking any undergrads (free labor!). i met my academic PI at a faculty-student mixer held by the chemistry club, yelled hi to him randomly while running down his lab hallway with my suitemates (kind of embarrassing now that i think about it), then apologized the next day and asked if he had any research openings. 
i got my industry job (pfizer) by submitting my resume to their call for summer interns. </p>
<p>if i could do it over again, i would have started researching my freshman year. you don’t need to be a science guru or anything – just eager to learn!</p>