<p>Is it possible to do undergraduate research at Brown in the field of molecular biology? How easy or difficult is that to do as an undergraduate?</p>
<p>Yes. I don’t know anyone who wanted to that couldn’t find a spot. Ideally, you want to be really involved in the project and making decisions about things, but as a freshman, assuming you have no background you will probably not be able to do something cutting edge. Early on, getting your foot in the door by being the person who makes gels or takes care of the flies can allow you to climb the ladder to the point where you’ll have your own project as a senior or give you the skills to switch to a new lab and actually know what you’re doing. You just always have to be trying to learn more. Even if your only “job” is to clean glassware, that doesn’t mean you can’t ask the older students/grad students about what they’re doing and if they can show you stuff. Being proactive like that is a good skill, particularly for people interested in research.</p>
<p>Just e-mail profs whose work you find interesting and tell them you want to get involved with their research and usually after they see your resume (which for a while can include high school stuff) they’ll meet with you and basically make a judgement there. I found myself either turning down profs because I would be pursing multiple people at the same time or getting turned down at the first e-mail because they say they aren’t taking any more students.</p>
<p>E-mail the department chair/ professor! I’m a prospective student and the department chair actually took the time to sit down and talk to me about research and Brown in general!</p>
<p>I don’t know about that particular area, but at Brown my daughter found it easy to get into research early, for pay or for credit as an independent research course, and serious long term research by Jr year that was presented at conference.</p>
<p>By 2nd semester freshman year she even got a couple of introductions via email to professors by someone impressed by her.</p>
<p>Just be aware that some don’t take freshman (maturity issue)–just keep looking and asking if that happens. Research in related areas or any area can open the door for the next year if you don’t have any previous experience. Again, I don’t know that area, but I do know that at Brown, working with Profs and Grad Students isn’t unusual, there is great access for that.</p>