Tufts Blogs

Hey! By clicking on this, I’m willing to bet that you’re at least slightly interested in participating in research during your time at college. Well, I have great news for you - whether you have no experience or you’ve been a member of a lab since your freshman year of high school, Tufts will give you the opportunities and resources you need to participate in deeply engaging, cutting-edge, profound scientific work. From topics ranging from foreign policy to neuroscience, the intellectual community at Tufts is thriving. Best of all, everyone wants to help you get to where you want to be!

I’m a Biopsychology (our version of “neuroscience”) major, so I’m best equipped to speak about my STEM journey. However, at the end I’ll summarize some of the things I’ve learned about getting involved in collegiate research which you may find beneficial, no matter your interest.

What does my journey so far look like? In high school, I knew I wanted to work in a lab. In fact, one of the main reasons I decided to apply Early Decision to Tufts was the reality that here, you get the best of both worlds - a small, tight-knit community (where you can reach your professors, for example!), but a vibrant research program with opportunities abound. I’m happy to report that I am not disappointed.

Attending an introductory lecture about sleep taught by Professor Lisa Shin, I saw a colorful slide plastered with EEG waveforms. Then, I knew I wanted to get involved. When I visited her office hours, she encouraged me to apply to her peer’s lab at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, so of course I did... and now EEGs aren’t something I’ve just seen on a slide! I’ve set them up and administered them firsthand. You can see one of the presentations I created here.

This year I’ll be working in Professor Mirkin’s lab, a renowned geneticist in Tufts’ biology department. We’ll be investigating the uncoupling of the replicative DNA helicase and the leading strand DNA polymerase at long DNA repeats. Through this, I’ll have the opportunity to engage with cutting edge techniques, like nanopore sequencing.

That’s not it, though. I still am seeking to gain experience in what I hope to earn a MD/PhD for neurosurgery, glioblastoma, and the genetics of neuro-oncology. Perhaps unsurprisingly, a professor at Tufts connected me with one of her research friends who runs a lab at Harvard studying just that! 

What have I learned in my first year of research at Tufts? What advice would I give to past me? Well, here it is:

1. Ask! - Go to your professor’s office hours! Send them a nice inquiring email! Ask them whatever’s on your mind! Your professors will have some of the best connections; perhaps they even run a lab themselves. By showing an interest in their work, they’ll know you’re serious.
2. Do your research - The amount of research taking place at Tufts and neighboring schools is absolutely jumbo (see what I did there?). Looking in depth at a faculty member’s published work has helped me immensely; you can find a list of all the professors in a department simply by navigating to the department’s website. From there, I’ll normally look at their specific lab website (which is often linked), or I’ll paste their name into Google Scholar. 
   1. Apply to summer programs! - Summer programs give you the opportunity to build connections with peers, forge a mentor-mentee relationship, and gain tons of experience in whatever your field of interest is. There are so many programs, finding one is just a Google search away. My summer 2020 program’s in-person experience (Building Diversity in the Biomedical Sciences at Tufts Medical) was canceled due to COVID-19, but the virtual component was still worthwhile. 
   2. Pay special attention to studies mentioned in lecture - Not only are they important to the material at hand, but often you will find that they have the most fascinating experimental design. You can use these to guide what types of experiments you’d like to do.
3. Take your time, but the earlier the better - Take your time when you look through professors and their research. However, it’s worth mentioning that certain labs are incredibly popular - if you want to score a spot in these, you’re going to want to reach out relatively early in the year (or, maybe your freshman year). This will get you experience, and in a way, you’ll be “ahead of the curve.” Don’t worry though, if you want to use your first year to get your footing or if your lab of choice does end up filling, there are tons of other opportunities to snag in the future.
4. Be concise, but genuine - This field can be all-consuming, and therefore researchers are quite busy. I’ve found that short, genuine statements of interest and asking to set up a meeting to chat have solicited the most responses.
5. Have fun! - I hope you’re excited to start your career as a member of the research community!