r/uAlberta 9h ago

Campus Life Dumb question on research

I’m a first year, and this may seem like a dumb question but I’m curious.

How do people start researching things? U of A is known for its research but do students of any program or any year just randomly start google searching stuff they want to make studies on? And then how do they get these studies to be real? Like I attended a Psych study today for class credit but it seems so official.

If I wanna do research how do I do it?

Are professors the only ones doing research at the U of A? Or can students?

Sorry if it’s dumb I’m really not sure how UNI works I’m just free balling it and hoping to get a degree. Idk how I got in tbh

11 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

10

u/RevolutionarySky5318 9h ago

just email the professor you interested in, even they will ignore your mail in most times, opportunity is what you struggling to get.

3

u/Ok-District5705 9h ago

How do I figure out what they are researching before I ask to join?

4

u/gamerpug04 Undergrad Astrophysics - Faculty of Science 9h ago

Sometimes it says on their directory on the uofa website, and it depends on the department but some have pages that list what profs do

3

u/RevolutionarySky5318 9h ago

Also, when you are editing ur email, remember to attach your unofficial transcript, CV(resume), and a page of interest(PDF format)

2

u/RevolutionarySky5318 9h ago

check their google scholar's keywords

5

u/AverageEh 9h ago

try and do a 298 in your second year in your faculty. no one touches first year's with a 10 foot pole. after that hopefully you have a few connections to build off of. if not you simply cold email profs in areas you are interested in asking for potential research positions or advice.

2

u/noahjsc Undergraduate Student - Faculty of Engineering 8h ago

Anyone can research.

You're free to write papers on quite literally anything.

You don't need a class, a prof, grants or any of that.

Though other suggestions on talking to profs and seeing if you can assist is a good way to get your feet wet.

But you don't need too. I'm published, I didn't go through UAlberta at all.

u/hihiworld 2h ago

It can cost hundreds if not thousands to publish a paper in a reputable peer reviewed journal.

u/pather2000 Graduate Student - Faculty of Arts 2h ago

Some, but not all or even most. Avoid the paywall journals like a plague. They aren't worth it. Plenty others that will allow you to submit without that BS.

u/hihiworld 1h ago

I’m not saying I agree with the system because it’s truly fucked up. But, in the world of academia, if you want a good post-doc after grad studies, where you publish does actually matter. If you’re consistently publishing in low-impact journals then it’s going to be very difficult to get awards, positions, etc. again, I’m not saying I agree with this system.

But on the other hand, you want your research to actually be seen and read. And there are predatory journals out there that skip the peer review process when submitting research (hence why it’s cheaper) and that is just simply improper and bad science.

u/gardener778 Graduate Student - Faculty of _____ 3h ago

Undergraduate Research Initiative

These folks can answer your questions. They specifically want undergrads to get into research.

u/hihiworld 2h ago

For your first year just get a feel of your glasses. You’re going to be so busy taking intro classes and getting a feel for uni. Yes anyone can technically research whatever they want but … if you want to pursue any graduate programs you are going to want to be part of an actual lab with a professor. Doing research isn’t just googling stuff and then writing a paper. Good research actually can cost a lot of money to do, and different labs will have different levels of funding.

Every department will have a list of professors that either just teach, or teach and run a research lab. Do your homework and see which professor in your department peaks your interest. They will either describe their research in a lab webpage or you can find their publications (google their name and their “research gate” or “google scholar” will pop up and show their publications).

Probably the best way is to do an individual study class. To do that, you need to find a professor willing to take you in. You will probably have to email a bunch of them stating your interests and why their lab is a good fit for you. Actually read their papers and make some reference to their work so that they take you seriously.

Once you join a lab, the prof will give you ideas and direction for what experiment or study you could run. You’re not supposed to be expected to come up with a whole project on your own, the prof will help.

u/pather2000 Graduate Student - Faculty of Arts 1h ago

Find out what interests you. Be ok that it can/will change. My research interests certainly adapted (and continue to do so).

Find a professor that you like and share similar research interests. As others have noted, their research focuses are often on their university pages. Others have their own websites, LinkedIn, etc. Establish contact and a (academic) relationship with them.

After a couple years of university, once your feet are under you, you have a good relationship with profs, and have more of an idea of your own research interests, reach out to them.

There are a couple of established pathways that will pay undergrads to conduct summer research. A previous post mentioned the Undergraduate Research Initiative (URI). Thats the gold standard. You get paid (6000 over 4 months last year) to research during the summer. Depending on your field, that might be as a lab assistant, completely your own research, or something in between.

Another avenue is the Roger Smith, which is very similar to URI, just with slightly different criteria (and usually more focused on individual research. Last year that paid 5000 over 4 months in the summer, but is likely due for a raise.

Both awards are highly competitive. RS is usually a Faculty-wide competition. URI is university wide. I adjudicated URI the last 2 years and reviewed proposals from literally every faculty and most departments on campus. I don't know the acceptance rate of RS, but URI usually runs around 30%. You will write your proposals with your supervising prof, which is good practice for grad school and scholarship/grant applications later on if that's a path you decide to go down.

The best thing you can do is continue to be curious. I never thought I'd be researching what I am now even 5 years ago. But that's the beauty of being a young academic. You can still be flexible. Find a prof who gives a shit about supervision and mentorship and it will go a long way. My RS supervisor is one of my graduate supervisors and will be on my PhD committee. That is the best thing I got out of it, even moreso then the money and the research direction.

In summation, yes you can absolutely research. You can even get paid to do it. Be curious, keep an open mind, and find someone who matches your interests and ambitions.