Late To The Party, But Still Interested In Doing Research

[woodsman]

I messed up earlier this year in planning out how I was going to spend my summer, and now I'm scrambling to find an opportunity to see what research is like.

 

The main problems I see right now are that it's pretty late in the summer to be looking for this kind of thing, and that I study out of town, so I have few/no connections to researchers where I'm living for the summer (Toronto).

 

I'm sure there's opportunities, however few they may be, SOMEWHERE in a city as big as Toronto, I'm just kind of lost and not sure where to start. I've tried Sunnybrook but apparently I'm too late for their program, and I've emailed a bunch of researchers at St. Michael's, but no replies yet.

 

For context, I just finished my 3rd year of UG in Honours Science at Waterloo, and I have strong skills and interest in programming and computational methods, but I'll take anything I can get--beggars can't be choosers, after all.

 

Any ideas on what I could do to find a position at this point? Thanks in advance for any help.

[Depression]

I try to optimistic but I think you're quite late in your applications for summer research. :/ There's quite a bit of training involved with research students; for that reason, I don't think labs would be too keep on having someone start late in the summer only to leave in a couple of months.

 

Umm, also try contacting grad students in addition to the PI's as they are more likely to reply and/or offer guidance.  

 

BUT what you could do is ask around and see if there are research positions for the next academic year in the Waterloo area. It's not a bad idea to start early.   

 

Good luck, OP!  

[FuturePT216]

You may be able to get in if you spin it as a volunteer position in the email

[3change]

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[woodsman]

Thanks for all the input. I have thought about it and decided I should probably just use my summer on other productive things, and try to find a research position during the school year that fits better.