Phosphorus Posted December 28, 2013 Report Share Posted December 28, 2013 Hey guys, Research is becoming increasing important in the selection of applicants, so I thought it might be a good idea to enrol in a set of directed studies courses where I get to create my own research project, perform the experiment(s), complete a report, and then present it. For those of you who have done something similar, can you suggest any good research projects? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savac Posted December 28, 2013 Report Share Posted December 28, 2013 I don't think that would count though... I might be wrong about this, but I know for sure that OMSAS states that research as part of your coursework doesn't count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phosphorus Posted December 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2013 What if you go to a small teaching university then? There aren't really any research opportunities outside the degree program. If I want to do research this is all I have. Plus, this is an elective and is not required for the completion of my degree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted December 29, 2013 Report Share Posted December 29, 2013 I don't think that would count though... I might be wrong about this, but I know for sure that OMSAS states that research as part of your coursework doesn't count. If you do a self directed project "correctly" with the right topic and supervisor then you can try to publish the work, present it as a poster, or some other say of getting it outside of purely the course itself. That then can be research by anyone's standards etc. Not much different than doing a masters really - directed self studies is kind of a miniaturized version of that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted December 29, 2013 Report Share Posted December 29, 2013 What if you go to a small teaching university then? There aren't really any research opportunities outside the degree program. If I want to do research this is all I have. Plus, this is an elective and is not required for the completion of my degree. I did 3 of those during my UG degree and they came up in interviews and I think helped develop some research skills in areas I am interested. They key I think is laying down the ground work up front in terms of goals and expectations I did a psych project that combined economics and risk behaviours. I did field work on the structure of leaf cutter ants in costa rica, and modeled those behaviours using a greedy algorithm to be used in an AI search optimization problem. I did another separate field work project on malaria and patterns of transmission. These projects not only are useful but they are often way more fun than regular classes AND you can get great marks in them with effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phosphorus Posted December 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2013 How did you even come up with those ideas, especially since those projects include concepts and ideas from different disciplines? I have from now until the end of this semester to come up with an idea. I am willing to put a lot of effort into this, but I need to ensure that it is within my capabilities and that I have the resources to accomplish the project. Like I said before, I go to a very small teaching university. Only 2 or 3 people within the entire degree program sign up for these set of courses. We are under the supervision of one faculty member who is willing to supervise us. Maybe I should start talking to some professors and see if they can give me any ideas on how to approach this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted December 30, 2013 Report Share Posted December 30, 2013 How did you even come up with those ideas, especially since those projects include concepts and ideas from different disciplines? I have from now until the end of this semester to come up with an idea. I am willing to put a lot of effort into this, but I need to ensure that it is within my capabilities and that I have the resources to accomplish the project. Like I said before, I go to a very small teaching university. Only 2 or 3 people within the entire degree program sign up for these set of courses. We are under the supervision of one faculty member who is willing to supervise us.Maybe I should start talking to some professors and see if they can give me any ideas on how to approach this. Bingo often they already have an idea. Particularly if you are interested in potentially getting your name on a paper then starting there is a good idea. I got some of those ideas from professors or other researchers and some I got just because they were open research questions in the field I have done work in ( I have an economics and psychology degree, among other things). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phosphorus Posted January 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 That makes sense. Thanks for the help. I'll start there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Economist Posted January 2, 2014 Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 Of course it would count as research. What OMSAS probably meant is that it shouldn't go under 'research' category since I think they require some sort of published material to be counted under 'research'. I turned my independent research project into directed studies just so I could get credits out of it, so it doesn't make sense that directed studies wouldn't be counted as 'research'. In fact, what I'm doing in Directed Studies is most 'legit' research I've done IMO compared to my other summer project experiences and also likely going to get a first or second author on the publication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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