[Request] Tips For Applying To Summer Research Positions

[luckbelady]

From what I gather you just look up Principal Investigators and send out mass amounts of vague cover letters expressing an interest to study in their labs. Is this correct?

• Do you apply to the research director and the principal investigator or just the PI?
• How do you "show interest" in what they're studying if you don't have any previous experience in the field?
• How specific do you get in your cover letter? Ie. Do you reference some research techniques they used in a recently published paper and just hope they're still applying that currently?

 

Thanks in advance for any help here!  As a student who only recently started getting serious about a path towards medicine, this is pretty overwhelming. Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

[NotASerialKiller]

Are you talking about people you know are hiring? If not, I'd just fire off an e-mail saying that you're interested in what they're studying, want to get involved in research, and you were wondering if they might be hiring an assistant this summer. You could also ask to chat with them about it in person since they might know of opportunities in other labs, or ways you can get involved if you don't find full-time summer work.

 

You shouldn't treat it as a standard job application and just flood people with resumes. Most supervisors want people who have a genuine interest in their field and aren't just looking for any old summer job. Reach out to with the intent of starting a conversation about it. At least in my experience, most would much rather have a conversation about research opportunities with an interested student then get a cover letter sent to them for a summer job.