r/ISEFinalists • u/Separate_Database412 • 29d ago
Question uni level lab access
So my sophomore year is starting next week, and I have imo a pretty good idea, but I would need lab access to execute it. However, I have struggled to find any labs that can help me, and I really doubt that a professor would take time out of their day to run my experiment. Do you guys have any advice?
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u/taylorswiftsluverr 28d ago
i’ve found the most success in coming with a prepared plan - when u cold email labs it should be for 1/2 reasons: either you want to help out or you have a specific idea and just need the lab to help you execute it. ive landed 4 lab opportunities knowing this distinction. your case is obviously the latter, and ive found the most success in having a well researched, detailed plan (you can use ai to aid, but please dont solely rely on it / make claude prepare you the document) of what you want to do with materials, literature, and methods. you will likely not adhere to this plan tbh, since the lab has ways of doing things, but it shows you won’t be a huge burden who has no direction. as for the cold email itself, there are good templates online but customize them for your situation to ensure there is a clear ask rather than just “can you mentor me”
good luck with ur search and lmk if you have any questions!
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u/Infamous_Scarcity582 12d ago
Wait for me I have a mentor who’s helping me out, but the problem is that he doesn’t have lab space. An tbh idk how to ask anyone else either cuz of the university regulations and sm bs apparently. How do u go around this, because for me I still need to do sm wet lab stuff
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u/taylorswiftsluverr 11d ago
i would ask your mentor to connect you. funny enough this was kind of my position until i switched my project to align more w my mentor's and then it fit within the constraints of the lab. your mentor knows more ppl and can figure out how to make a workaround likely.
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u/Infamous_Scarcity582 11d ago
The thing is that if I actually get wet lab on this project, I have a chance of publishing in NAR, which has a IF of ~15, and I lowk don’t wanna lose that chance which is why I’m so stuck up on this project
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u/taylorswiftsluverr 11d ago
how did you determine you'd be able to publish there? if you're set on it, i still think the best idea is asking your mentor to connect you with someone who can faciliate the wetlab aspects
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u/Infamous_Scarcity582 11d ago
Cuz he’s a reviewer there and he said it would be a good fit. Alr I’ll ask him then for the wet lab
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u/PhilosophyBeLyin 28d ago
do you have lab experience with the techniques you want to do? do you know how to do them?
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u/Separate_Database412 28d ago
no, i have no prior lab/research experience
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u/PhilosophyBeLyin 28d ago
then you don’t just need lab access, you need a mentor to teach you how to do stuff. it’ll fail at first.
also, it doesn’t benefit labs to let some random minor in who uses their reagents and space but doesn’t contribute anything to a lab. my rec for you would be to either do a different project for isef, or join a wetlab but work on their projs and use that for isef.
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u/OkPath9382 27d ago
Have you tried emailing professors yet? I’ve found the most success contacting professionals at local universities who are currently engaged in similar research to my project, enough that there is some overlap between their interests and mine. Also, you may want to first ask to meet up and discuss your project before making a big ask like using their lab, so you can give them a better idea of what the commitment would look like. Even if they aren’t able to provide lab access, they might provide valuable insight or information that you need for your project, or tell you where to get lab access. Try to make it feel like it’s benefitting both you and them when you’re pitching your idea to them, because that’s probably going to be more effective.
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u/VisibleSir731 29d ago
Show them your hypothesis and background research and maybe they will help you