Researchers Wanted ... No experience necessary
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Ron Raines knows that the research bug is highly contagious, especially among undergraduates. He caught it himself at a young age.
His experiences doing research as an undergraduate were pivotal in his career. Now that he’s a professor, he takes seriously his responsibility to give students the same opportunities.
Working in a lab makes science real, he says. “If you don’t do it with your own two hands, it just seems so abstract. To be able to do it yourself is very important.”
Raines welcomes several motivated students into his lab every year, and he doesn’t mind inexperience. In fact, he prefers that students start as freshmen or sophomores and continue through graduation.
And when he offers “hands-on experience,” he isn’t talking about washing test tubes.
“I want them to do something meaningful,” he says. “I try to design projects that will lead them to being a co-author on a paper.” There are currently 20 papers from the Raines lab with undergraduate authors.
In 2005, the Raines team included three undergraduates: Melissa Yatzeck, a third-year student, Bernard Fula, a senior, and Shawn Lin, a sophomore. Fula and Lin are both headed for a career in medicine, while Yatzeck wants to earn a Ph. D. in biochemistry.
They all agree that the research experience gained in Raines’ lab will pay dividends when they graduate.
“I’ve learned important lab techniques, gained skills in scientific writing and poster presentations, and been exposed to the research process,” says Yatzek. “And everyone here is friendly and willing to help each other out — even an undergraduate like me!”