How to Get Involved IN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

By Dr. Deborah Bedor

f you consider yourself a young scientist or hopeful STEM major, then you will want to become involved in the extraordinary experience that is science research.

French philosopher Michel Foucault describes curiosity as: “a passion for seizing what is happening now and what is disappearing.” Such curiosity propels powerful fields of research in all sectors of academia and is foundational to all STEM majors.

Let’s look at the most obvious benefits of engaging in research for an applicant to college. Admissions loves to see that you are pushing academic boundaries and going down “curiosity rabbit holes” through your independent research. If you want proof of that, just look at all the places on the Common Application where you can write about your research experiences: You can place your abstract in the Additional Information section; on some supplementary applications you can write an actual essay about your research as well as upload your paper.

On the University of California application, there are four required essays of 350 words each, and if you plan on majoring in any of the “hard sciences” you should be sure to write one of those essays on your research. You can create a narrative about your curiosity for engaging in research in your Personal Statement or list your research on the Common Application Activities Form. You can also note any academic honors you have received for that research in the Academic Honors/Awards section of the application.

Shaping you into a more interesting interview subject or college-ready STEM student, research experiences teach you organizational skills, persuasive communication, solutions-thinking, adaptability (because research rarely goes according to your initial plans), and discipline.

Different Areas Of Science Research Projects

There are so many exciting areas of research that students don’t realize are possibilities. Students have carried out projects such as:

•“Understanding the genetic mechanisms behind muscle growth and decay”

•“The impact of having a sibling with special needs”,

•“The effect of different seafloor material on the feeding habits of sharks”

•“Using bamboo to create an emergency shelter for sustainable relief efforts”

•“Creating a new automated method of diagnosing colon cancer using digital image analysis”

Your choice of research area should be interesting and important to you. By far, the most successful students are not the ones that carried out a project for the sole purpose of winning a science fair (just as Nobel Laureates are not the people who have simply read the most scientific journal articles over their careers); they are those that choose an area of research that is fascinating to them.

HOW TO CHOOSE A GENERAL SCIENCE RESEARCH AREA AND A SPECIFIC TOPIC:

Some students choose a topic because they are talented in a certain field of science such as biology or chemistry; others choose an area because it has a significance to them. Some examples of student motivation for carrying out a project are:

•A grandparent might have died of cancer and the student wants to understand more about the disease

•The student visited a developing country and wants to create ways for people in that country to have a sustainable source of food

•The student is motivated by climate change and activism and wants to study the impact of invasive plants on the ecosystem

•The student loves building things or tinkering and wants to create a device that will help people with physical disabilities

HOW TO CHOOSE A TOPIC CATEGORY:

Take a look at the 21 categories and subcategories typically used by ISEF.

Suggested Timeline Of Activities For A Successful Student Science Research Project

Expect to spend a few months building your foundation of understanding about all basic information and related research in your field of interest. You need to have a deep understanding of all the background material, and related research is essential before you reach out to potential research mentors.

A good sequence to follow would be:

•Read all information available using basic websites and printed material (“Dummies guide to…”).

•Outline all information from general to specific.

•Create vocabulary lists of all words that are related directly or indirectly to your topic

•Use the keywords that you have seen in the general information to find professional research “journal” abstracts.

•Fortified with this information and background, you can begin to approach possible mentors.

A Few Tricks To Finding Research Abstracts And Articles

Since most research articles are posted on-line in Adobe PDF format, go to Google.com, type in your area of interest with a few specific keywords that you have learned.

•Click on “Settings,” then “Advanced Search.” In the field that says “file type” change it to “Adobe Acrobat PDF

•Highlight the key ideas and vocabulary in each of the abstracts.

•Keep a list of the following (this will be essential to refer to over the upcoming months):

› Title of the research article/abstract

› Primary researchers (authors) of the articles

› Location of research

›Year of the research

Timeframe For Different Areas Of Student Science Research Projects

While most of the research students carry out the largest amount of their project during the summer and/or during their school breaks, starting a project or learning about the procedures you will be doing during the school year is a great advantage.

Behavioral/Psychology Surveys

An example: one of our students contacted Autism support groups around the nation via phone and email to see if they would help spread the word for his online surveybased research. He explained that he was interested in having feedback from parents that had a child on the Autism spectrum. He wanted to determine if there was a trend amongst the families that had a strong parent/ child relationship based on different parenting styles.The Autism support group leaders from around the country were so helpful that they passed along his survey to their members.

Computer, Math, Physics

One student assessed that her parents wasted a lot of time while waiting for the subway they took to work. When most of the trains opened their doors at the station, they were so packed with people that no one else could board the train. She wondered whether having alternating trains that stopped at alternating stations would help with this problem. She combined both her computer skills and her love for math to create a “Skip-stop” system for addressing this problem. The system she created is currently being reviewed by the transit authority of a large city with the possibility of implementation.

Engineering

One student was an Eagle scout who loved to camp, hike, and go kayaking. He was frustrated that he could not transport his kayak to remote rivers and streams. After some online research he saw that there were only two viable options for a “portable” kayak. He noticed that one was so heavy it had to be transported by a cart with wheels and the other was extremely expensive. Using a computer-assisted design software program at his school and assorted supplies he assembled in his garage a brand new, collapsible kayak that was lighter than any on the market and far less expensive. Not only did he win the top prize at a regional science fair, but he secured a patent on hiskayakandwononeofthetopprizesattheInternational Science and Engineering Fair.

Project Ideas In Your Area Of Interest

So many students have an interest in an area of research but are not sure what possible projects a student could undertake. One of the best ways to gain insight is to read about what numerous award-winning students have done.

Society for Science and the Public organization runs the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) and the Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) and they have a website where you can read the abstracts from every student participant that has presented at ISEF since 2003.

Don’t think that just because a project has been done that it cannot become a guide for a new project with a different focus.

“We see more and farther than our predecessors, not because we have keener vision or greater height, but because we are lifted up and borne aloft on their gigantic stature” —Bernard of Chartres

The idea that we can do amazing things with new research because we are standing on the “shoulders of giants” is a common theme among scientists. Most research happens because someone was inspired by previous projects and wanted to learn more or test different variables.

In general, students, if you can create a mentoring relationship in science research with your teachers in a subject of interest, then that is wonderful, and you should go for it! If you cannot locate mentors at your school, contact College Admissions Central and we will be happy to connect you some of the nation’s top research experts, ISEF-affiliated judges, and coaches!