Applying for Neuroscience-Related Research Experience in a University: Undergraduate students
Neuroscience Ireland do not offer research experience placements for undergraduate students or organise connections between undergraduate students and placements provided by others. However, here we provide some tips on how and when to reach out to Principal Investigators who research neuroscience topics of interest to request research experience.
It is important to deadlines for grant applications which fund such experience typically occur before or shortly after Christmas. These grant applications (see details below) often take 3-6 weeks to prepare. As such, if you are seeking summer research experience, you should contact the PI(s) of interest in summer or autumn of the year prior to when you wish to gain experience. If you contact PIs later than this, it is likely that they will not be able to offer you a place because (a) it is too late to apply for funding or (b) another undergraduate student has already been offered a position in the lab.
Finding a neuroscience lab that offers work experience to undergraduate students
Many research teams may not have the time or resources to provide experience to undergraduate students. Additionally, some labs may not be suitable for hosting untrained personnel, due to potential safety hazards or data protection regulations. However, many Principal Investigators will be happy to provide summer experience to one undergraduate student per year who shows a strong interest in the research they perform.
If you are eager to gain work experience with a specific research team:
You will need to contact the Principal Investigator (PI) who leads the team. You can contact them via email – their email address will be available on the website of the university that they work for. See tips below for what to include in your email.
If you are interested in a specific area of research, but do not know who to contact:
You can look for people who research a specific neuroscience topic by looking at university websites. Navigate to the pages of departments which are relevant (e.g. neuroscience, psychology, biology, medicine or similar), then go to the “Staff” or “Researchers” or “Our Team” tabs. These tabs will contain biographies and summaries of the research interests of the PIs who work in the department. Here you may find someone who is researching what you are interested in. You can also find the email address to contact them. See tips below for what to include in your email.
How to structure an email requesting research experience
PIs are very busy, so you are most likely to be successful if you keep your email brief and clear. Additionally, you should demonstrate that you have a specific interest in this PI's area of research. Here are some tips for how to apply via email:
Use a brief subject line that show you are applying to this person’s lab specifically. Generic email subjects may be disregarded as spam. For example: “Looking for research experience in Dr Smyth lab”, as opposed to “Research experience”
Open your email with the PI’s correct title and use correct spelling of the surname. Their title may be found on their university profile, but if you are not sure, use either “Dr” or “Prof.”, followed by their surname. Avoid using first names or gendered pronouns (e.g. “Mr”, Mrs” or “Ms”) or generic titles (e.g. “Sir” or “Madam”).
For example: “Dear Dr Smyth”, as opposed to “Hi” or “Dear Sir/Madam”
Briefly outline that you are an undergraduate student, name your course and year of your course, and summarise in 3-5 sentences why you wish to get research experience in this lab. For example: Mention how the research/interests of this lab relate to your career interests, curiosities about neuroscience, and how it will help you in your career/academic development.
Mention any funding available to support your time working in their lab. PIs are much more likely to offer to supervise a student if you propose a means to obtain such funding (see below).
Attach your CV to the email. Your CV should only be 1-2 pages long. Summarise your final grades for each year of your undergraduate course to date, as well as grades in any relevant modules and laboratory methods you have been taught. Also outline any relevant academic experience outside of your current undergraduate course (such as Certificates or other accredited courses). Then highlight any employment or extra-curricular experience which demonstrates you have relevant skills for working with this lab (e.g. experience in coding, statistics, experience with patient groups).
If you are interested in gaining experience in more than one lab, pick only 1-3 PIs to email within the same university. Sending emails to numerous PIs within the same university, each saying you are interested in their research specifically, may convey that you are not interested in any one of their teams specifically.
Use a formal email sign off to close your email, such as “Kind regards, [Full name]”.
Spell and grammar check your email before sending.
Funding summer research experience
Typically, a summer research project in a lab will last for 8-12 weeks. Due to the cost of living crisis in Ireland, many PIs will not agree to supervise an undergraduate summer unless there is a “stipend” available. A stipend is a fixed amount of money paid per week of work to the student to support their living costs during their time in the lab). Some PIs will decline offers from students to work in the absence of such funding. This is to prevent students incurring costs they cannot afford, or to avoid creating opportunities only accessible to students of greater financial security. If a stipend cannot be sourced, a PI may offer for the student to spend a number of days/a week shadowing members of the lab to gain some experience.
Identifying funding opportunities for research experience:
There are several research funding agencies which offer summer studentship grants to support undergraduates looking to gain research experience. These grants typically will provide a stipend only, or occasionally they may also provide “consumables” funding to cover the costs of lab materials needed to perform your project. The stipend is usually approximately 250 euro per week of work, for up to 8-10 weeks.
Different grants have different eligibility criteria. Examples of eligibility criteria include requirement to work in specific areas of research, requirement to be in the 2nd or 3rd year of your degree and not having previously accessed similar funding or experience. You can find the eligibility criteria listed on the website for the grant. It is essential to confirm that you are eligible for any grants before you propose applying for them to a PI.
Most of these grants are highly competitive (i.e. they receive a lot more applications than the number of grants available). As such, grants require students to put together applications which show why they deserve to receive this funding. You should not prepare an application to fund a specific research project until you have already received approval from a PI to do so. Grant writing is an essential skill when working in research, so writing such an application in itself provides valuable experience to students. Allow 4-6 weeks to prepare each application, as you will need to prepare several drafts with the help of the PI.
Applications are typically scored based on prior academic performance, suitability of the proposed project and supervisor and relevance of the experience to the career aspirations of the student.
Examples of summer reseach funding grants for undergraduate students: