Undergraduate Research!

Hey everyone! One of the biggest advantages of studying in a university as big as the U of M is the availability of plethora of academic related as well as non-academic related resources . As a genetics major, I was eager to get involved in research as early as I could in college . Doing research, or working in a life science based industry are one of my primary career goals and since high school I was well aware of the importance of developing lab skills to make a strong start in my career. I was also aware that getting involved in research would help me better understand my career aspirations. And thanks to UROP I was able to do precisely that!
UROP or the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program is sponsored by the Office of Undergraduate Research. The UROP provides a stipend and expense money for a research project done with a professor at the University of Minnesota. So basically you get paid to do research!
A few months after coming to the States, I started surfing the net for research being done by various biologists at the U (this information can be found in the website of the department in which you want to do research). After identifying professors that were doing research that seemed cool to me, I wrote emails to them letting them know about my desire to work in their lab. A lot of the professors, who were obviously incredibly busy with their work, did not even bother replying, but I did not lose heart and kept shooting mails until I finally got a response from a professor. And that professor's name was John Lee, a molecular biologist who graduated from University of California at Berkley . Apart from being a really smart scientist he turned out to be an incredibly nice guy, who agreed to hire me and helped me apply for a UROP . I eventually did win the UROP for this semester but more importantly am able to do research and gain valuable experience working under a great scientist!
So there you have it, that is my UROP story , and I hope I have been able to inspire you'll for getting involved in research in college. Feel free to ask me any questions you might have research or non-research related and I'll be more than happy to reply to them. Good luck!