By Melissa Drown

Early career research experiences can be instrumental in leading science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors into scientific careers. Unfortunately, with limited time for mentoring and a high faculty-to-undergraduate student ratio, providing undergraduates with meaningful research experiences can be challenging. Below are some recommendations for providing meaningful undergraduate research experiences (UREs). These recommendations are based on a structured URE implemented in the Marine Genomics Lab at the University of Miami. 

Considerations:

Compensation

Undergraduate students often participate in extracurricular activities, hold jobs, and register for a full course load each semester. This can make participating in a URE difficult, as many are offered as volunteer positions where students are not compensated for their time. To remove barriers to participation, faculty can:

• Provide support for students to apply for institutional undergraduate research grants when available. Examples: University of Miami Small Undergraduate Research Grant Experience (SURGE), University of Minnesota Undergraduate Research Opportunity Project (UROP), 
• Advertise work-study opportunities when possible. Work-study students have their income supplemented by the university making it very cost-effective to hire them.
  Contact your university work study office for details.
• Offer research credit for completed lab work. Students can often earn research credits towards their degree, making it possible for them to reduce their course load while still making progress toward graduation. 

Independent project selection

Working on independent projects allows undergraduate students to develop project ownership and feelings of responsibility for project success. Simply put, students are essential to the project and are not a “pair of hands” doing predetermined work for others. Some suggestions include having undergraduate students doing the following:

• Have students brainstorm project ideas that are within the expertise of your lab
• Have students refine ideas through discussion with graduate students and faculty
• Have them write an abstract and receive feedback from graduate students. 

Expectations and outcomes

At the start of the semester, weekly expectations should be set and discussed with participating undergraduate students. This includes the number of hours students will be in the lab, the progress they will be expected to make by specific dates, and deliverables that will be produced throughout the semester to demonstrate their progress. Examples of deliverables used in the Marine Genomics Lab at the University of Miami are detailed in the table below. Intermediate products are important for maintaining a connection with the students and preventing them from being “left to their own devices” or set to work on a project without accountability, which can lead to failed research experiences. 

Mentoring

It is recommended to have no more than two undergraduate students paired with graduate student mentors. Graduate-undergraduate student pairs can schedule meetings at their chosen frequency (20 minute long weekly meetings work well). In addition, undergraduate students should be encouraged to meet with faculty mentors at least twice during the semester. 

It is important to consider practices for inclusive mentoring by providing a safe environment for all students to learn and work. This can be accomplished, for example, by sharing pronouns at lab meetings, being aware of explicit and implicit barriers to participation (e.g., can all students get to your lab easily, is the training they need to participate in research free and available, are you providing paid and/or for-credit opportunities), and creating a lab “contract” that outlines expectations including a statement on diversity, equity, and inclusion in your lab and at your institution. 

Community

One important outcome of undergraduate research experiences is the potential to increase feelings of inclusion in academia among mentees. Below are a few ways this can be accomplished:

• Involve students in journal clubs, lab meetings, and lab outings 
• Put undergraduate researchers into small groups and have them present chosen papers at journal club
• Use lab time to hear undergraduate research updates
• Help students apply and prepare presentations for campus undergraduate research symposiums or conferences when appropriate 

Professional development

In addition to building research skills, undergraduates benefit from UREs because they get to interact with graduate students and faculty. Additional opportunities for professional development can be readily implemented into a URE by using lab time for intentional non-research activities. Some examples include:

• Converting a resume to a CV
• How to write a cover letter
• Maintaining a good lab notebook
• Using R for data analysis and visualization
• How to use a citation manager
• Effective scientific poster design

These topics can be covered in ~1-hour workshop-style seminars led by graduate students at the lab or departmental level. 

Key takeaways

1. Set expectations early, use intermediate deliverables, and plan your time
2. Teach key skills including lab notebook maintenance, scientific writing, citation management, and presentation skills
3. Integrate undergraduates into the lab group to build community

References and resources

1. Brown, Anne M., Stephanie N. Lewis, and David R. Bevan. “Development of a structured undergraduate research experience: Framework and implications.” Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education 44.5 (2016): 463-474.
2. Keeping a lab Notebook – NIH Office of Intramural Training
3. Mentoring LGBTQ+ Students in STEM
4. Setting Expectations in Writing for New Lab Members
5. A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Marine Genomics Laboratory
   1. This includes an example of a written expectations guide for new students and has resources for professional development (e.g., citation managers, writing a good CV, learning coding, general lab techniques)

By Michelle Jonika

After graduate school or a postdoc, the ultimate goal is to get a job. For some, the goal would be to stay in academia; for others, to transition to industry. Some have thought about specific careers or companies to work for in the future. However, not many of us have considered designing an approach to make tough life choices and choosing the appropriate path for personal career goals. With a design-thinking approach, which enables users to understand themselves and their career drivers better, users can gain confidence by reimagining their PhD or postdoc experience while preparing for future career decisions.

What is the goal of the design-thinking approach?

Design-thinking uses a creative and collaborative approach to discuss critical questions or major decisions surrounding career options. This approach addresses problem-solving from a human-centric perspective and focuses on mindfulness surrounding the process with a bias towards action. The design-thinking approach also uses radical collaboration and prototyping culture elements to elucidate creative solutions. Applying design-thinking to strategize and prepare for the future can improve career development success rates and increase confidence in future career decisions. 

What steps should I take in a design-thinking approach?

Design-thinking is, first and foremost, a collaborative experience. Therefore, it would be beneficial to discuss or share personalized thoughts throughout each of the following steps with lab members, peers, or even a supervisor. These exercises can drive brainstorming and discussion throughout the design-thinking process and facilitate a conversation on career development within everyday spaces.

1) Empathize: Empathy is foundational to a human-centered approach in the design-thinking process. Take time to understand yourself and others within a chosen group. 

For example, consider the following:

• I lose track of time when I am working on/doing ________ because ________.
• My ideal work environment is ________ because ________.
• When I am stuck on a problem I ________ because ________.
• I am most interested in pursuing ________ although I am curious about ________.
• My biggest open question in thinking about my future is ________.
• I also have some doubts about ________.
• What I am most worried about is ________.

2) Define: Define what matters to you in life. First, unpack and synthesize discoveries made during the empathy assessment. Then, transform these observations from the first step into specific and meaningful insights that can elicit a challenge for yourself. 

Consider experiences in a current role or other occasions such as student groups or volunteering. Think about the roses—things that you consider strengths, successes, or something enjoyed from these positions; consider the thorns—the weaknesses, challenges, or things you dislike about these positions. Then, in the back of your mind, think of opportunities that may best benefit the items identified as roses and thorns. 

As a follow-up to this first part, open up “Ph.D. Career Choice Indicator,” complete the assessment and choose one career that interests you the most. Then, create a “How might I” statement from this chosen career. For example, “How might I learn more about X careers?”

3) Ideate: Think of ideas that can answer your questions about getting where you want to go. Use these ideas to step outside of obvious solutions to your problems or challenges, and stretch yourself into discussing new perspectives or solutions. 

After coming up with one or a few “How might I …” statements, check in with a group of your choosing to discuss potential solutions or resources to facilitate learning about the topics discussed in these statements. Consider the ideas above on the goals of this step to create thoughtful and impactful solutions to your statements.

4) Prototype: Prototyping gets the ideas and thoughts from the previous step out of your head and put into action. This can be anything from setting up an informational interview, researching career paths using new resources, etc. Start conversations and facilitate action on your brainstormed ideas to progress your career development.

5) Test: The final step allows for feedback on your solutions, refining solutions to improve them, or even reassessing other steps in the design process and reevaluating where you want your career journey to take you. Consider actions taken in the previous steps and knowledge gained along the way. Use this to create feedback on your journey, revise future efforts, or even reassess the direction you might want to go. Once finished with this step, start the process again until satisfied or until time allows. 

References and Resources:

1. CJ Neely, Ph.D. Assistant Director of Career Education, Professional Development and Career Office (PDCO), Johns Hopkins University
2. Blackford, S (2014) Career choice indicator for bioscience researchers and Ph.D. students based on Holland’s theory of career choice. 
3. The Ten Frameworks of Life Design
4. Bioscience Careers
5. TED Talk: How to Build Your Creative Confidence with David Kelley
6. Stanford Design Resources