From emails to experiments: How undergraduate students can get involved in research

Audrey Coleman
Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:36:52 +0000
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Third-year student Kaitlyn Lauber works in a chemistry lab on campus that studies berries and the natural compounds found in them. Credit: Courtesy of Kaitlyn Lauber.

For many students at Ohio State, working in research offers a chance to go beyond the classroom and gain hands-on experience in their fields of study.?

However, with all of the different research programs and labs across campus, it can feel overwhelming for students to find a way to get involved.?

According to Kaitlyn Lauber, a third-year in chemistry, the first step in getting involved in any research setting is reaching out to professors and study leaders.

Which is exactly what Lauber said she did her freshman year when looking for a research opportunity.?

“If you are interested in what they’re doing, find their email and reach out. Try to act professional in your email, be upfront about your lack of experience and how you want to get experience,” Lauber said. “I was really lucky and got it on the first try, but I know other people who emailed lots of professors.”

Emily Leach, a fourth-year in psychology, emailed several professors looking for an open position before entering her cognitive development lab.

“It’s very dependent on the professor. I probably emailed 20 or 30 people,” Leach said. “You do have to be willing to get rejected, but it’s okay. It’s a big university, so you always have other opportunities.”

However, for other fields there are programs designed to help students find research lab positions. The Cycle Program helps mathematics majors, like? Zach Frager, a third-year in mathematics and psychology, to enter the research sphere.?

“Everyone who applies gets to go to this conference at the beginning of the year with graduate students and instructors, who will present what they want to work on,” Frager said. “You’ll go around, pick a couple of people, you get assigned and then you work together.”

Once working on the research project, it can pose a challenge to navigate a busy class schedule, work or other commitments. Yet in a college setting, it’s more common for principal investigators, the people leading the charge on the project, to be understanding and flexible, Lauber said.

“I have another job on campus, and I’m involved in a lot of clubs, so I only do three hours a week,” Lauber said. “If you don’t get paid, then you’re not really supposed to do more than three hours a week.”

Since research can become students’ primary part-time jobs, Lauber and Leach said it lends itself to growth within the labs.?

“Once they get higher up in research, [you] are doing 15 to 20 hours a week, but you will never do that without getting paid, and at that point, it is your job as well, so you are completely able to balance a job and research,” Lauber said.?

Beyond building resumes and applying concepts in classwork, research can lead to more connections with fellow undergrad students and a deeper understanding of the field you’re pursuing, all three students said.

“It has definitely broadened my own scope of the field of understanding what it actually means to like mathematical research and not just learn about the field, learn about what other people have already discovered, but do something novel and new,” Frager said.

With building relationships, both personally and professionally, research settings can provide a unique space, Leach said.?

“I’ve learned a lot of skills, not just research-wise, but interpersonally, like how to connect with different communities of people,” Leach said. “It’s also been nice to connect with other undergraduates who are also interested in similar things to me.

For students like Lauber, Leach and Frager, what once felt overwhelming and beyond reach has become a core point in their time at Ohio State and future careers.?

“As most people say, don’t get discouraged with not getting into your first one as a freshman. You think that it’s all do or die with one thing, but it’s really not,” Lauber said. “There are so many labs that you can get into. Just keep looking, keep searching and don’t just give up on the first try.”