Are you an undergraduate interested in joining the lab?
We welcome undergraduate students who are interested in gaining research experience and contributing to our work at the intersection of cancer, the microbiome, and human health. We use a deliberate onboarding process to ensure that students understand our research, meet the people they will be working with, and feel that the lab is a good environment for them to learn and grow.
How We Structure Undergraduate Research
We care deeply that all modern scientists know how to code. Every undergraduate project includes reproducible computation: you will learn to write scripts in a scripting language and work with a code repository. We use GitHub in the lab. These skills are part of your training even if your primary interest is wet lab research.
During the academic semesters, students interested in wet lab research typically take on relatively small or supportive experimental roles alongside their computational work. Heavy course loads can make it difficult to reserve consistent time on several consecutive days, which experiments such as cell culture and mouse work often require. We then help you apply for research funding through the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP) and the Pelotonia Scholars Program. For students pursuing wet lab research who stay in the lab over the summer, we typically plan a full-time wet lab project. We have had students follow other paths, but this structure works well for most students balancing research and coursework.
From supporting a project to leading one
You will typically begin by working with a graduate student or postdoc, supporting their first-author work and earning co-authorship through contributions such as analyses and figures. By the time that manuscript is submitted, you are often ready to begin your own first-author project. That next stage adds the skills of intellectually driving a project, writing a manuscript, and working through peer review. The timing depends on your progress and the project.
We recommend submitting abstracts to local meetings to practice presenting your work and get feedback. Once you have made progress on your first-author project, we will often identify a regional or national conference for you to attend. A lab favorite is the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting.
A common path from sophomore to senior year
Our most common path begins in sophomore year and builds across two summers of research. Many students have been successful with different starting points, schedules, and funding arrangements, so we will work with you to adapt this plan. Funding is competitive; the sequence below describes a common experience in our lab, rather than a guaranteed outcome.
- Sophomore year: Begin research with a graduate student or postdoc and apply for summer support through both URAP and the Pelotonia Scholars Program. In our lab, students at this stage typically receive URAP funding but are not selected for Pelotonia on their first application. The Pelotonia reviewer comments help guide a stronger resubmission.
- Summer after sophomore year: Use the first funded summer to develop research skills and generate preliminary data for your project.
- Junior year: Continue developing and analyzing those data, and resubmit your Pelotonia Scholars application with updated results and a response to the previous reviewer feedback.
- Summer after junior year and senior year: In this common path, a successful Pelotonia resubmission supports another summer of research and provides a stipend throughout senior year. Build on that work toward your own first-author project. Senior year is typically when we send you to a national conference, often AACR, to present your progress.
A typical research year
Use this as a planning guide with your mentor; meeting dates and application deadlines vary from year to year.
- Fall: Prepare abstracts and posters for the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC – James) Annual Scientific Meeting, typically in October, and the Pelotonia Institute for Immuno-Oncology meeting, typically in December but sometimes in April.
- January–February: Prepare and submit URAP and Pelotonia Scholars applications, checking each program’s current application cycle and deadline.
- Spring: Present a poster at Ohio State’s Spring Undergraduate Research Festival. Students whose projects are ready may also attend a national meeting; AACR typically takes place in April.
- Summer: For students staying in the lab to pursue wet lab research, focus on a full-time experimental project while continuing to use reproducible computation and GitHub.
Interested in joining us? Email Dan to get started. Here’s what to expect:
Finding the Right Fit
1. Send me an email
The first step is to cold email me. Please introduce yourself briefly, tell me why you are interested in research and our lab, and include your year and major.
I will respond to schedule a brief meeting. During this conversation, I will tell you more about the lab and our research and learn more about your interests, experience, and goals.
2. Learn about potential projects
Following our initial conversation, I will send you descriptions of several projects that may be appropriate for an undergraduate researcher.
Take some time to read through these projects and let me know which ones interest you. Your response helps me understand what you are most excited about and where you might be a good fit.
If there appears to be a potential match, I will invite you to attend a lab group meeting.
3. Attend a lab meeting
Lab meeting gives you an opportunity to see what day-to-day life in the lab is like. You will be introduced to lab members, hear about some of our ongoing projects, and get a sense of how we discuss science and work together.
This is also an opportunity for you to ask questions and decide whether the lab seems like a place where you would enjoy working.
4. Talk with current lab members
After attending group meeting, I will ask you to reach out to at least one current lab member—and ideally several—to talk about their experience in the lab.
Ask them about things that are difficult to assess from a website or an interview: the social environment, mentorship, expectations, collaboration, and whether they feel supported in their training.
We want you to hear directly from the people who are actually doing the work.
After these conversations, send me an email letting me know:
- Who you spoke with
- What you learned
- Whether you are still interested in joining the lab
I will also check in with the lab members you spoke with to make sure that they feel the potential match is a good one from their perspective.
Joining the Lab
5. Complete the initial onboarding requirements
If we agree that the lab is a good fit, I will send you our Onboarding page.
The first steps include completing the training required for everyone working in the lab and registering with OSUMC as a volunteer, including completion of the required background check.
Once these steps are complete, email me again and we will schedule another meeting.
6. Finalize your training and project
During our next meeting, we will go through the additional training specific to your role and research activities. We will also finalize your project, expectations, and initial responsibilities.
At this point, you will officially begin your work in the lab.
A Note About the Process
Joining a research lab is a commitment, and we want students to make an informed decision about where they will spend their time. Our goal is not simply to determine whether you are a good fit for the lab—we also want you to determine whether we are a good fit for you.
We encourage you to ask questions throughout the process. There is no expectation that you should know everything about research before joining the lab. Curiosity, reliability, willingness to learn, and a commitment to working well with others are much more important.