Why You Should Get Involved in Research

WRITTEN BY VICKY CHEN

ILLUSTRATED BY CHARLOTTE CHANG

If you told the 18-year-old version of myself who was stepping into UC San Diego for the first time that I would be conducting research in a Ph.D. program four years later, I wouldn’t have believed it. As a first-generation college student, I arrived without a clear career goal, unsure of the myriad of paths I could pursue. I knew I had a passion for AP Chemistry and wanted to apply my excitement to the biological sciences, but the path forward was unclear.

Now, on the brink of graduating as an undergraduate student, I find myself with years of invaluable experience from captivating research projects, guided by the steadfast support of a group of lifelong mentors as I embark on the journey towards a Ph.D.

How did I find myself immersed in research, and what drives so many students at UC San Diego to participate in this enriching pursuit? UC San Diego stands as one of the nation’s premier research institutions, offering a plethora of opportunities for student involvement. Some students are drawn to clinical research, seeking experience for medical school. Others are driven by a desire to comprehend sociological issues, aiming to tackle the systemic problems of today’s world. Then there are students like me, who don’t have a definitive career path but see research as an avenue to gain experience in a field they find intriguing. Being involved in research allowed me to learn about what I wanted to do in the future and also challenged my knowledge from the classroom.

Growing up with a father who worked as a mechanic and parents who had never attended higher education, I lacked support and guidance to have a productive undergraduate career. Though I had experience working on cars in high school, I had never held a pipette. With UC San Diego being an immense research institution, I sought a research position to gain some experience in my discipline. Despite this, one faculty member in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry saw my enthusiasm to learn about their group’s research. A cold email to this faculty marked the beginning of a transformative journey.

When I first joined their lab, I had a difficult time comprehending aspects of my project, the experiments I was performing, and the overall research goal of the lab. My hands nervously shook loading a sample into a well for gel electrophoresis, and I would spill media while preparing my yeast cultures over the Bunsen burner. After many failed experiments and attempting to comprehend research papers, I had learned how to extract nucleic acids from cells, cut plasmids using restriction enzymes, and join together DNA fragments. Over a summer, I was proud to successfully clone plasmids on my own that I then used in assays to answer the scientific questions of my research project.

My mistakes in the lab only pushed me to continuously seek help in the lab, question the goals and contributions of experiments, and ask how these projects contribute to the overall question the lab is focused on or the story being told. I became very skilled at the lab bench and was always excited to troubleshoot an experiment, but I also found a deep enthusiasm for scientific inquiry. The more I understood about the background of my project, the more questions I had as my curiosity grew. I couldn’t make it past three sentences of an abstract when I first joined a lab three years ago, but today, I can confidently open research papers and decipher the takeaways. Understanding scientific literature has made me more excited about new findings and impelled me to be curious about the future directions or alternative interpretations of results. Beginning as someone anxious working in the lab, I grew to become a mentor myself, excited to teach experiments or talk about science. Working and having fun in the lab with others not only increased my interest in science but also fostered a healthy environment for mutual learning and the development of phenomenal scientists.

I also had the opportunity to present my research projects at symposia and conferences, allowing me to challenge myself in effectively communicating compelling narratives for non-expert and expert audiences. I presented my first research project at the UC San Diego Summer Research Conference as a recipient of the Triton Research and Experiential Learning Scholars Program. While I had spent a summer doing experiments and analyzing data, this conference pushed me to step back and understand the purpose of each experiment. Instead of discussing protocols and results, I transitioned to telling a story outside the comfort of my lab and to an audience with no familiarity with my research.

The accumulation of these experiences in participating in and presenting various research projects excited me to continue telling new science stories and solidified my desire to pursue graduate education. I am fortunate to announce that I will be attending Stanford University in the fall to pursue a Ph.D. in Genetics, a dream made possible by the incredible support and opportunities I found at UC San Diego. With the experience that I will gain, my ultimate goal is to become a leading scientist in the biotechnology industry.

What do you gain from participating in undergraduate research? Many initially hope to gain wet lab skills, but they eventually gain a better appreciation for the process of coming up with projects and communicating their findings to others. Most undergraduate students get paired up with a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher to help with experiments and eventually may be tasked with a small independent project. The ability to have ownership of a project teaches you to critically think about the methods of your project, communicate your work to a non-expert audience, collaborate within a team, and explore new ideas. These aspects all contribute to a deeper understanding of the scientific process as developing a research question and testing your hypothesis are invaluable skills that tap into the critical thinking section of the brain. Undergraduate research develops valuable skills that are applicable in a multitude of fields.

My story can’t be summarized in a paragraph, or even in a two-page article, and it would be misleading to suggest that it was a straightforward journey for me, especially as a first-generation college student. The foundation of my research endeavors was laid by my first research mentor who had the philosophy that anyone, regardless of experience, can succeed in research as long as they have the enthusiasm and motivation to do so. This principle has shaped how I approach research, collaborate with others, and carry myself in a field saturated with those from more privileged backgrounds. I’ve learned that successful research thrives in an environment where everyone is motivated to see each other develop and learn about science, regardless of their initial skillset. As long as you are excited and interested in the work, you can reach any goal.