My journey as a researcher began largely by happenstance. I had a few friends who were involved in undergraduate research at my academic institution, and I thought, "Hey, that sounds cool!" I emailed a few professors in my department, and when I finally got a reply, I went to a lab meeting. Frankly, I only understood a handful of the concepts presented, but by the end of the meeting, I knew I wanted in.
Since then, a lot has changed. The following summer, I participated in an undergraduate research program, presented a poster at a national conference, and published my first paper. I learned what a literature review was, and I've written a few proposals for research projects of my own. And the whole experience has left me wondering - why do I enjoy research? What is it about the process of asking and answering a difficult scientific question that produces satisfaction within me?
Well, that’s a difficult question a very different type of researcher should try to answer! But there are a few self-evident facts that have come to my attention. First off, I think all people, by nature, are curious. There’s something about the human experience that makes us love to go where no one else has gone before. We want to study subatomic particles and send rovers to Mars and probes to the depth of the ocean floor because these are unknown frontiers. Something within us simply longs to know.
Research is also risky. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Sitting behind a desk, processing data and writing grants is far from a dangerous profession. While that’s true, I think research is one of only a few professions where everything can be done right, and the researcher can still be left with nothing to show. A researcher can spend hundreds of hours on a project and still come up empty handed. If you comb through all the data and the p-values are greater than 0.05, you’re just about out of luck. No one will publish your project, and you better start looking for a different grant to fund your lab. But that’s what makes research incredible! If you want to find out something entirely new, failure is a very real prospect you’ll face more often than not. And every now and then, you’ll comb through the data and find something spectacular that no one has ever found before, and it makes the whole process worth it.
My experience has concurred with both of these truths. This past summer, I studied how people walk in orthopaedic boots. After collecting the preliminary data, there were no recognizable patterns, and it seemed like the project would be a dud. Once we doubled the sample size, though, the data set took a whole new shape. Suddenly the group means told a whole new story, the lab took an acute interest in the project, and by the end of the summer we had finished the manuscript for publication! Now, no physician will read my paper and change the way they treat an injury. But the project revealed a few fundamental principles about how people walk in boots, and those realizations made the whole summer worthwhile.
Anonymous, North Carolina
Student, Researcher
Since then, a lot has changed. The following summer, I participated in an undergraduate research program, presented a poster at a national conference, and published my first paper. I learned what a literature review was, and I've written a few proposals for research projects of my own. And the whole experience has left me wondering - why do I enjoy research? What is it about the process of asking and answering a difficult scientific question that produces satisfaction within me?
Well, that’s a difficult question a very different type of researcher should try to answer! But there are a few self-evident facts that have come to my attention. First off, I think all people, by nature, are curious. There’s something about the human experience that makes us love to go where no one else has gone before. We want to study subatomic particles and send rovers to Mars and probes to the depth of the ocean floor because these are unknown frontiers. Something within us simply longs to know.
Research is also risky. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Sitting behind a desk, processing data and writing grants is far from a dangerous profession. While that’s true, I think research is one of only a few professions where everything can be done right, and the researcher can still be left with nothing to show. A researcher can spend hundreds of hours on a project and still come up empty handed. If you comb through all the data and the p-values are greater than 0.05, you’re just about out of luck. No one will publish your project, and you better start looking for a different grant to fund your lab. But that’s what makes research incredible! If you want to find out something entirely new, failure is a very real prospect you’ll face more often than not. And every now and then, you’ll comb through the data and find something spectacular that no one has ever found before, and it makes the whole process worth it.
My experience has concurred with both of these truths. This past summer, I studied how people walk in orthopaedic boots. After collecting the preliminary data, there were no recognizable patterns, and it seemed like the project would be a dud. Once we doubled the sample size, though, the data set took a whole new shape. Suddenly the group means told a whole new story, the lab took an acute interest in the project, and by the end of the summer we had finished the manuscript for publication! Now, no physician will read my paper and change the way they treat an injury. But the project revealed a few fundamental principles about how people walk in boots, and those realizations made the whole summer worthwhile.
Anonymous, North Carolina
Student, Researcher