Writing Emails to Professors for Undergraduate Research

Author: Hannah Lee

Writing Emails to Professors for Undergraduate Research

So you decided that you want to join a faculty lab and try out research! I think that’s great since I think everyone should try out research at least once during their undergrad career because research is very different from classes and projects – it may be something that you end up really liking and you decide to pursue a PhD after that! (At least that was something that happened for me haha.)

Now this naturally leads to a couple of questions: How do you select which labs that you want to do research in, and how do you contact a professor to do research in their lab? I’ll try to address these.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

How do you select which lab(s) that you want to do research in?
There are a lot of different labs at UT, so it’s completely understandable that it may be hard to narrow down a list of labs! Alternatively, it may be hard to find labs you think will be a good fit. Regardless of which issue you’re facing, the first thing I would do is to look at the list of professors in all of the relevant departments (ie majors) that you’re interested in working with! On their websites, a lot of departments split their professors into a few broad research areas. I would explore the list of professors and their websites in the research area(s) that sound interesting to you. When looking at their websites, look at their research projects and recent papers, and see if there’s anything that you would like to work on! If so, add that professor to your list of potential labs!
There are also many labs that do work with other departments outside of your own! One example of this is Texas Robotics, which crosses many departments. If this is something that interests you, a lot of these cross-departmental research areas have websites that list all the professors across campus that do research in this. Like before, I would explore the list of professors and their websites, and add any professors to your list when their work sounds interesting to you.
There are also labs outside of UT Austin that you can look at as well (especially if you’re planning on doing research over the summer or remotely). I would approach it in a similar way. However, if you’re doing it over the summer, I would look into REU programs instead since these are structured programs that give you the opportunity to do research over the summer, to get a stipend, and to present your work at the end of the program.
For many, there is no such thing as a “perfect lab.” Ultimately, you want to find one that does interesting work that you will be happy to do, so once you compiled a decent list, then it’s time to start emailing!
How do you contact a professor to do research in their lab?
A few things to note before getting to the answer:
1. Don’t be sad/offended if the professor doesn’t reply back! Professors are some of the busiest people on earth, so if they don’t respond, it likely just means that they didn’t see it. If they don’t respond after a week, it also doesn’t hurt to send a follow-up. There are many labs at UT though, so if one doesn’t work out, then you can always just move on to the next one on your list!
2. Make sure to look at the professor’s website before emailing them! Some professors (not too many from what I could tell though) have applications, while others (a decent number do this) include instructions for what to do if you’re interested in doing undergraduate research in their lab. Usually, this entails what you should include in the email.
3. Do your own research on the professor to see if the lab and the research in the lab are good fits for you!
4. If you are in their class:
  1. If you are in their class, you can ask them in office hours! Make sure you already took a look at their research, so you can explain why you want to join their lab (especially if they ask). Asking in person will guarantee that you will get an answer (hopefully). I would first say that you find their research really interesting, why you find it interesting, and how it may advance what you want to do in the future. Then, I would ask them if they have any undergraduate research positions available.
5. If you are cold-emailing a professor:
  1. There are a few resources online that give advice on this already:
  2. I would take a look at the links above first! The general email format will look something like the following:
    (1) Introduce yourself: “My name is _____, and I am a ______-year student majoring in _________ at UT Austin.”
    (2) Explain why you’re interested in their research. Show them why you’re interested in *their* work and possibly what projects or papers of theirs you find interesting! (If you’re going to list the project, make sure that it’s a project that’s being worked on currently/recently! Don’t pick one that’s something that was worked on several years/decades ago.)
    (3) Explain why you think you’ll be a good fit in the lab. This can be skill-based, but it can also be based on interest and go hand in hand with (2)! You can also reverse (2) and (3) in order if you think that works better.
    (4) Ask them if they have any undergraduate research positions available! (If you want to, you can also ask to meet – I like one of the examples of this in one of the linked resources: “If possible, I would like to meet with you in person to talk more about your research.”)
    (5) Attach Resume/CV.

A few general tips:

Make sure your email is not too long! Professors are super busy, and if it’s one large chunk of text, they may not feel super inclined to read it.
Be polite in the email and use proper grammar!
Make sure that each email you send to a different professor is personalized to that professor! You don’t want to send “copy-and-pasted" (identical) emails to different professors.
Be cautious about getting too technical in your response! Your goal is not to convey how much technical knowledge you know about the topic – your goal is to show that you are genuinely interested in the topic and their research. If you start to get too technical, you run the risk of saying something completely incorrect. Also, you don’t want to sound like you’re “teaching” them about their research.
Some people think it’s a good idea to ask questions about particular presentations or papers that the professor is a part of! This may demonstrate additional interest, but do it only if you feel comfortable doing it.

If you want me to read over it, just Slack me @Hannah Lee or email me at hannahslee@utexas.edu!