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Finding Research @ Penn


March 23, 2025


By Chantal van Dongeren, BE '28

 

Like many high school students in public schools, I was not given access and immediate pipelines for research. Deciding on the institution I would spend my four years of undergrad at, access to research was a critical component of my decision. Pursuing bioengineering, I

was very attracted to the opportunities at Penn Medicine, CHOP, Penn BE labs, and Penn’s large neuroscience, biology, and biochemistry programs. 


While I considered this as a large factor in such an important decision, coming to Penn, I felt incredibly overwhelmed with all the options around me. Luckily, I met an incredible mentor in my first couple weeks at Penn who guided me through the process of reaching out to labs and discovering interests I wanted to pursue. 


From someone who felt this stress, let me be a mentor to you, and show you my takeaways:

  1. CURF is a powerful resource

    1. Research Directory | Penn CURF

      1. At the bottom of this link, log in with your Penn Key

      2. You can filter by school, department, research topic, preferred year (You can see who accepts freshmen!), and payment (Volunteer/Work study/Paid) to find labs that align with your experience and passions!

    2. | Penn CURF

      1. Contact CURF - talking 1 on 1 with an informed person can be incredibly valuable

  2. Use a template: Here is a sample from one of my cold emails!

Dear Dr. ______,


I hope you are doing well and excited for the fall semester! My name is _______ and I am entering my ____ year at Penn studying ________. I am reaching out because I am interested in your work focused on ____________(mention principle focuses of the lab).


I saw your lab on the CURF directory and noticed your lab is open to _______(I said first-year volunteers here). I found your paper exploring ________ (mention key takeaways or unique methods of one of their papers - this shows you did your research!). While I have not worked in a professional lab environment, my curiosity and commitment drove _____ (While this is not required, if you have any experience in independent research, this is a great place to make a brief note!).


I would love to meet in the upcoming weeks, if your schedule allows, for us to discuss your research further and see if there is an opportunity for me to assist in your lab. I have attached my resume in this email.


Please let me know if you need any further information.


Best Regards,

_________


  1. Professors/PIs are busy

    1. Don’t be discouraged if some don’t respond! I sent many emails out during NSO which was a pretty good time because labs were looking to replace graduated seniors, but still half did not respond!

    2. If you get no response after 1-2 weeks, follow up. The worst thing that can happen here is they ghost again and nothing changes, but the best case is that they are inspired by your initiative and respond!

  2. All about Interviews

    1. If the professor has an opening in the lab, they will likely want to meet with you or have one of their graduate students meet with you before they take you on.

    2. Prepare! Look into what specific projects you may be brought on to and be ready to answer vague prompts like “Tell me about yourself”

    3. Dress well, but not too much. Most members of a lab show up every day in casual clothes, so you want to match that vibe while still being somewhat professional. For my ladies, today is probably not the day for your super cropped top! For my interviews, I wore beige pants with a black short-sleeved bodysuit with my hair in a slick back.



Overall, this can be a very overwhelming, discouraging process, but it’s all so rewarding when you're exploring problems and solutions you used to dream about as a kid :) Be confident in yourself and if you ever have any questions or situational concerns, please feel free to reach out to cvandong@seas.upenn.edu!

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