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See what other students have to say about their undergraduate research experiences!
Meet young alumni Adam Cohen and Bethany Redding, as they share their insights with 2005 SURF Fellow Sonny Nguyen.
Adam Cohen
Research: Cognitive Development
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Bethany Redding
Research: Mitosis & Meiosis in Drosophila
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ADAM COHEN
- What was your undergraduate research?
My undergraduate research was in cognitive development. I was involved
in two projects. The first was an object cognition study (do infants
use shape and/or color information to identify objects?) with
9-month-old infants and the second was a 'theory of mind'-moral
cognition study (do moral judgments influence judgments of intention?)
with preschool children (3-6-yrs-old).
- How did you start doing undergraduate research?
After I took two cognitive science related courses spring semester of my
freshman year (Logic in Philosophy with Ernie Lepore and Linguistic
Theory in Linguistics with Ken Safir), I was interested in learning more
about cognitive science both inside and outside the classroom. That
summer I researched and contacted cognitive science labs. I was
fortunate that the Cognitive Development Lab took me on.
- What was it that you found most interesting about research? Most valuable?
Taking ideas and transforming them into experiments was neat. Even if
an experiment didn't work it was instructive in terms of designing a
better experiment and getting me to think more carefully about my research.
The training and experience of running cognitive development studies
with infants and children before graduate school allowed me to get a
head start on my graduate research and not have to worry about learning
it from scratch. Also, I was very fortunate to be a part of the
cognitive science program at Rutgers and to have the chance to talk and
work directly with researchers who have been influential in the founding
and development of the field.
- Who was your research advisor? How helpful was your research advisor?
My research advisor was Alan Leslie (RUCCS and Psych). He was helpful
in many ways, including teaching me how to do research, answering my
questions on cognitive science and cognitive development, and providing
guidance when I applied to graduate school. At the same time, he knew
when to let me figure things out for myself, rather than just give me
answers.
- What are some of the activities you did related to your research (ex.
thesis, conference presentation, etc)
I did a Henry Rutgers Thesis, a Rutgers Undergraduate Fellowship poster
session, a poster session at UPenn (during a two week undergraduate
conference on cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience), two Rutgers College General Honors Program powerpoint presentations, and I was
fortunate enough to have been asked by Rochel Gelman (RUCCS and Psych)
to participate in an NSF site visit for a proposed grant.
I'm starting my first year of graduate school in psychology at UC-Santa
Barbara.
- How has research played a role in your decision to be where you are now?
It's made all the difference. Being involved in undergraduate research
prepared me for graduate level research. More than being prepared for
it, graduate school is what I decided I wanted to do. I enjoy reading
and learning about cognitive science, so it only made sense to me that I
should pursue it.
- What advice would you give to undergraduates considering research?
You can read about your subject for four years if you'd like, but you
really won't know if it's for you until you do it.
Click here to see an example of Adam's undergraduate work.
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BETHANY REDDING
I worked with Dr Kim McKim and studied meiosis and mitosis in Drosophila. I studied the role of a protein called subito and it's role during mitosis by looking at mitotic cells in the Drosophila larval brain.
I decided I wanted to try doing research in genetics, so I emailed him, briefly introduced myself, and said I wanted to do undergraduate research. I also attached my resume. He then emailed me back and we set up a time for me to visit the lab and to talk to him about his research.
I found that discovering new things using genetics was very interesting. It was rewarding to see how science really works. The most valuable thing was the deeper relationship that you get with an undergraduate research advisor. That advisor's advice, support, and knowledge is the most valuable thing, especially when you apply for graduate school or medical school.
Dr. Kim McKim was my research advisor. He was very helpful, always there to talk to, and he spent a lot of time teaching undergrads.
I presented my work at the Drosophila Conference in San Diego in April 2005. I also wrote a Henry Rutgers Thesis and presented it at the Genetics Honors Day. Nishit Shah and I also presented our work on a poster at the Aresty Undergraduate Research Symposium in Spring 2005.
I am a graduate student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, doing research studying innate immunity in C elegans, using genetics.
I enjoyed working in my undergraduate lab and this greatly affected my decision to go to graduate school. Before I did research as an undergrad, I was unsure about whether I should go to medical school, graduate school, or try to get a job. I decided that research was something I wanted to do after Rutgers.
My advice would be to definitely do undergraduate research. I learned more about science while doing my research, then in all of my classes combined. Research is real, hands-on. You learn so much and what you learn can be used in future classes either at Rutgers or in medical school or in graduate school.
Click here for a description of the projects Bethany worked on as an undergraduate.
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The ARC wishes to thank Sonny Nguyen for his help in creating this resource.
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