Working with animals is not limited the veterinary medicine field. Many take the path of research to learn more about animal interactions and developing medicines. Additionally, doing research as part of your undergraduate career offers a unique learning experience that is applicable to veterinary medicine and makes you stand out to DVM programs. Here's an in depth guide on how to get a research assistant position at UCSB.
Checking out labs on campus
To begin your quest of becoming a research assistant, go through the labs on the MCDB website and EEMB evolution, ecology, and marine biology websites. Animal-related research labs are mainly in the EEMB department, but some MCDB labs involve animals. Within each link is a list of faculty and descriptions of their research interests. Click on the faculty members' profiles whose research interests align with your own interests, and on their profile is typically a link to their research lab. This is the most important step, as you don't want to apply to a lab that you won't enjoy being a part of -- being a research assistant is a longterm commitment, one that will typically last for your entire undergraduate career, so make sure you're combing through all of the labs!
Try to make a list of at least five labs that you would be interested in working with.
Applying for Research Assistant Positions
Some labs have explicit application processes detailed in the 'Join Us' tab of their website, while others do not. If there is an application on the website, it's best to follow that process. However, not every lab has that, in fact most websites just detail what you need to send to the Principle Investigator (PI, the faculty member that heads the lab).To apply, you will typically need to have your resume and transcript handy to email to the PI, but you don't need to send over your transcript unless explicitly stated on the lab website. However, the email that you send matters just as much as what's on your resume. Detailing how your interests directly align with the lab's research interests is critical, as you want the PI to be able to envision you in their lab.
Additionally, research assistants will receive a certain number of units on their transcript for working as a research assistant, where lower-division students will be able to sign up for EEMB/MCDB 84, 99 (P/NP) and upper-division students will be able to sign up for EEMB/MCDB 184, 199 (P/NP or LG) depending on your GPA (99 and 199 require a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or greater). Mentioning these units in the subject of your email is a good way to introduce the idea of you working in the lab to the PI. Here's a template for what your email to the PI should look like:
SUBJECT: EEMB 99 Research Assistant Opportunity
EMAIL CONTENT:
Dear Dr. (last name of PI),
I hope this email finds you well. My name is (your full name) and I am currently a (first, second, third, fourth, fifth) year student studying (major). (sentence about your interest). I am currently pursuing a career in the animal field and aspire to become a veterinarian. I am specifically interested in (research topic mentioned on the lab website that you're interested in). My experience working in (list any past work, volunteer, or course experiences you have that even slightly relate to the lab) has shown me (what you gained / learned from those experiences). Your lab research on (something being researched on in the lab) pertains directly to my field of interest, and I was wondering if you have any research assistant positions available. I have attached a copy of my resume below, please let me know if you need any additional information. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
(full name)
If the PI doesn't respond within two weeks, you can respond to your first email with a message like this:
Dear Dr. (last name of PI),
I hope this email finds you well. I just wanted to follow up regarding my previous email about potentially joining your lab as a research assistant. I would greatly appreciate the opportunity of researching (your interest that they are researching) under your guidance. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Sincerely,
(full name)
If the PI doesn't respond after three weeks
Don't fret too much about it! Faculty members receive a large number of emails a day, sometimes it gets buried under all the other emails, or they view it and forget to respond. If you really had your heart set on this lab and want to try one last time, look through the members of the lab, specifically the graduate, doctoral, and post-doctoral researchers and reach out directly to them. They're the ones that you would be working under anyway, so sometimes it's better to reach out to them first, and they can get the PI's approval after. You can reuse the first email template and change up whatever you feel is necessary.
Other times, they simply might not have space in their lab for you. However, don't feel down about that! This is why you picked out at least five labs in the first step, now it's time to email other PIs for researching in other labs. Getting research is a long process of trial and error. Some apply to 10 labs for research assistant opportunities, and rejection can be hard, but remember that you just need one lab to accept you!
Good luck with your research journey, it's a wonderful experience that shows you a different side of the animal field!
