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Firstly, I should note that this is a cross-post from Reddit r/AskAcademia, and the link to the question is: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAcademia/comments/knw86c/how_to_understand_the_broader_goals_of_profs/

I really hope to improve my situation, thus, I would love to get more perspectives on this problem!

Hi there! I'm a first-year undergrad student looking for my first ever research position. I have a hard time understanding the big picture/question/goal the professor is trying to solve/work towards when reading about their projects. I am often overwhelmed with the technical details that are way beyond my current scope of knowledge, and this has made their research appear a lot more tedious to me

I'm seeking ways to improve this situation, particularly things I could do to aid me in understanding the broader goal of the project.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Claire
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    Is there any reason you can't just ask the prof? It seems like a big task for a first year undergrad. Normally it requires reading lots of papers and forming abstractions and getting insight. – Buffy Dec 31 '20 at 19:52
  • @Buffy I heard that profs don't like replying to emails though... So I'm planning to prepare myself fairly well (eg. learned about their fields, read their papers), before reaching out to them. I hope this would prove that I'm serious about research, and am interested in their fields... – Claire Dec 31 '20 at 19:58
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    Yes, it does that, of course. But profs don't necessarily mind students with serious questions and yours seems to fit that category. Maybe the prof will point you to something especially important to read. Big picture, long term questions are more interesting than detail ones. – Buffy Dec 31 '20 at 20:01
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    There is a probably a forum, e.g., StackExchange, for the areas you are interested in. Go there and ask, can anyone give me a big picture of X? – Prof. Santa Claus Dec 31 '20 at 20:06
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    @Prof.SantaClaus On the scientific SE sites I participate in that would not be an appropriate question, it's far too broad. – Bryan Krause Dec 31 '20 at 20:11
  • @BryanKrause Depends on the question. For many of my research areas, there are many articles that provide a big picture or intuition. – Prof. Santa Claus Dec 31 '20 at 22:17
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    Per Buffy, ask. You could also try taking some courses on the same subject (that is one of the purposes of courses). Or perhaps the research is, in fact, tedious. – Anonymous Physicist Jan 01 '21 at 06:29

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I would suggest it is unreasonable for an undergraduate student to try to understand the big picture before approaching a prof for a first research position.

I know that at least from my point of view if an undergraduate approached me with interest that would be good enough for me. I would just draft an email for several profs that essentially said something like this--but in your own words of course:

"Dear xyz, I am looking for a lab for my first research position and the topic of your research is interesting to me because . Would you have 30 minutes for me to learn more about the research in your lab and to explore if it would be possible for me to perform a research rotation in your lab?"

For one thing, you'd narrow down the profs/labs who are willing to explain their research/teach and are open to take on first year undergrads. You can then still try to read a single review or two on the topic or just read through the lab webpage before you have the first meeting. I'd argue too that if a prof is unwilling to take 30 min of their time to chat about their research, that is a good enough reason for you NOT to chose the lab for your first research project.

Mario Niepel
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