Lab Research

Mentorship Matters: A Summer of Research and Growth

Posted on October 14, 2024October 14, 2024 by Nathan Nguyen

This image shows a lab technician pipetting a clear solution into an another orange-colored solution inside a fume hood in a lab — *Photo of a chem-bioengineering lab, photo credit to Iris Rubinstein.*

When I first walked into the lab this summer, I thought research was all about running experiments and gathering data. What I didn’t expect was how much the people around me—the mentorship and the shared triumphs and failures—would shape so much of my learning and how I view scientific research.

Starting a research position at a bioengineering lab over the summer was really intimidating for me, especially as an undergraduate. At the start, I felt like the most inexperienced person in a room full of graduate students, postdocs, and faculty who seem to have it all figured out. Although I’ve learned or at least seen a lot of the quantitative and qualitative components in my Chemical and Biological Engineering course, I did not have much hands-on experience and critical thinking that comes with actually doing experiments. That’s when I realized how big of a role a mentor plays.

Research Insights Series: An Interview with Gemma M. Sahwell

Posted on May 10, 2024May 9, 2024 by Rebecca Cho

An image of Gemma Sahwell — *Gemma M. Sahwell*
*PhD Candidate, Princeton University, Department of Geosciences*

As a Geosciences major, I am fascinated by ocean biogeochemical cycling and reconstruction of past climates and marine environments by way of biological proxies. Yet, I have also found myself intrigued in environmental movements and storytelling, particularly with the narratives of the land histories of indigenous communities in the backdrop of anthropogenic climate change and U.S. colonial history.

With growing interest in both fields, I enrolled in Professor Allison Carruth’s ENV238: Environmental Movements: From Wilderness Protection to Climate Justice. Here, with luck, I met an incredible preceptor who shed some light on the interdisciplinary nature of her research and inspired me to delve deeper into my own multifaceted interests.

A PhD candidate student in the Geosciences department, Gemma M. Sahwell is currently a member of both the Blue Lab and the Higgins Research Laboratory. Curious, I reached out to her to see if I could speak with her a bit about her research.

Join me below to hear about her experience.

Research Courses at Princeton

Posted on March 27, 2024March 26, 2024 by Xander Jenkin

Eight students and a lab engineer are wearing white coverall suits while working in a cleanroom. — *Group Photo of the AST251 students with Precision Assembly Specialist John Teifert all geared up in the cleanroom!*

The structure of a “standard” Princeton course usually includes a mix of lectures, precepts, or seminars which likely have a midterm and final. While some of these courses may have “lab” components where you spend a couple hours once a week doing a hands-on assignment, there exist many courses at Princeton which are instead entirely focused on conducting hands-on, lab-based research with a small team that works closely with professors who provide mentorship as you work on an original research project. If you’ve ever wanted to take a class that is far different from anything else at Princeton by teaching you hands-on skills and giving the opportunity for a new project, these types of courses might be for you!

Some of these courses are year-long sequences like AST250 Space Physics Lab I and AST251 Space Physics Lab II, which I took during the 2022-2023 academic year. This was one of my favorite course experiences at Princeton and was certainly the most engaging. The skills we learned were invaluable, and as we worked closely with the professors and each other, our year-long project became an unforgettable experience.

Research Insights Series: An Interview with Claire F. Gmachl

Posted on March 6, 2024March 5, 2024 by Shannon Yeow

Claire F. Gmachl stands at the forefront of groundbreaking research in mid-infrared photonics as the Eugene Higgins Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University and the Head of Whitman College. She also serves as the Associate Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. With her expertise in semiconductor devices and photonics, Professor Gmachl delves into the realms of quantum-cascade lasers and beyond.

As a student surrounded by peers working on their junior papers or senior theses, as well as constantly hearing about groundbreaking faculty research, I came to seek a way to better engage with the research around me, and to synthesize current research and processes to bring insights to others. I decided to create a series of research insights, interviewing faculty and students, to learn more about their research topics, their personal research process and interests, as well as the potential implications from their findings.

In this article, I’m excited to have had the opportunity to interview Professor Claire Gmachl, who has also previously taught me in EGR 151: Foundations of Engineering: Mechanics, Energy, and Waves, the first physics course in the Engineering Sequence. In our interview, Professor Gmachl graciously shared insights into her research journey, shedding light on the multifaceted landscape of mid-infrared photonics and semiconductor devices.

Getting it Done: Balancing your JP with a Full Course Load

Posted on February 26, 2024February 26, 2024 by Amaya Dressler

A laptop with a notebook and pen set aside from a coffee mug.

While it may feel like the semester has only just begun, classes are in full swing and, already, junior paper (JP) deadlines are fast approaching. For many majors, the spring semester is where the bulk of the JP work actually takes place. Whether that means writing thousands of words, crunching monstrously large datasets, or debugging hundreds of lines of code, I think we all can agree that a JP draft is better not left to the last minute.

One of the biggest challenges all Princeton students face with independent work, however, is figuring out where they can even find the time to start. With a full course load, weekly assignments, and a myriad of extracurricular obligations, just when exactly is a student to work on their JP? Read on for three tips on how you can fit your JP into a hectic schedule. With the right daily habits, supports, and mindset, you may even find that you enjoy the process more than the final product.

Paid Part-Time Research Jobs At Princeton

Posted on February 21, 2024February 20, 2024 by Xander Jenkin

Two researchers sitting at a lab desk in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, looking at MRI brain scans on a computer. — *The research you do could be remotely on a computer, in-person working in a lab, or both, as we see here with brain imaging research at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute!*

Princeton undergraduate students usually gain most of their research experience from things like independent work, theses, research-based courses, or summer research. However, you might not know that there are more options to do research during the school year: working a part-time job! Some of the most common part-time campus jobs you may think of might be working in a dining hall or at library reception, but you can actually do academic research and get paid for it. This isn’t limited to just STEM majors either; part-time research jobs exist across the humanities and social sciences and are offered by a wide range of departments. You could earn money and get work experience while analyzing literature, writing code, processing data, or working hands-on in a lab!

Here’s a quick guide on how to search for these jobs:

Applying to Summer Programs

Posted on December 11, 2023December 6, 2023 by Xander Jenkin

Quincy Monday ‘23 sitting in a chair working on his laptop in the lobby of New College West — Fortunately, if you’re stressed out trying to write all of these summer program applications, Princeton has plenty of comfortable study spaces to be working, like Quincy Monday ’23 in the lobby of NCW. Photo Credits: Dan Komoda (2023)

Applying to summer programs can seem like a daunting task when you may not even know what you want to do next summer. The busyness of the semester certainly hasn’t created a ton of time to be thinking about these things! Fortunately, winter break is a great time to work on applications to summer programs, as many of the earlier applications are often due early in the year. Having prepared them beforehand can ease a lot of stress, since the middle of the spring semester isn’t the most convenient time to be starting these applications. These timelines can vary by field, so it could be a bit different based on the type of program you are applying to—the career center has a great timeline of internship recruitment that is sorted by field so you can see the differences. Regardless, it’s great to work on these during the break when you don’t have courses.

You may be looking for something far away, here in Princeton, an industry internship at a company, or a research program at a university. Regardless of if you know exactly what you want to do or still aren’t sure, here are some tips to help you sort through this process.

A Guide to Tackling a Research Journal

Posted on December 1, 2023November 27, 2023 by Rebecca Cho

Whether you’re jumping onto the wagon of a research project or are pursuing a research assignment in a course, professors will often assign readings of journal articles as a way to familiarize students with ongoing research in the field. However, for newcomers to a topic, tackling the understanding of a literature review can often be difficult with the influx of new vocabulary and complex, dense information on the topic all at once. Here are some tips on how you can tackle the difficulty of journal reading.

Picture of someone writing. that is meant to represent annotations while dissecting a research journal. — *Reading a research journal and understanding its key points can be achieved with just a few tips of advice!*

Doing Summer Research Abroad (Princeton IIP)

Posted on November 17, 2023November 16, 2023 by Xander Jenkin

Photo collage with selfies of student Xander Jenkin at Welsch Castles, Big Ben, and the National Astronomy Meeting 2023 conference — *Some photos from writer Xander Jenkin’s International Internship in Wales, UK. Photo credits: Xander Jenkin (2023)*

Last summer, I went abroad on a fully-funded internship doing astrophysics research at Cardiff University, in Cardiff, Wales, UK. This experience not only solidified my career decision to pursue astrophysics research, but also gave me a unique immersion into Wales and Welsh culture as well as the broader United Kingdom. If you are curious about research abroad, read on!

My Experience as an HMEI Intern

Posted on November 13, 2023November 8, 2023 by Rebecca Cho

This past summer, I had the incredible opportunity to be a research intern in the Princeton Department of Geosciences through the High Meadows Environmental Institute (HMEI) Internship Program. As a rising college sophomore who had spent half of my high school years during the coronavirus pandemic, I was eager to seek out an opportunity that would allow me to engage in an in-person laboratory research experience, and this was it.

Microscopic screening of fossil foraminifera — The High Meadows Environmental Institute Summer Program provides a number of interdisciplinary research opportunities. Consider applying to join one of the amazing opportunities for this upcoming summer! Photo Credits: Mae-Yung Tang (High Meadows Environmental Institute Program Tech Support Specialist).

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