Finding Research Opportunities as a High School Student

In high school, it can be very difficult to find research opportunities. Many people don’t even know where to begin, while others struggle in finding a research mentor. As somebody who has been fortunate enough to partake in various types of research – literature reviews, wet lab, and program – I have compiled some of the easier ways to find these kind of opportunities.

1. How to Write Literature Reviews

Literature reviews are one of the more common types of research conducted by high school students. Writing a literature review allows young scholars to immerse themselves in a topic they are interested in and write a paper to potentially be published. Literature reviews can be written under the mentorship of a professor/doctor/scientists, or alone. It is always best, in my experience, to find a mentor to guide you through the writing process. However, if you are dedicated and have a good grasp on how to write a review, the work can be done independently. 

To write a review, one tends to follow the following steps: outline, research/review, organize notes, write, edit edit edit. One must start by determining what they want to write about and outlining the basic content they want to cover. For example, if one wanted to write a general review on migraines, they could divide the paper into sections like: population statistics, biological causes/pathways, and treatment. After this, one should research and find papers that cover each of their sections (usually 7-8 papers per section, but it usually doesn’t hurt to do more). Take notes on each of these sections on the same google doc, and then organize your notes into the order you would like to discuss them in their respective sections. Then, finally, write what you would like to say to summarize your notes (write your paper) and edit the paper until completion. Ensure that you also include your own thoughts and reflections about the notes you took – it is always important to add commentary to a paper to make it analytic and interesting. Have your mentor or a trusted scientist/writer look over your paper for editing. 

Finally, after the paper is finished, include a citations section with all of the papers you used cited, an acknowledgements section to acknowledge anyone who contributed to the paper (editors, mentors, etc), and lastly an abstract summarizing the entirety of your paper. Submit for publication (if you wish to do so), but keep in mind certain journals have expense fees (take this into account when deciding if publication is the route that you want to go).

1. How to Find Wet Lab/Clinical Research

Clinical/Wet Lab research can be significantly more difficult to find as a high school student. A lot of this can come down to connections – for example, if you know of someone that works in a laboratory, you can ask them if they are willing to let you work in their lab or if they know of anyone that would be willing give you this type of opportunity. However, what I did, which does not always work, is that I cold emailed university professors to see if they would allow me to do work in their laboratory. When writing cold emails to professors, be sure to introduce yourself, what you do, and why you would like to work in their lab. Be specific – why do YOU (with your specific interests) want to work in THEIR (discuss why specifically their lab) lab. This can help improve your chances of securing a position. While many people do not respond to these emails, do not lose hope. It only takes one “yes” to get research. 

Wet lab/Clinical research is exciting because you get to actually conduct procedures instead of just writing about them (like in literature reviews). Further, this can provide more room for individual additions, interpretations, and reflections on procedures. This type of procedure includes additional paper sections then in literature reviews – an added “procedure” and “results” section. Here, you can reflect what you exactly did within the experiment(s) and record what happened. 

1. Programs

While potentially more expensive than the other options, there are many summer programs for high school students looking to do research. However, some of them tend to be highly selective, preferring students who show strength in academics and commitment to science in their extracurriculars. Some examples include SSTP, SSP, RISE, and RIBS. There are many others, as well. Some do not require payment in any regard and many offer financial aid. Additionally, in individual regions/areas, there tend to be other forms of research (internships, mentoships, and more) that may even pay the individual partaking in them. Ensure that you do research before you apply to these programs and take the time to submit the best reflection of yourself in your application. 

Overall, while research can be difficult to find in high school, it can be a very interesting and important activity that allows individuals to take the next step in learning. Leave any questions or comments about research that you have in the comments!