Megan Perkins, a rising senior majoring in Microbiology and minoring in Chemistry, first began conducting research as a freshman in the Hardy lab studying the interactions between alphaviruses and Wolbachia.

Watch to learn more about how undergraduate research is preparing her to publish a paper with first authorship and to apply for graduate school.

Marie Renahan, a rising junior majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Environmental Science and Spanish, has gained a breadth of research experience by working for the Newman and Smith labs at IU and participating in a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA.

Watch to learn more about how conducting research as an undergraduate has enabled Renahan to pursue her passions and prepare for graduate school.

Hi all! My name is Oliver Allen, but most of my friends call me Mel. I’m from central Indiana and I will be a junior next fall studying Math and Computer Science with a minor in Art History. I’m not sure where you’ll find me in 10 years, but I hope to be somewhere fun applying computer science and math and studying how our current solutions impact people’s lives. I was originally signed up to study Statistics, but during my introductory python course I realized that computer science and programming is where my passion lies. I love the constructive, hands on nature of programming and higher-level math, and I appreciate the versatility that comes with these subjects.

My current research project is about using methods previously applied to search queries, peer to peer networks, and older social networks to analyze retweet networks from Twitter. The guiding principle is that trust follows interactions between users, i.e. if I am untrustworthy and you retweet me, you are also untrustworthy. Then, by mathematically modeling the spread of this trust, we can identify bad actors that may not be revealed by other methods. The goal is to develop a quick way to expand knowledge of bots and untrustworthy news sources on Twitter, since it takes much too long to identify all of these accounts by hand.

I am conducting this research at the Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research with PI Filippo Menczer. Overall, working in this lab has been a welcoming and supportive experience, and I’ve learned to view research in math and computer science through a much broader lens. If there’s an interesting phenomenon, there is a way to study it – you just have to get creative. I’ve also learned that it is ok to make mistakes and ask for help. Seeing myself and others make mistakes and recover from them gave me the confidence to accept critique and improve myself and my work. Coming into academic research, I thought that I had to do everything by myself, but I’ve learned that is neither an expectation nor a reality in the lab.

The most important tip I have for prospective researchers is to put yourself out there with a sense of reckless abandon. Just send that email, fill out that application, or talk to that professor, no matter how unqualified you feel. The worst thing that happens is that they say no, and that gets easier to handle each time. Also, it’s helpful to get creative and not limit yourself to labs in your department or specific area of study when you’re looking for positions. I worked in the IU Cognitive Development lab and the IU Critical Food Studies lab as well as CNETS, and all of these experiences helped me develop new skills and flexibility when it comes to conducting research. Personally, I learn the most when I put myself outside of my comfort zone, and it’s surprising the opportunities you can find with the confidence to reach out and make connections.

Daisy Robles-Magallanes, a rising sophomore majoring in Biotechnology and minoring in Spanish, first became involved with research through the Center of Excellence for Women & Technology (CEWiT).

Watch to learn more about her experience conducting communications research under Dr. Rob Potter.

Alyssa Lester, a Chemistry major at IU, was first introduced to undergraduate research as a freshman through the Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Experience (ASURE) program.

Her passions for reading and writing harmonized with her interest in scientific research. In her first semester, she remembers being blown away after reading the history of Eunice Newton Foote, a climate scientist credited for predicting that CO₂ would have harmful effects on the environment.

During her second semester, Lester gained hands on experience by conducting research in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Under Professor Bruce Douglas, she learned how to analyze data using Excel and MATLAB.

“I learned a lot about the part where you’re not in the lab,” Lester said. “The part where you have to collect and handle all of the data and pull data from multiple sources and compare it.” Lester hopes to build on this training by engaging in lab-based research opportunities.

Lester believes that getting involved in research early on in college is crucial for career exploration. “If I wouldn’t have done this research in the spring, I wouldn’t have realized that I probably didn’t want to end up being a chemist,” Lester said.

She encourages other students to seek out all available research opportunities and get involved. “Even if it’s not quite in your major or it’s not quite in your field of interest, your general experience transfers and it gives you more of an understanding of what people really do in the field that you’re looking into.”