My current workflow for selecting undergrads for specific research projects.
Steps involved:
- Spend some time thinking about the project, its specific aims, the expertise required for the project, the time commitment you are willing to put in for mentorship, etc.
- Write an advertisement for the project entailing the goal of the project, the specific gains, and what the experience will be gained by working on the project.
- Send out the advertisements to specific departments whose students you would like to work on your project.
- Make a table of every response you get with the data entries.
- Interview the top 3 in the list. Simultaneously, reply to each student and let them know that you will get back to them by a particular timeframe with a reply.
- Select one candidate based on a list of broad questions to identify general fit and specific questions to identify technical fit. If the person accepts, email the other two to let them know that they will be considered for future projects.
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With the ad, I try to focus on a few things:
- A short, clear paragraph that makes the goal of the project clear.
- A few aims of the project that highlight the broad skills required to pursue the project.
- A set of specific tasks that the students will perform during the project.
- A concluding paragraph that highlights what the student takes away from the project.
I focus on structuring the ad this way, as it forces me to think about the project deeply.
Here is an example ad I wrote for a project:
The goal of this project is to build a laser microsurgery setup that is capable of making rectangular incisions on the head of the fly (the scale of the cuts will be typically between 0.5-0.75 mm). This will allow us to look through the incision window and record the neural activity from the brain of the fly.
The aims of the project is as follows:
- Build a laser microsurgery setup using simple microscope optics and a laser source.
- Calibrate the setup and write necessary software so that the laser cuts along points marked in a GUI.
For this purpose, we are looking for motivated undergraduates with interests in optics, physics and engineering. They will help with the following tasks:
- Optics alignment - Aligning different optical components based on the design.
- Testing - Interfacing the optics with appropriate electronics to gather data and test if the setup is working as expected.
- Optimize optics design - Modifying the design based on the previous step. Typically, steps 1,2,3 will be repeated till the setup works as expected.
- Calibration - Calibrating the relationship between the image through the microscope and the movement of the laser spot so that it is possible to make controlled incisions on the head of the fly.
- User interface - Developing a simple GUI interface to mark the shape of the incision on the live view of the fly’s head.
Through the course of the project the undergrads will learn how to gain a hands-on experience with build optics setups, learn how interpret optics design diagrams and align optics to match design diagrams, calibrate optics setups and interface with appropriate electronics for gathering data, and writing user interface software to simplify using the setup.
Interested undergraduates should contact dinesh@ucsb.edu or sungsoo@ucsb.edu with the following:
- A short para on their motivation to work on this project.
- Resume (or CV).
- Transcript.
We welcome students from diverse backgrounds.
For this particular project, we sent out the advertisement to physics departments.
In addition to a resume and transcript, I ask interested students to write a short paragraph about why they are interested in the project (more on that below).
Shortlisting candidates
Once I receive sufficient responses to my ad, I craft a data table based on their email addresses.
Here is an example table I use for shortlisting candidates:
| Name | Reason to apply | Experience (resume) | Relevant courses | GPA | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Doe | Interest in interdisciplinary challenges | Not clear. Some hands on experience in experiment physics | Some experimental physics - not sure optics is part of it | 3.74 | 3 |
| Jane Smith | Interest in project | None in optics | None | 3.9 | 1 |
My rationale for these columns:
- Reason to apply: allows me to evaluate if the student actually read my ad. Generally (but not always), I have noticed that the candidates who end up selecting for the project have thought about the ad for a while and have a good reason to apply. This, to me, is the most important column.
- Resume and relevant courses: gives me a direct insight into the skills, particular concepts, and the student possesses that might be necessary for the project.
- GPA and year: both of these give a rough estimate of the time commitment the student can make for the project.1
Based on this table, I shortlist and select 3 candidates to interview. This is where I take diversity into account - between the top candidates (which generally are quite a few), I pick three diverse candidates.
Interviewing candidates
I prepare two sets of questions for the students I select for interview.
The first set of questions is linked to the resume. The idea is to see if they have a good understanding of their work. I keep an eye on how the questions are answered and in general if they are comfortable answering my questions. I also ask questions about their backgrounds to get a holistic understanding of their trajectory (linked to accounting for diverse backgrounds).
The second set of questions are more broad questions. Here are a few questions I generally ask:
- What sparked interest in the project?
- What do you expect to learn from the project and the lab?
- What is your learning and working style?
- How do you want to be mentored?
Finally, I ask them about their time commitment. I usually ask for a 10 hr/week commitment and see if they are comfortable with it. 2
I write down notes for three interviews. After all the interviews, I write down my selected candidate based on my overall gut feeling of how the interview went. I then go back and check notes and verify if my selection makes sense. Generally, both match, and I offer the position to the selected candidate.
Footnotes
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A general heuristic, I have been told, is that students with a good GPA and in their older years are good at time management and can handle lab-related work. ↩
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I recently got some good advice from a friend that I should ask for at least two 4-hr continuous lab time commitments. This is something I usually suggest after 1-2 weeks, but I think making it an upfront commitment is much better. ↩