Getting Involved with Research

As I planned my freshman year schedule, I was looking for courses that involved hands-on learning to count towards my Intellectual Breadth requirement. I found a number of courses that caught my interest, but most of them seemed to be normal classes with a lot of theory. At the same time I was thinking about conducting some research in the following years. I found some opportunities to get involved with research as a freshman but I was skeptical because I really did not have much experience on the topics I was interested in. Fortunately, I was introduced to the Michigan Research and Discovery Scholars (MRADS) Program. This program is the residential affiliate of the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) in which you are able to carry out research and be part of a community. All students in this program live together in Mosher-Jordan Hall and it’s a great opportunity to make friends as you begin your college journey. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to attend in-person due to the pandemic but I still made a lot of new friends.

This program allows you to undergo the process of applying to research projects that interest you. I carried out two different projects during my freshman year. The first one focused on the impact of Social Corporate Responsibility in Guatemala during the outbreak of the pandemic. I was able to interview CEOs of some of the biggest companies in Guatemala and learn about the role companies had in alleviating the effects of the pandemic. My second project was oriented more towards my major. I designed a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping program in C++ that provides a probabilistic method for spatially mapping energy usage data collected during the operation of a ground robot. Despite the fact that I had very little experience with programming, I was willing to learn from my colleagues and in the end I was able to code an incredible system. And the best part of all was that I gained hands-on experience and got credit for it. 

The University of Michigan has a lot of resources that can help you get involved with research. If you are interested in gaining some experience, no matter your class standing, definitely consider applying to different research projects. You can do this by joining MRADS (if you are an incoming freshmen) or by applying to UROP.  Once you are accepted into the program, you will gain access to the UROP Project Book in which you can find all the research projects that are looking for a research assistant and you can search projects by academic field. Another way to find projects could be reaching out to a professor of a class you are interested in and asking if there are any research projects that they are currently working on. After completing your research you will be able to present all your learning and discoveries in the annual research symposium.

Personally, I enjoy doing research and the best part is that the project you apply to is not required to be related to your major - you can do research on pretty much any topic you can think of. You just have to be willing to go out of your comfort zone and reach out for opportunities.

Written by Sergio Mendez

Summer Orientation Peer Advisor

Undergraduate Student

Guatemala