{"id":744,"date":"2021-11-10T01:33:04","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T01:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diversityinmath.ssmu.ca\/?page_id=744"},"modified":"2023-01-29T01:42:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-29T01:42:26","slug":"diversity-in-math-research-panel-summary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/diversityinmath.ssmu.ca\/fr\/diversity-in-math-research-panel-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Diversity in Math Research Panel Summary (2021)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

(Facebook Event Link)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Date: October 25th 2021, 7:00PM – 8:30PM<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Present: Sasha Bell, Gabriela Moisescu-Pareja, Ria Stevens, Shereen Elaidi, Gavin Barill, Anna Brandenberger, Maia Darmon<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Getting a research position<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. How do you know whether you want to do research?<\/strong>\n
      \n
    1. Classes are a great inspiration for this. If you are particularly in love with a class, and find that you want to go much deeper into the topics covered, this translates to asking research questions and wanting to find answers to them. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Other extracurriculars like the Directed Reading Program can also expose you to the research process. If you enjoy these extracurriculars, doing a research project is a natural extension to that. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. How do you choose what field to do?<\/strong>\n
        \n
      1. It\u2019s easy to get stressed out with \u201cam I studying the right thing\u201d. It\u2019s a balancing act between liking it enough, and realising that the \u201cperfect fit\u201d is extremely rare. You\u2019re going to hate your field sometimes, and like your field sometimes. That\u2019s just how the research process is. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Be open to trying new things. Sometimes you stumble onto what you like to do with sheer dumb luck, and that\u2019s just how life is.  <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. How do you know which professors to reach out to?<\/strong>\n
          \n
        1. Think about what research area you might be interested in, and look at the professors\u2019 interests on their websites. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
        2. If you\u2019re interested in the subject matter covered in a particular class, reaching out to your professor is a wonderful idea.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        3. Be generally enthusiastic in your classes, and try to talk to your professors or instructors about your research interests. Sometimes when professors get to know your research interests, they can direct you towards their colleagues and help connect the both of you.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        4. How do you reach out to professors?<\/strong>\n
            \n
          1. If you\u2019re an undergraduate, you absolutely do not need to have a project in mind, or an in-depth knowledge of their research. All the professor expects is that you\u2019ve looked at a couple of their papers, to show that \u201cwhen you say you have interest in my field, you actually know what I do and like it\u201d. This also shows that you put in effort. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
          2. Talking to your professors after class about the class material or extensions of the class material is a good way to let professors know your name. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
          3. Add enough in your email such that it\u2019s not a long story, but also make it more personal than a \u201cmass email\u201d. If you can replace the name at the top with some other professor and the email still works, you need to change something up. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
          4. Cold emails are generally much less effective than talking to a professor in person, whether it’s after classes or during office hours. If the professor does not know your name at all, getting them to accept you based on a cold email is not impossible, but very difficult. It also does take a significant amount of time to craft each cold email, which might not yield great returns. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
          5. You can also reach out to a professor\u2019s grad students instead if you\u2019re afraid of speaking to the professor themselves. This allows you to hear more about what research under that professor\/in that field is like, and might also result in the graduate student recommending you to the professor. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          6. What is rejection like when looking for research positions?<\/strong>\n
              \n
            1. Getting rejected isn\u2019t personal. This is hard to hear, but more often than not, when you get rejected, it\u2019s for reasons that are unrelated to you, whether it’s funding, or them already having students, or wanting to focus more on their own research. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
            2. One year, they can take in 6 students for a specific field, and the next year, they can take absolutely none. Research is just like that. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
            3. This doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t pivot into a different field. Many people in the panel had done this, and ended up liking the new field much more. Sometimes, it’s just about luck. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              What research is actually like<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                \n
              1. What is your average day doing research like?<\/strong>\n
                  \n
                1. Depends on the research project. The general structure is meeting with a supervisor roughly once a week, to discuss broadly about their progress and where they want to go next. In between these meetings is where you do \u201cthe work\u201d, whether it\u2019s reading and annotating papers, or coming up with proofs, or writing code, or writing up a report. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                2. Research feels like you\u2019re not doing a lot, even if you\u2019re spending a lot of time on it. Sometimes you can \u201cjust be reading something\u201d, and it doesn\u2019t go anywhere. This is especially true when you\u2019re just starting a topic. Every sentence is full of rabbit holes because you don\u2019t understand the terminology or the context of the research field. It\u2019s a lot of delayed gratification, where you only get the payoff when you reach the end. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                3. It\u2019s extremely hard to do a full 8 hour day of research. Graduate students aim for 4 hours a day, and that\u2019s already a lot. Not counting emails, actually sitting down and doing research is difficult and mentally taxing. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                4. How much prior knowledge did you need going into research?<\/strong>\n
                    \n
                  1. The biggest part of a research project is learning. You\u2019ll be spending the first one or two months just reading papers and textbooks and discussing with your supervisors, just to learn the fundamental topics of your project. You have to enjoy the learning experience itself to enjoy research, <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  2. Generally, there\u2019s a really big gap between what you learn in class and what is done in research papers, and professors understand that. The things that professors research are often so specific that even if you have all the prerequisites, you\u2019ll still need to learn a lot.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  3. Don\u2019t feel discouraged if you\u2019re reading things and not understanding. Knowing everything is not the point of undergraduate research. Part of the professor\u2019s job is to develop the next generation of students. When professors take on undergraduates, they\u2019re not expecting anything novel. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  4. If you\u2019re interested in research, you can find a professor that gives you projects that suit you and your level of experience. Part of being a good supervisor is having the ability to know what is a \u201cgood project\u201d that you can handle. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                  5. What do you do when you feel stuck or like you\u2019re not making progress in your research?<\/strong>\n
                      \n
                    1. You\u2019re inevitably going to get stuck. It\u2019s not novel if you don\u2019t get stuck. If you didn\u2019t get stuck, you got extremely lucky that someone didn\u2019t get your result first. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    2. If you\u2019re stuck, don\u2019t keep staring at the problem. You have to know how to take breaks and let your mind rest and soak in the knowledge and the thinking. Sometimes you can suddenly get inspiration while doing other mundane things. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    3. Talking to people is really important. Just vocalising your problem can give you new inspiration, because sometimes you just need to look at it from a different perspective. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    4. Go on a walk or run, or just go to bed for the night. Waking up fresh makes you better at solving the problems. Sometimes you just have \u201cone of those days\u201d where you don\u2019t get much done, and that\u2019s ok. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                    5. Do you have any other general advice for research?<\/strong>\n
                        \n
                      1. Often papers are written very unclearly, especially if it\u2019s not a paper your supervisor recommended. It\u2019s not you, it\u2019s them. You can ask your supervisor or graduate students for help. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      2. If you get extremely stuck, it\u2019s best to email the professor and schedule another meeting. Sometimes the problem is out of your depth, and that\u2019s perfectly okay, especially as an undergraduate student. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                      3. Working with other research students can be more fun, because when 2 people or more are working on it, you can catch each other\u2019s mistakes or just bounce ideas off each other. If you\u2019re all stuck on a problem, it\u2019s more likely that it\u2019s something actually worth being stuck on. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                        Funding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
                          \n
                        1. How do you apply for funding?<\/strong>\n
                            \n
                          1. Applying for things is extremely important. There\u2019s no harm in not getting something, so you should absolutely apply for everything that you can. The selection process is very opaque, so don\u2019t take it personally if you don\u2019t get an award. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                          2. Ask your letter writers far in advance. By the end of October, they should be contacted. If you know you want a letter from someone, you should go up to them in the beginning, so they know to keep an eye out for you. You\u2019ll have to constantly remind them to get them in before the deadline too. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                          3. Get people to read your applications \u2014 no typos, etc. It makes a difference. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
                          4. Some professors are cross-listed in departments, so you should ask where you would be better off to get scholarships, and apply there. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                          5. List of funding sources discussed:<\/strong>\n
                              \n
                            1. NSERC USRA (Canadian National Program)<\/a>\n
                                \n
                              1. Need to find a professor who\u2019s willing to do a USRA with you, and apply with that professor.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              2. Funding gets funding. If you got NSERC USRA before, you\u2019re more likely to get it again, so the earlier you get started the better. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              3. McGill ARIA (Arts Faculty)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              4. McGill SURA (Science Faculty)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              5. ISM Undergraduate Summer Scholarships<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              6. IVADO Undergraduate Introduction to Research Scholarships (Statistics, Machine Learning, Data Science)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              7. NSF REU (American National Program)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
                              8. Professors can also directly fund you, if they have the resources and really want you<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                                (Facebook Event Link) Date: October 25th 2021, 7:00PM – 8:30PM Present: Sasha Bell, Gabriela Moisescu-Pareja, Ria Stevens, Shereen Elaidi, Gavin Barill, Anna Brandenberger, Maia Darmon Getting a research position What research is actually like Funding<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-744","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diversityinmath.ssmu.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/744","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diversityinmath.ssmu.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diversityinmath.ssmu.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diversityinmath.ssmu.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diversityinmath.ssmu.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/diversityinmath.ssmu.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/744\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1467,"href":"https:\/\/diversityinmath.ssmu.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/744\/revisions\/1467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diversityinmath.ssmu.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}