Welcome to the Research Blog!
Think back to the last time you went to a science fair or symposium…more realistically, when was the last time you were doomscrolling on TikTok or Instagram and came across videos and profiles with students discussing the science research they conducted when they were in high school, the 50 different templates they used to cold email, and how they were third author in a publication on Nature or PubMed. As high schoolers, many of us have no idea where to start when it comes to writing papers, finding reputable sources for research articles, or designing and conducting experiments with machines and substances that we don’t even know how to pronounce.
It is no surprise that conducting independent scientific research as a high schooler is one of the most beneficial activities that can be added to your resume and enhance your college application. However, there is no clear guideline or list of steps to follow to guarantee a publication that has been made widely accessible or affordable. Many students struggle with finding professors to work under due to issues with proximity to a college or university with adequate lab equipment, they don’t know how to cold email effectively, or they don’t have the time, energy, or ability to go to a nearby lab to conduct their research because of the lack of transportation, or trying to juggle a bunch of different extracurriculars, sports, and school around. Even though conducting research has proven to be a beneficial extracurricular, it isn’t a very accessible or straightforward one to tackle. In addition, most summer programs and internships are now a pay-to-go business, taking thousands of dollars from parents, just for students to not conduct any research or learn anything beneficial. While money might not be an issue for some families, these expensive programs don’t add much value to you because they don’t show rigor or your abilities.
For these reasons, MARS is an organization that can help students maximize the use of their time for NO cost at all. It is a resource for students struggling to get started and develop a lifelong skill of discovery. This guide aims to educate students on what exactly research is, why they’re doing it, why it matters for other reasons besides college applications, and to make research more accessible and easy to start/tackle.
Starting with the first few hindrances, we are always told to start with a cold email or apply to a bunch of competitive internships and summer programs that we don’t have enough experience to get into, or to join passive internships that lead to students not learning to research at all. Learning new skills often requires a lot of background work and patience; no one can climb Mt. Everest on the first day, which is why your first research project that you conduct by yourself, or even by following everything on this blog might not guarantee you a spot at competitive and prestigious summer programs like MIT RSI or SSP, but it can give you that push that you need to get more advanced research in the future by helping you build a resume, and credibility in the scientific world. In addition, by engaging in some research before hand, you are more likely to get research opportunities under professors in the future, whether it be through the networking process you have already engaged in through peer review, or the fact that you have a more impressive resume than other students who are also blindly emailing hundreds of professors.
As this blog and community continues to expand, MARS will provide access to free resources and templates such as guides to picking research topics, cold email templates, sheets to keep track of emails, and multiple step by step guides to writing papers, getting published, networking tips, and expanding your resume and candidacy for prestigious awards and scholarships.
