How do I craft an e-mail and reach out to potential research advisors?

 Undergraduates are poorly equipped to snag the attention of a professor...

However, it is entirely possibly to get a response from everyone you reach out to, as long as you follow a few guidelines.

A *REMINDER* about self-reflection...

As I have mentioned before in my writing on this site, I believe practicing self-reflection is necessary, not only for finding a lab to research in, but for your career growth in general. 

Before you even start looking at potential research areas and professors to work with (which you can learn about here), you should have a good idea what scientific phenomena/developments excite you, and what kinds of daily work you might love/hate. 

From a previous entry:

While it is perfectly okay to not know exactly what you want to do,

 it is not okay to NOT TRY to figure out what you want to do.

There are three things you need to have a proper outreach e-mail (besides a transcript and a CV/resume):

1. A proper subject line

2. One career-related purpose

3. One self-related purpose

I will go into detail on what these mean, and the bare minimum to have a genuine e-mail that will give you the best chance to secure a response.

The subject line:

You could potentially argue that the subject line is the most important thing when sending e-mails to generally busy people. This is the first thing they will see, and can make or break whether or not they see your e-mail as a legitimate involvement request.

You should AVOID capitalized words, asterisks and other special characters, or anything that makes your email seem like potential spam. 

Professors at top research universities have dozens of emails a week from people looking for a research advisor for graduate school or for a postdoctoral position, and in a way, you are competing for the attention of the PI with these people.

Your subject line should have exactly what the important info is in the first three words. Make sure that the person you're emailing knows exactly what your email is about from just skimming through their inbox. 

Here are some good examples for an undergraduate research involvement outreach subject line:

Undergraduate Research Involvement Inquiry...

Volunteer Researcher Interest...

Potential Undergraduate Researcher...

Here are some bad ones.

***RESEARCHER INVOLVEMENT REQUEST***

[Your university] Student Requesting Research Experience

Hi Dr. [---], I want to work in your lab

Its pretty hard to mess up the subject line, but make sure it is clear and genuine. 

You'll notice in the good ones, I only kept the first three words. This is because this is all they will see. After the first few words, maybe add your name or something for added specificity, but this is only for future reference after you've already gotten your response. 

As for the bad ones, the first is all capitalized with asterisks begging for attention. A seasoned inbox surfer is going to skip this one immediately, or maybe even move it to the trash. 

The second one is bad, not because of what the entire subject line says, but instead because the first three words don't have anything to do with researching in your lab.

The third one is just not what a subject line is meant to be. Maybe it could be the email intro, but not a subject line. 

The Career-related purpose:

The next thing necessary to get a craft a brief, yet genuine e-mail is why you want to do research from a practical and career-oriented perspective.

If you want to go to medical school, graduate school, or are interested in working in industry R&D, be sure to mention this. If you aren't 100% sure on what the long-term purpose of doing research is for you, write something anyway!

In order for a professor to take your e-mail seriously, you need to convince them that YOU are serious about research. Putting your request in the context of a career goal is irrefutable evidence that you have a reason to work in a lab.

Be as specific as you can! If their lab's research matches up with what you want to study in grad school, what discipline you want to work in after medical school, or the field you want to work in, make sure to say why!

The Self-related purpose:

After stating why you want to do research for the purposes of advancing your career, explain briefly why you are attracted to their work on a personal level.

Prove to them that you did the work necessary prior to e-mailing them (the work mentioned here) and that you have a curiosity for answering the questions they are asking in their research. 

If you don't necessarily feel strongly about the overarching goal of their laboratory, that is perfectly okay. Instead, mention a specific paper they published that drew you in, or mention a technique/protocol or two that you might be interested in doing. 

Another way to accomplish the "Self-related goal" aspect of your e-mails is to express a skill/strength you have. If you are good at something or have experience in a certain prerequisite that might be useful to a professor, be sure to mention it, and put it in context to lab work.

How to level-up your e-mails:

If you can confidently complete both the career and self-related aspects of your e-mails, you should be fine. However, there are three things that you can add, if you are able to, that can make this outreach process a breeze. 

1. If you know someone, use them!

If you had someone you used as a resource for your faculty member search, especially if they are a faculty member themselves and know the person you are emailing on a professional level, you should definitely add them on your e-mails. Be sure to explain in a brief sentence in your e-mail that they recommended your lab to you, and that they support you working there. Make sure to check that its okay with them beforehand, just in case.

If you have a contact that recommended a certain professor to work with and they maybe know them personally, or have even worked with them, maybe have them talk to the professor in question before you are emailing! I have personally seen students that have an advisor who worked with a professor they were going to e-mail, and instead of going through the tedious outreach process, their advisor hooked them up completely and they started research almost instantly, without sending a single e-mail.

2. Flaunt your experiences!

If you have ANY previous research experience, and I mean ANY, put that in your e-mail. If you have ever held a pipette, done any sort of scientific protocol or groundwork that was external to classes you took in high school or college, adding this to your email in a brief sentence or two is a game changer. 

3. Add your grades and/or resume!

If you are doing well in your classes, add your transcript (unofficial is fine), as well as what classes you plan on taking if you are between semesters.

If your grades aren't anything special, that is totally fine. If you have a resume that is up to date and paints a decent picture of you as an ambitious student that carries out experiences/opportunities to the fullest, throw it on the e-mail as well.

Example of a bad (but exceedingly common) e-mail:

Note: this "bad" example is all too common, and could honestly work depending on your school's research environment and the professor's viewpoints on undergrad u 

Example of a great e-mail:

The truth about reaching out to professors...

While I highly recommend you put a fair bit of thought into how you reach out to professors before you begin undergraduate research, the sad truth is that, for the most part, your "acceptance" into a lab will come down to chance. Chance as in whether or not your e-mail makes it to a professors inbox at the right time, and whether or not a professor is open to bringing in undergraduates in the moment. 

Still, the bottom line is that if you are serious about working in a lab, you will find a place for you to grow as a researcher. Make sure this comes across in your correspondence with everyone you talk to for advice. Faculty members will almost always lead you towards opportunities if you make it clear what your intentions are.

Don't give up!

It is entirely possible that most of the professors will ignore or not see your e-mail, and it will sink down into the bottomless pit that is their inbox. It is also (relatively) common practice for professors to ignore the first e-mail of an outreach effort purely to see if the person contacting them is serious enough to send a follow-up.

So, give your e-mails a week or so, and follow up again if you don't get a response. Just check in and give a subtle reminder them that you are serious about beginning in the lab. 

If you don't get responses from a second attempt, or you just want to expedite the process even more, try going to their office or office hours! If you make an effort to meet them in person to tell them about your e-mail and how you want to begin research, that is a great first impression and foolproof way of getting a response, even if it is a bit awkward.

Overall, the process of e-mailing busy people to ask for opportunities is sometimes arduous and for everyone's first time doing it, the task can be a bit daunting. However, it is a skill worth working on, as the same kind of dynamic exists during graduate school applications and job searches in all walks of life.

Once you get a response from the professors you contacted and you have a research experience set up, you can visit this page to see what to expect when you work in a lab for the first time, and this page to see how to set goals and track progress during your undergraduate research.

Good luck!