Finding a research problem as an Undergraduate

  • As many already know, studying for the physics GRE and getting accepted into a graduate program is not the final hurdle in your physics career.
  • There are many issues current physics graduate students face such as studying for their qualifier, deciding upon a field of research, choosing an advisor, being an effective teaching assistant, trying to have a social life, navigating department politics, dealing with stress, utilizing financial aid, etc.

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Guitarfire
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:50 am

Finding a research problem as an Undergraduate

Post by Guitarfire » Mon Apr 15, 2013 7:04 am

Hey there!

I am an Undergraduate student in Engineering. I would like to apply for graduate school in 2014. Since my major is not in Physics, I would love to do research in a topic and hopefully publish a paper! I tried searching for 'unexplained' in arXiv.org, but I can't find a good problem to start with. My area of interest lies in Quantum Mechanics and Computation. I contacted some of the professors from my country but they didn't seem interested to take a Undergraduate student. So,in a nut shell, can someone point me to a research topic that an undergrad would be able to solve??

Thank you!!

Sentin3l
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2013 11:21 pm

Re: Finding a research problem as an Undergraduate

Post by Sentin3l » Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:02 am

I would try to find a physics professor at your university who does research in the field you're most interested in. Ask him if you can do research with him. Sometimes professors will let undergrads jump onto their own research as assistants instead of helping them find their own research.

Guitarfire
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:50 am

Re: Finding a research problem as an Undergraduate

Post by Guitarfire » Wed Apr 17, 2013 8:12 am

Sentin3l wrote:I would try to find a physics professor at your university who does research in the field you're most interested in. Ask him if you can do research with him. Sometimes professors will let undergrads jump onto their own research as assistants instead of helping them find their own research.
That might be the case in US. I already sent about 50+ Emails to professors from my country and nobody is interested in taking an Electrical engineer. Some of them replied,and said that they were busy for the next summer! So I am looking for a problem on my own.

blighter
Posts: 256
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2012 6:30 pm

Re: Finding a research problem as an Undergraduate

Post by blighter » Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:57 am

If you are interested in quantum computation and quantum information in general, a lot of EE guys work on that. You don't really need physics professors.

Guitarfire
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Mar 31, 2013 11:50 am

Re: Finding a research problem as an Undergraduate

Post by Guitarfire » Wed Apr 17, 2013 1:24 pm

blighter wrote:If you are interested in quantum computation and quantum information in general, a lot of EE guys work on that. You don't really need physics professors.
I would look upon that. Thank you for the reply!

Saeed
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jan 27, 2014 9:17 am

Re: Finding a research problem as an Undergraduate

Post by Saeed » Mon Jan 27, 2014 9:41 am

The same problem I happened to when I was an undergrad. The best work you can do is to read those articles which have been listed at the end of your interest book. For example, if you're studying statistical physics and like to pick it up as your research interest, then you should better look for articles which typically listed below the bibliography that usually comes at the last pages, and they are such that you would be able to read them more conveniently than those that are outside of the book. During the reading process, you'll probably get some ideas.

Let me know if you need further help. I would be happy to answer them.



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