How to Get a Research Role: Cold-Emailing a Principal Investigator

When I first started looking for a research role, I did not have much research experience. I had done one internship where I spent most of the summer de-stapling and digitizing files. I had 0 publications and 0 technical skills. 

But I had a genuine interest in research, an Excel spreadsheet, and a willingness to put some effort into finding the right opportunity. I eventually found my first role through cold outreach and a wonderful mentor and research team.

Looking back, the process taught me something that has continued to be true throughout my research experience: getting into a lab is partly about finding someone willing to take a chance on you, but it is also about finding the right mentor, environment, and project that you are excited to work on. Like anything else, getting involved thoughtfully takes some effort.

Treat the Search Like Your First Research Project

I did not just open a department website and start sending emails, copy/paste. First, I made a spreadsheet. I kept track of the researcher, where their lab was, what they studied, and the areas of their work that interested me. That might sound excessive, but organization and preparation have ended up being two of the most important skills I have learned in research. The more organized a lab and project are, the more efficiently things tend to operate. I think the same principle applies to finding a research position. You are probably going to reach out to multiple people, so keeping track of who they are, what they study, when you contacted them, and why you were interested makes the process much easier. 

I’d also encourage you to take some time to really reflect on your interests. What questions are interesting to you? Are you interested in quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods approaches to solve them? Do you want to do benchwork, translational science, clinical research? You may not know, but reflecting along the way can help you to identify and take advantage of the best opportunities for your own growth as they arise.  

The Dos and Don’ts I Learned From Cold Emailing PIs

I do not think there is one perfect cold email that guarantees a response. I certainly did not have one. I emailed around 20 researchers before I found the mentor I eventually worked with. But there are a few things I would absolutely do again, and a few things I would avoid.

DO make the email specific

This is probably the biggest one. You should not be able to change the principal investigator’s (PI) name at the top of your email and send the exact same message to someone else.

Before I emailed anyone, I spent time looking through their lab website and recent publications on google scholar, and jotted down some notes on what specifically interested me about their work. Then I tried to make that connection clear in the email.

You don’t need to summarize their entire body of research or prove that you understand everything about their work. After embarrassing myself in a conversation with a potential mentor, I realized that PIs absolutely knows their work better than you, so regaling them with your knowledge of the work they literally designed and carried out is likely to be unimpressive. 

You just need to show that there is a real reason you are emailing this person. What are they studying that genuinely interests you? How does it connect to questions you are already curious about? That connection and curiosity is much more meaningful than telling someone that their work is “groundbreaking” or listing off the details of their studies.

DO be concise / DON’T send an essay about yourself

Professors get a lot of email. Inbox zero is a rare, blue moon for many of them. Your first message does not need to tell them your academic history, career goals, and the story of how you became interested in research or medicine. Long paragraphs make the person on the other end do more work to figure out why you are emailing them and what you are asking for.

The goal of the email is really just to introduce yourself, explain why you are reaching out to them specifically, and see whether they might be willing to have a conversation. If they want to know more about you, that is what the meeting is for.

DO attach your resume and transcript

Instead of putting every detail about yourself into the body of the email, attach your resume and, if appropriate, an unofficial transcript. That gives the PI the option to look at your experience and coursework if they want more information without forcing them to read through it all in the email itself. When I was reaching out, I attached both.

DO be respectful of their time / DON’T make the first email a request to “join the lab”

You are asking a busy person to take time out of their schedule to meet with you. In my opinion, the wording of the ask should acknowledge that. For me, this means I typically acknowledge that they are likely quite busy, and ask whether they might be able to meet at some in the next few weeks. 

And importantly, I would ask to meet and discuss potential research opportunities, rather than emailing someone and asking outright if you can join their lab. At that point, you do not really know whether you want to join their lab yet either. You may be interested in their research, but you probably do not know how the lab operates, who would mentor you, what projects are available, or what your role would actually look like. The meeting is where both of you can figure out whether there is actually a fit.

DON’T use AI to write the email for you

Don’t get me wrong, AI is incredibly useful for research. You can use it to help you understand a paper, explain a method you have never encountered before, or get oriented to an unfamiliar research area before you reach out.

But I would not have it write the actual email. The whole point of the email is to connect with another human. This objective is not met if the email is overpolished to the point where it does not sound like it was written by a human. The connection between your interests and their research is uniquely yours, and that is most powerful when it comes from you – even if it is “imperfectly” expressed. The email does not need to sound impressive. It needs to sound genuine.

And If They Don’t Respond...

Do not take it personally. When I was finding a lab, I emailed around 20 people. But I know people who reached out to 50, and others who reached out to 5. You may need to email quite a few too. 

Receiving almost no replies was definitely discouraging when I started emailing professors. When you do not have much research experience, you might interpret silence as disinterest, but there are so many other explanations. The lab may be full. They may not be taking students. The PI may be traveling, writing grants, seeing patients, teaching, or just buried under hundreds of emails. If you haven’t heard back in over a week, you may need to follow-up. I typically follow up two or three times before I stop reaching out to someone. 

At the same time, I do think responsiveness is something worth paying attention to. Once you are actually working in a lab, communication with your mentor matters enormously. Getting a response does not guarantee someone will be a great mentor, but chronic difficulty getting in touch with the person supervising you can make research much harder.

Remember That the PI Is Not Your Only Option

If you are interested in a large lab, look at the people working underneath the PI too. Postdoctoral researchers and PhD students often run projects of their own, and they may be the people who would actually work with a new researcher most closely.

Sometimes reaching out to them can be another way into a lab. And ultimately, the question is not just whether a PI will let you put their lab on your resume. The more important question is: Who is actually going to teach you how to do research?

TL;DR

Do your homework, write like a human, ask for a conversation (not a job), and don’t let an unanswered email convince you that you’re not cut out for research.

How We Help Our Clients

You can also reach us directly at success@admitmd.com, or call or text 512-693-9228.