Raisa Fatima

Author: Raisa Fatima

Dear Career Center, how do I email professors to inquire about an undergraduate research opportunity?

Emailing professors about research opportunities can be daunting, especially if you don’t have a personal relationship with the professor. How do you contact a professor when they’re in a different department, or if they’re at another institution?
General emailing conventions apply. Emails to professors should:

  1. Have an informative subject line. Example: Meeting to discuss your research
  2. Be concise and direct. See template example below
  3. Be formal. e.g., Dear Dr./Professor Simmons, Sincerely, etc.

If you know the professor because you’ve taken their classes, emailing them to request a meeting to discuss research opportunities will suffice. Depending upon the professor, an entire conversation might even take place via email.
For professors who you do not know, an initial email should include:

  1. An introduction: Include your class year and major(s)
  2. When emailing off-campus, specify that you’re a student at Lawrence University
  3. How you found out about their research or specific project
  4. Explain why you’re interested in their research
  5. Describe any of your relevant research and/or class experience
  6. Explain why gaining undergraduate research experience is important to you (e.g., what goals are you hoping to achieve, what skills are you hoping to develop)
  7. Ask them if they might be available for a brief 20-30 minute meeting to talk about their work, and/or whether they offer undergraduate research positions over the summer

Here’s an example format of a general email to a professor:

Subject: Meeting to discuss your research
Dear Professor/Dr. [Last Name of Professor],
My name is [name] and I am a [class year] at Lawrence University majoring in [major]. I found out about your research [explanation of how you found out about it]. I am especially interested in your work because [explanation of why this topic interests you].
My experience in [research experience or class] confirmed my desire to further develop my research skills and [goal]. I am sure you are very busy, but would you potentially have 20 minutes to talk about your research via phone?
I would appreciate the chance to talk with you about your research in this field, and if any, potential future opportunities in your lab. I have attached my resume and unofficial transcript. Please let me know if there is any other information I can provide. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
[Name]

You can find more examples here. Remember: A well-written, thoughtful email that feels personalized to someone’s research is more likely to elicit a response, especially if you are pursuing opportunities off-campus. If you need help, you can always make an appointment with myself or Jacklyn, our #PHN advisor, to discuss your resume and how to begin the research exploration process.

Raisa Fatima ’23 is a Physics major with interests in research and engineering. She enjoys painting, reading and playing games like Stardew Valley in her spare time. Raisa works as a Career Peer Educator for the BE and PHN career communities so if you’re interested in anything PHN or BE related, or you just need some general advice on anything professional development related like resumes, cover letter etc. you can schedule an appointment here.

Career Spotlights: Banking

Banking can be a lucrative career for anyone in the business and entrepreneurship career community. However, there are many different types of financial institutions, each serving their clients in different ways and working in different areas of finance. Unsure on what kinds of customers you want to serve or what aspect of finance you want to work with? Here are some types of banks and organizations to help you see which one interests you the most.


Traditional Banks: Consumers deposit funds in checking and saving accounts. Most big banks in America like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America fit into this description. These banks are regulated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) which insures deposits in banks against losses in bank failures to maintain economic stability.


Commercial Bank: They offer services to both personal consumers and businesses by making short-term loans to both groups. There is a lot of overlap between traditional and commercial banks as many of the traditional banks mentioned above operate as commercial ones by giving out loans.


Credit Unions: Credit Unions have members who can borrow from a credit union’s combined deposits at a low interest rate. They are typically non-profit and members are their shareholders. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) regulates and supervises federal credit unions.


Investment Banks: These types of banks help companies determine how much they should pay when buying another company, new ways to invest their profits, or advise companies on borrowing money. They also advise clients on selling stocks and bonds.


The Federal Reserve: The Federal Reserve or the Fed regulates banks and determines monetary policies to stabilize inflation, reduce unemployment and moderate long term interest rates. If you’re interested in working at the policy level when it comes to finance, working for the Fed could be an option.


Micro Credit: Typically, micro credit or micro loans are small loans given to people who don’t have collateral or a lot of money to pay back huge sums or interest. These loans are often used to encourage entrepreneurship and help people out of poverty. If you’re someone who is interested in combining your interest in finance with economic development, micro credit could be an interesting field for you.


Online/Virtual Banks: Banks that operate exclusively online and don’t have branches.

Raisa Fatima ’23 is a Physics major with interests in research and engineering. She enjoys painting, reading and playing games like Stardew Valley in her spare time. Raisa works as a Career Peer Educator for the BE and PHN career communities so if you’re interested in anything PHN or BE related, or you just need some general advice on anything professional development related like resumes, cover letter etc. you can schedule an appointment here.

Highlighting Skills for Your Resume

Highlighting skills in your resume to show what you’re capable of doing can be challenging. What even counts as a valuable, resume-worthy skill? Experience can come from anywhere including the classes you took at Lawrence. Here are some examples of how to showcase skills you’ve already developed thanks to your classes and incorporate them into your resume.
Western Blot: An analysis used to detect specific proteins in a sample of tissue homogenate or extract. Sample resume phrase: Performed Western Blot to detect CD19 scFv protein.
R Studio: A programming language for statistical computing and graphics. This is introduced in BIOL 170, and CMSC 205 goes into greater depth about other applications of R. Sample resume phrase: Performed and analyzed statistical tests using R.
UV-VIS: A measurement of the weakening of strength of a beam of light after it passes through a sample or after reflection from a sample surface. Sample resume phrase: Determined Mg content in water samples using UV-VIS.
Arduino: A microcontroller board equipped with sets of digital and analog input/output pins that can be connected to other circuits and programmed to do certain things. You can learn how to use it in PHYS 220, an electronics lab class. Sample resume phrase: Coded Arduino Uno to stabilize a plastic boat for group project; presented results of project to class.
Python: A programming language also used to visualize data. Classes like PHYS 220 and PHYS 225 provide a basic overview on how use Python to create graphs and analyze data. Sample resume phrase: Used Python to graph data collected for experiments.

Julia Ammons ’22 is a Biology major and Anthropology minor with interests in the natural sciences and museum studies.

Raisa Fatima ’23 is a Physics major with interests in research related to Physics and/or engineering.

Tips for Gaining Experience in a Pandemic

1. Finding Summer Research:

  • Ask faculty members if they have funding for research and are planning to continue their research over the summer. Since Lawrence’s campus is relatively safe and the research is usually highly individualized, it is a good way to improve research skills. It might not be possible, but it doesn’t hurt to ask and apply.
  • If on-campus research is not possible, ask if it is possible for faculty to connect you with someone they know and be sure to follow-up with them.
  • Search for off-campus research. Handshake and pathwaystoscience.org are good places to start. The National Science Foundation funds research known as Research Experiences for Undergraduates or REUs. Additional organizations include Oak Ridge Institute for Science Education and Los Alamos National and Laboratory.
  • The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology has its internship listings here if you’re interested in working in these fields.
  • If you’re interested in pursuing research related to ecology, Harvard has a summer research program. Find details about the program and its application process here.

2. Searching for Remote Projects:

Try finding a mentor who is willing and able to help you with a remote project. This involves doing the research project away from the research site or office. Most work these days requires more and more computational skills and given the prevalence of the pandemic, remote work is a good way to improve these skills if in-person research is not possible. A good way to look for mentors includes asking faculty, as well as reaching out to alumni on Viking Connect.

3. Improving Computational Skills:

  • If none of the above options are possible, improve your computational skills on your own. Try practicing with different data analysis software other than Excel through self-study or online classes.
  • A good way to learn coding is to do projects that connect to your hobbies. For example, if you enjoy music, a potential project idea could be coding an Arduino to sing a specific song .
  • Lawrence may fund the purchases of some licenses if you ask. Check to see if this is possible.

Raisa Fatima ’23 is a Physics major with interests in research and engineering. She works as a Career Peer Educator for the PHN career community so if you’re interested in anything PHN related, or you just need some general advice on anything professional development related like resumes, cover letter etc. you can schedule an appointment here.

Career Spotlights: Insurance

Insurance reduces the negative impact of losing assets or income when an accident, illness, robbery, or death occurs. Many buy different types of insurance like health, life, auto, and home insurance so that they can transfer some of their risk of loss to the insurance company. But what does the other side of this industry look like? What does a job in insurance look like?


Career paths in insurance require strong backgrounds in math, statistics, and financial theory. Additionally, you need good communication and writing skills as often times you would be writing reports and communicating with clients about your findings and calculations. Here are some potential career paths and what each field requires.


Actuaries: They help develop insurance policies by determining the costs of risk. Actuaries also work in the public sector where they evaluate proposed changes to Social Security or Medicare or examine and regulate rates charged by insurance companies.
In addition to having excellent arithmetic skills, actuaries need to take examinations to get the right certifications. Most employers support their employees throughout the later part of their certification process (e.g. covering the costs of exams or giving raises after they pass exams). You can find out more by checking the Society of Actuaries website.


Financial or Insurance Managers: They decide how to limit losses by protecting against risks like costs imposed by lawsuits against the organization.
Financial managers need at least a bachelor’s degree and 5 years or more of experience in related occupations like accountant, loan officers, securities sales agents, or financial analysts. Many employers are also interested in hiring people with a master’s in fields like finance, accounting, economics, or business administration.


Insurance Sales Agents: They contact potential customers to sell one or more types of insurance. Sales agents explain various policies and help clients choose plans that suit them best. Agents can specialize in selling a specific type of insurance like life insurance or casualty insurance or sell multiple plans. They can also choose to work for a specific company or work for an insurance brokerage by selling the policies of many companies.


Agents need licenses in states where they work. They are only issued to applicants who have completed the necessary courses and pass state exams covering insurance fundamentals and state insurance laws. Many state licensing authorities also require agents to take courses on insurance laws, consumer protection, and other technical aspects of insurance policies. You can find more about these state requirements here.

Raisa Fatima ’23 is a Physics major with interests in research and engineering. She enjoys painting, reading and playing games like Stardew Valley in her spare time. Raisa works as a Career Peer Educator for the BE and PHN career communities so if you’re interested in anything PHN or BE related, or you just need some general advice on anything professional development related like resumes, cover letter etc. you can schedule an appointment here.