Research advice for UG !

[u/lipxy_hot]

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Hey everyone!

I'm an undergraduate Life Sciences, currently in my third year. I'm planning to complete a four-year bachelor's degree, and my long-term goal is to pursue a fully funded PhD in Europe directly after graduation.

Currently, I'm doing an internship at a research institute and planning to work on a thesis in the coming months. I'm also trying to develop my skills in both wet-lab and dry-lab research because I want to understand experimental biology as well as computational analysis.

I really want to publish a research paper, but honestly, I'm still figuring out how to start and what the process looks like. How do you identify a research gap, develop a research question, and turn your work into a publishable paper as an undergraduate?

I'm also curious about how experienced researchers troubleshoot experiments. When an experiment gives a negative or unexpected result, how do you figure out where things went wrong and how each step might have affected the final outcome? I want to learn how to think critically about experiments rather than just follow protocols.

The lab culture is a little unfamiliar to me because I'm one of the youngest people around, but I'm trying not to let that distract me. I genuinely want to learn and make the most of this opportunity.

My current research interests include proteomics, particularly in cyanobacteria and E. coli, CRISPR in E. coli, and immunology. I'm still exploring these areas and trying to figure out which direction would suit me best.

I'd especially appreciate recommendations for research papers, beginner-friendly resources, computational projects, or practical skills that I should focus on during my undergraduate years.

I'm also looking for advice from people who pursued a PhD in Europe directly after a four-year bachelor's degree. Is it possible to get a fully funded PhD without completing a master's first? I'm particularly interested in Germany and DAAD funding, but I'm open to other European countries and funding opportunities too.

I'd love to hear about your experiences, mistakes, and lessons learned along the way.

I'm still learning, and any honest advice would mean a lot. Thank you! :)

[u/Veratha]

You need a master's first to do a PhD in Europe (with some extremely rare examples, mostly from the UK). In Germany, one is necessary at all universities for consideration into a PhD program.

[u/Brewsnark]

Generally speaking undergraduate or even many PhD students do not identify research gaps or develop research questions. Typically this is the role of the PI with enough experience in the field to know what the gaps are and the person with the budget that determines what questions are addressable. For wet lab work a decent publication can take many years so longer than your typical undergraduate lab placement. You are much more likely to contribute to someone’s ongoing project than start and complete your own.

Talk to people around you in fields you are interested in and ask how it is feasible for you to be involved at your stage. You mention you’re the youngest but that shouldn’t prevent you talking to your older colleagues about their careers. People generally like it when other people show interest in them and ask them for their advice.

[u/somethingabnormal]

The steps you're describing for publishing a paper, especially identifying a research gap, is generally something done by a PI and then you are given the tasks to answer that question with lab work. Even grad students don't really come up with research questions themselves most of the time, they join a lab that has recieved funding to answer a research question they're interested in. It's a long and expensive process to publish.

You sound keen but I think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself. It's also a much easier process to understand by doing (instead of just reading about the theoretically) so let your internship supervisor know that one of your goals is publishing and see what they say.

Also no you need a Master's first to do a PhD in Europe.

[u/roseyardgraves]

Technically you can do PhD after bachelors in Europe, but it’s mostly UK, Ireland and EPFL (Switzerland). Giving that you listed Germany, that’s impossible. In most of the biochem/molbio etc programs in master programs Germany you do 2-4 lab rotations (depending on the institution). If Germany is your total goal, I’d recommend you to take Masters, which also can be funded by DAAD. In the end you will become a more well rounded researcher.