Finding time to juggle research, classes

Research has become the all-encompassing catch phrase for everyone who's anyone at Hopkins. Over lunch, students discuss projects they've had to pass through department chairs.

Weekends are spent living the life of luxury in the lab, rather than kicking back and relaxing. Proposals and presentations are both a real and fabricated graduation requirement.

But how do Hopkins students find the time necessary to pursue research? And what are the sacrifices? For the love of the lab, oftentimes staples like sleep, food and homework fall to the wayside.

The entire Hopkins community fosters and encourages research, but depending on the department, students may need to meet a minimum research requirement in order to graduate.

For Steve McCartney, a senior majoring in biophysics, a year of research was required for his major, so he started early.

Freshman year, he began working with Dr. Wade Gibson in the department of pharmacology at the medical campus, and by junior year, McCartney had established himself in the lab. He created his own project the summer before and used that year to fulfill his requirement.

Juggling 17 credits, he devoted three to research, committing a total of 120 hours each semester. Free of afternoon classes, he could complete the time in the lab after mornings in lecture. His schedule was more forgiving than others, but not forgiving enough.

"I just didn't sleep that year," he said.

Now, with his research requirement out of the way, McCartney's using his senior year as his relaxation year, but others haven't been so lucky.

The biomedical engineering department at Hopkins also requires a certain amount of research in order to graduate, and more importantly, a senior design project to be completed by the end of their studies.

While some opt to be design-team project leaders, many use research they're been pursuing throughout their stay at Hopkins to fulfill the requirement.

Independent research entails time outside of class, a research proposal approved by the department, and a final project presentation at the end of the year.

"It's definitely a significant time commitment outside of class," Seth Townsend, a senior majoring in biomedical engineering, said. "Professors would like you to be in there as much as possible."

Townsend began working with Dr. Artin Shoukas in Hopkins' NASA-funded biomedical research lab since his freshman year, first going in two or three times a week for a total of 15 hours, and eventually devoting his summers and senior year to presenting his work to various academic communities.

"I try to plan ahead as much as I can," he said. "As long as you plan ahead, you can manage both [research and classes]."

For a number of students, classes inadvertently take a backseat, and sacrifices are made to put research on the frontlines, whether time can be made or not.

Anya Taboas, a senior biomedical engineering student, started working under Dr. Jennifer Elisseeff in the tissue-engineering lab in Clark Hall and was inspired to remain dedicated to her research, even when the going gets tough.

"It's really tempting to just do research than your homework," she said. "Research is important enough to me that I make sacrifices in other parts of my life."

According to Taboas, the post-doctoral students and coordinators she works with understand that research is supplemental to classes, and shouldn't replace them.

"Finding the balance between research and class is something that's really hard to do," she said, "but you can organize it based on your schedule."

The organizing begins much sooner than the actual hands-on experience. Often times, students won't be accepted for a research position unless they've taken classes in the field, or have fulfilled set requirements.

Once established, some researchers require students to participate in a semester of training and background research before they embark on a project.

According Julie Browne, a senior majoring in electrical engineering, research positions in her major weren't easily accessible to undergraduates, even if they were willing to deal with the added stress of juggling both venues. The department preferred graduate students, and candidates who had computer programming as well as electrical engineering experience.

"It's hard getting your foot in the door," she said.

Once it's in there, it's best to keep it there. Students work hard to get research positions early on and they stay with the same lab throughout their entire undergraduate education.

Some maneuver their schedules to allow blocks of free time, or even squeeze everything into the first four days of the week, to devote Friday completely to research.

Even if sleep is lost, classes slip and relaxation becomes a luxury relinquished solely on holidays, the benefits of research far outweigh the sacrifices. By devoting months, sometimes years, to bringing a single project to fruition, students can actually see their work applied to the real world.

"A lot of times, it doesn't even feel like work," Taboas said. "I work with some surgeons, and they actually tell me, yeah, this might work."