Undergraduate research opportunities available to SUNY Geneseo students

There are several research opportunities available to undergraduate students in the sciences at SUNY Geneseo. These opportunities are offered by professors in a range of disciplines and are useful to any students looking to apply to graduate studies in the sciences.  

According to the Geneseo undergraduate research website, Geneseo has a strong reputation for providing students with practical and rewarding research in a range of fields, and approximately 450 students per year earn credit hours through directed study. These research opportunities are available through Geneseo faculty and interested students can reach out to their professors directly about joining their research labs. 

Vincent Markowski, associate professor of psychology and supervisor of the neurobehavioral toxicology lab, said that the research opportunities on campus are a good way for students to gain experience and credentials before applying to graduate schools.

“If students are able to get started early, we can actually finish things. A lot of times the projects take longer than a typical student’s tour here, but if they get started early then we might be able to push something into publishing. For the last couple of papers I've published, all my co-authors were undergrads, and that's a big feather in their cap. That's something that stays on their resume once they’ve graduated and if you're going into graduate school that has a big impact,” he said.  

According to Markowski, the lab work is largely student led, with him supervising over important or difficult procedures.

He said, “Usually, the most successful students wind up kind of living here a lot the time. They come in and they drop their stuff in between classes to just chill here, sometimes I come in at night and they might be studying for a test in the lab. I do the more critical things myself, though. Once I get a new technique down, and I feel like I'm good at it, then I'll start to train students. And the students have picked up on the behavior testing stuff that we do here pretty quickly.”

Markowski encouraged any students in the sciences to try undergraduate research, and not to be intimidated by the idea of working outside of a traditional classroom setting. 

“Honestly, I have found that some students who are maybe just average students in the classroom, once they get a chance for hands-on work, they're really good at it. I think it's all about interest and motivation. These students have the ability to schedule their time so that they leave themselves enough time to work in the lab and learn in class, and that takes a lot of effort,” he said. 

According to Markowski, his lab caters mainly to neuroscience majors, but is open to students of any discipline. 

“It’s mostly neuroscience students. It used to be all psychology majors, but I'm seeing fewer psych majors and more neuroscience students, I think because psych students who are interested in the kind of work we do here are now just declaring neuroscience major now that it’s an option. That being said, I’d probably accept a student from outside of those majors too. Usually what I ask students to do is take a class with me, because if they're in one of my classes, it is kind of a scripted arrangement, but we get to know each other. Then after that they have a general sense of what the lab is like and typically after that makes more sense [whether or not they’d be a good fit],” Markowski said. 

Students participating in undergraduate research will have an opportunity to present their findings through posters, presentations and publications on Geneseo Recognizing Excellence, Achievement and Talent Days, or GREAT Days. Past GREAT Day presentations are available on the Geneseo website, and the Spring 2022 semester GREAT Day will be held on Apr. 21, with classes being cancelled that day to recognize the work that students have done this year.