Write an Undergraduate Research Assistant Resume a PI Will Read
Undergraduate research assistant resume example, keyword list and writing guide covering lab techniques, protocols, posters and faculty references.
Example Undergraduate Research Assistant summary
Biochemistry undergraduate with five semesters in a molecular neuroscience laboratory, running Western blots, immunohistochemistry and tissue sectioning independently and quantifying images in ImageJ for two active manuscripts. Presented a poster from a ten-week funded summer fellowship and trained two incoming assistants on the staining protocol. Applying to doctoral programs and seeking a technician position in the interim.
Skills to list on a Undergraduate Research Assistant resume
- Experimental protocol execution
- Western blot and gel electrophoresis
- Immunohistochemistry staining
- Cell culture technique
- Tissue sectioning and mounting
- Confocal and fluorescence microscopy
- ImageJ and image quantification
- Laboratory notebook discipline
- Data entry and record keeping
- Literature search and citation management
- Poster design and presentation
- Statistical analysis in R
- Animal colony record keeping
- Laboratory safety compliance
What actually gets this resume read
- Name the laboratory, the principal investigator and the research question rather than writing assisted with research.
- Separate the techniques you run alone from the ones you still perform under supervision, and say so.
- Give hours per week and semesters served, since a principal investigator is buying continuity above all else.
- List posters, symposium talks and any authorship in a dedicated section with venue names and dates.
- Record your training compliance modules, because a lab cannot let you touch a protocol without them.
- Ask the principal investigator before naming unpublished project titles, and describe the area instead if asked.