Find out whether the conversation is about a program or a lab
A program interview may cover broad interests and readiness. A prospective supervisor may want to discuss a particular project. Read the invitation and any suggested preparation before choosing material to study.
NIH's Summer Internship Program is one example of research placements within established research groups. It is not a rule that every research internship requires the same interview or investigator-contact process.
Sources[1]
Read one relevant source well enough to discuss it
Choose a paper, project summary or methods page connected to the proposed work. You do not need to understand the lab's entire publication history. Use the original source, not only a generated summary.
| Write down | Question your note should answer |
|---|---|
| Research question | What were the researchers trying to find out? |
| Method | What did they measure, compare or build? |
| Result | What did the reported evidence show? |
| Limit | What could this study not establish? |
| Your question | Which choice in the method or follow-up work do you want to understand? |
Explain a useful starting point
Original fictional answer: 'In my statistics course, I cleaned tabular data and checked how missing observations changed a summary. I have not used your lab's instruments. I would be interested in learning the measurement process and, once trained, helping with data checks and documentation. Which skills would you expect an intern to have before starting?'
That answer gives the supervisor something to place: a current skill, a training gap and a bounded contribution. Replace it with your real preparation. For a technique you have only watched, say so; observing a procedure is not independent proficiency.
Ask what an internship-sized project looks like
Ask who would guide the daily work, what the first task might be and how the team checks whether a result is trustworthy. The person leading the lab may not be the person available for everyday questions.
Useful questions: 'Would I begin with an established protocol or an exploratory question?' 'What should I do when a result does not make sense?' 'Which part of the project could realistically be completed during the placement?'
A concrete answer might describe cleaning an existing dataset, repeating a known measurement or documenting a test. A promise of 'cutting-edge exposure' leaves the assignment unresolved.
Clarify the output and next step
Ask whether the expected output is a notebook, code, a report or a presentation, and how it will be reviewed. Do not budget on a publication, authorship or recommendation letter merely because those outcomes are possible.
Before leaving, confirm any requested material and the application step still outstanding. An encouraging conversation with a researcher is useful, but it does not tell you that a program application or appointment has been completed.