A central educational experience for many students is performing research alongside faculty members. Student-faculty collaborations are common in Linguistics and Cognitive Science, but they depend on a number of factors, including funding availability, faculty availability, student expertise and commitment to the research, among others.
What is the point of research?
Human knowledge is not stable– what we know is constantly growing and changing. Professors participate in research to contribute to the state of knowledge in our field, which also keeps us up to date on our areas of expertise. Student participation in research builds expertise in the field, it builds technical and analytical skillsets, and it is educationally valuable because it provides a rich, experiential understanding of how careful, rigorous, and persistent we have to be in order to know things with any certainty.
How do I find research opportunities in Claremont?
Faculty members generally need students who are well trained in their disciplines, so the beginning of most research experience is in the classroom, by energetically engaging your coursework.
Many students assume that high grades = faculty approval, and that faculty will want to do research with students only if they have high grades (and conversely, if they have high grades, a professor will want to do research with them). While competence in the methods and analysis in the subfield is important, perhaps moreso are other important aspects of intellectual discipline: persistence, reliability, intellectual humility, carefulness, etc. So don’t assume you are entitled to research experiences because you received high grades, and don’t assume that lower grades rule you out. A broad range of traits are necessary to be a good researcher, and we all possess these various traits in different doses.
In LGCS if a professor has a research position they are hiring for, we often advertise to our email listserv, and on this website.
But many research opportunities are created because students express interest, and we find areas of mutual interest where we can be productive. So if you are interested in research in an area, ask that professor if they have any opportunities available! It takes courage, and you might be told ‘no,’ but we welcome the inquiries.
How do I find get funding to participate in research?
SURP: Pomona’s summer research program.
PCIP: Pomona’s internship program.
The LGCS Department, and individual professors, at times have research funds for supporting undergraduate research. You can consult with individual professors or the coordinator for your major about what funds may be available currently, if any (Michael Diercks, Linguistics; Lise Abrams, Cognitive Science).
Various institutions at times receive REU grants (Research Experience for Undergraduates) for linguistics from the National Science Foundation. You can search for areas matching your interests on NSF’s site.