No Experience Required: Inclusive Undergraduate Research in Computational Biophysical Chemistry

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ABSTRACT Undergraduate research is a key tool for recruitment and, more importantly, retention of science, technology, engineering, and math students. Unfortunately, many students are not aware of or do not take advantage of these opportunities and, at best, often wait until late in their college careers. For my undergraduate computational biophysical chemistry research lab I have established a no-experience-required policy that allows me to recruit and mentor more research students. It also allows me to be more inclusive and expand the pool of students who have access to research. This also results in a more diverse research group, which is particularly important at a primarily undergraduate institution that has a diverse population with a high percentage of first-generation students. Here, I lay out the procedures I use to recruit and train students of all levels for my research lab, as well as the research products produced by students and myself.