Start by asking what level of thinking appeals to you most: organisms, cells, molecules, medical, etc. While great research entails adjusting to the questions and the biology, you should center your research where you are most excited and interested. Happy and passionate scientists are most creative and apply themselves the hardest! The following steps will help you define your research interests:
Find papers published by each faculty member who interests you, and consider the following points:
Identify several faculty members (approx. 5-6) that interest you. Spend time learning about their research and mentorship style. While you use the following resources to research labs, you should also be reading broadly to see which Stanford faculty might overlap with your emerging interests:
Self-evaluate:
"Think about what you need from an advisor beyond his or her research expertise. Do you want someone hands-off? Someone to keep you on task? Someone who doesn't mind when you take courses for your enrichment or professional development?" -Holly Moeller, Biology
Self-evaluate:
"Try out labs where the PIs' mentorship styles are different [e.g., hands-off or hands-on, etc.] to make sure what you think you need is actually what you need." -Molly Lowndes, Cancer Biology
Talk with EVERYONE
Talk with your potential advisor
Lab dynamics
"If there are red flags about the lab, don't expect that your experience will be the exception. Meet with lab members outside of lab, and ask direct questions about their experience so that you know what to expect when you join." -Molly Lowndes, Cancer Biology
Lab history
Lab management
Talk with EVERYONE
"Talk to many students and postdocs in the thesis lab you're thinking of joining. Make sure you ask them about the PI's mentorship style and the strengths of the lab as well as the weaknesses." -Lauren Chircus, Chemical and Systems Biology
"Push your limits and try something you didn't come in wanting to do. It may change the course of your scientific career—it definitely changed mine!"
—Maya BenBarak, Immunology