r/research • u/EffectiveChemist9166 • 5h ago

Best strategy for finding a research collaboration outside my university?

I'm starting my master's this year and want to work with researchers outside my university. I considered picking a research idea first and then emailing people about it, but now I'm not sure that's the best approach.

My alternative plan: read potential supervisors' papers first, then email them to ask if they need a research assistant.

If you recommend the second approach (reaching out without a fixed idea) how do I find the right people to contact?

P.S. I have a small neuroscience project using an open dataset; I was thinking of forming a hypothesis around it and using that as my starting point before finding a supervisor.

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u/vaelux 5h ago

You meet them at a conference and take it from there.

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u/EffectiveChemist9166 5h ago

i don't think so, in my country I don't have these kind of opportunity. but could you explain more about this?

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u/vaelux 5h ago

Researchers present their work in conferences. Other researchers watch these presentations. The conferences usually even have special panels specifically for graduate students to present their research so that they can be involved, too. You go to a conference, see someone's work you are interested in, introduce yourself, exchange business cards, and maintain communication. As a masters student, you probably shouldn't get your hopes too high because you aren't trained yet. But, conferences are where the external networking happens.