The Undergraduate Advanced Materials Research Roadmap

Secure an experimental project early in undergrad, avoid the 5 biggest mistakes students make, and start contributing in a real materials lab—even if you’re still figuring out what you enjoy researching.

Free 5‑Day email course. 5 lessons in 5 days.

Created by Valentina Martelli, who has:

  • 15+ years in Advanced Materials research

  • Co‑founded an Extreme Conditions Lab

  • Lectured hundreds of undergrads at IFUSP over 7 years

  • Supervised 21 junior researchers (undergrad, grad, postdoc).

Ready to land your first research project in Advanced Materials labs?

One day, one mistake. Here’s a sneak peek of what we’ll cover:

MISTAKE #1. Wait until junior year to email professors. → Lose 1-3 years extreme-conditions training, hit graduation zero pubs/recs.MISTAKE #2. Pick projects because "professor is cool" or "topic sounds hot." → Waste 6-12 months, bomb results, burn bridge.MISTAKE #3. Judge projects by textbook knowledge only. → Confuse experimental vs applied, chase dead ends (real materials vs perfect theories), end up with frustration.MISTAKE #4. Treat experiments like "just building stuff." (graduate with zero fellowships/industry pitch).MISTAKE #5. Assume lab skills "won't transfer." → Elite experience, zero fellowships/industry pitch.

The first lesson of The Roadmap to Experimental Undergraduate Research in Advanced Materials is on its way to your inbox.

Within the next minute or two, you're going to get an email from me (Valentina Martelli).This email contains instructions to get started with our 5-days Educational Email Course, so be sure to check it out!But if you have any questions, don't hesitate to hit reply and let me know—I'll be happy to help! :-)Now go and check your inbox!

P.S. If you don't find the email in your inbox in the next couple of minutes, please check your spam folder...Chances are it ended up there.(Since I'm relatively new to sending emails to my list, sometimes the "email algorithms" think I'm a robot! 🤷🏻)