Find the lab that actually fits.
Nabu reads your transcript, projects, and interests — scores your fit against real research labs, shows exactly what's missing, and helps you reach out grounded in evidence.
Labs indexed from 250+ universities, including
A new kind of research tool.
Purpose-built for students, grounded in real evidence, and designed to turn a shortlist into an acceptance.
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Grounded in evidence
Every score, gap, and draft traces back to a real course, project, or paper. Never a vibe.
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Mapped from real research
5K+ labs and 25K+ papers, connected to the methods and thrusts that actually define them.
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Built for outreach
Turn a match into a first email you'd actually send — cited, in your voice, ready to review.
Ranked by fit — scored the way professors think.
Point Nabu at your interests and it surfaces the labs whose real research aims overlap with yours — ranked by a fit score modeled on how faculty actually weigh applicants, with every number traceable to a course, project, or paper.
See your fit- Ranked matches — every lab scored against your living profile, best fit first
- Weighted by real faculty — drawn from interviews with professors at Harvard, Tufts, Boston University, and more on what actually drives admission
- Cited evidence — every dimension traces back to a course, project, or paper
See what's missing — and how to close it.
A high score is nice; a plan is better. Nabu maps your methodology coverage against what each lab does, then turns every gap into a concrete, weighted action.
Map your gaps- Have / partial / missing — on every method the lab actually uses
- Concrete actions — each gap becomes a specific next step, ranked by impact
- Shared gaps — aggregated across your whole target set, so effort compounds
A first email that sounds like you knew the lab.
Generic cold emails get ignored. Nabu drafts outreach grounded in the professor's actual recent papers and your actual background — so every email leads with something real.
Draft your first email- Cites real papers — references specific publications from the lab's indexed record
- Draws from your profile — your courses, projects, and experience, not a template
- No fabrication — Nabu never claims a skill you haven't shown
Mapped across every field.
Labs indexed from public NIH grant and OpenAlex publication records — spanning the life sciences and engineering.
- 5K+
- research labs
- 250+
- universities
- 25K+
- publications indexed
Labs by field
- Biology1,055
- Neuroscience689
- Biomedical Engineering607
- Microbiology & Immunology500
- Pharmacology473
- Biochemistry411
- Psychology302
- Physiology291
Start free. Upgrade when you're targeting.
No card to start. Built for the months when it matters most — and free for the rest.
Free
Build a profile and discover labs. For figuring out what's out there.
- Living profile + transcript parse
- Unlimited lab discovery
- AI-powered fit reports
- Personalized gap analysis
- Outreach email drafts
- Cross-lab strategic planning
Pro
Everything you need to land a lab. For the semester you're applying.
or $25/year — save 58%
- Everything in Free
- AI-powered fit reports
- Personalized gap analysis
- Outreach email drafts
- Cross-lab strategic planning
The things students ask first.
Straight answers on scoring, privacy, and where the lab data actually comes from.
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Where does the fit score actually come from?
Nabu compares your parsed profile — coursework, projects, skills, and any publications — against a lab's research aims, methodology, and recent papers. It scores several dimensions weighted by how confident the underlying evidence is. Every number traces back to a specific source, so you can audit it.
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Does it make things up about me?
No. Nabu only reasons over evidence you've added — a course on your transcript, a project, a paper you've listed. If you don't have experience with something, it shows up as a gap, not an invented strength.
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I'm not PhD-bound yet — is this still for me?
Yes. Whether you're a sophomore exploring research or a senior applying to PhD programs, Nabu meets you where you are. Set your year and track, and the readiness signal recalibrates to what's realistic for your stage.
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Who can see my profile and documents?
Only you. Your documents are processed to extract academic signals — courses, skills, experiences — and only that structured data is stored, not your raw files. Nothing is shared with labs or third parties.
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How relevant is the lab data?
Lab profiles are built from NIH Reporter grant records and OpenAlex publication data — two of the largest open research databases available. Lab data and publications are pulled directly from these sources.
From the blog
Guides for finding your lab.
How to Cold Email a Professor for Research
What actually makes a research professor reply — the mindset behind a good cold email, the mistakes that get you ignored, and the fundamentals every student should know.
ReadHow to Find Research Labs That Actually Fit You
Most students apply to labs they stumbled across. Here's how to systematically find research labs that match your background — and how to tell which ones are worth your time.
ReadWhere to Find Research Lab Opportunities (Start With Publications)
You can't just Google 'research labs near me' — lab websites barely rank. The reliable way in is through what labs produce: their publications. Here's where to look.
Read
Stop guessing which lab.
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Build your profile in ten minutes and start discovering labs you've never heard about.
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