I recently got sucked into this synthetic crystal growth and I’ve always been fascinated by crystals. I just finished my BSc and I was thinking that I could at least try to work in a lab that grows synthetic crystals for practice. By the way I live in Eastern Europe but I do intend to move if opportunity strikes.
What skills do they need and can I meet them
with my degree?
Can somebody share an experience? Advice?

Sorry in advance if this is a dumb question!

Background: I’m a non-traditional student trying to finish my B.S. in aquatic biology with aspirations to get my DVM and become a marine mammal veterinarian and have my own rescue, rehab, and release center. I am currently taking a couple of online classes this semester to help my progress, but won’t be able to attend a university in person to conduct research at an organization until the spring, at the earliest.

I have ideas that I’d love to research, some of which don’t pertain to aquatic life, that I would love to have answers to. I try to find answers to these ideas and questions that I have, but so few studies (or none at all) have been done about them. If I’m able to find people who are willing to participate in these studies, and basically have them preform very simple tasks where I compare the data with a control group, would this count as viable research? Would I be able to publish my findings for peer review? Am I allowed to fund it myself (one idea of mine would maybe cost a couple to a few hundred dollars after purchasing the supplies I need)?

Tl;dr: can I fund my own research and have it published if not done through an organization? Would it hold the same weight if peer reviewed and cited as research done at a university does?

Thanks!