Yeah - like @ivanviso mentioned the pool is the place to start. Make sure you do use GRCPool - the other pool is abandoned by its developer and not paying out anymore.

The way GRC is earned through research, is that you are back-paid for your work every time you generate a block through Proof of Stake (POS) - POS secures the network. Under POS, your likelihood to stake a block is proportional to your holdings. This means that if you start with 0 GRC, you will never be paid for your research (although your pending payout will rise).

The pool maintains a 200,000 GRC balance to help it stake on your behalf.