#lab advice

Hello Anon!

During my gap year(s) I also worked as a lab tech in a medium-ish sized lab (13 people), that was then part of a close-knit department comprised of 40+ people. We regularly worked with everything, including going to all the meetings, sharing equipment, collaborating on experiments, etc. It was like being in a lab inside a lab! Here are my own pros vs cons of working in a huge lab:

Pros:

A history of success. A lab doesn't become that large without a constant flow of grant money, and a constant flow of grant money usually means a regular churning out of high-quality publications from high-quality research.

Lots of resources: be it mentors, equipment, lab space (hopefully), money (presumably), internal and external collaborators, and sources of help. There was never a moment where I couldn’t find at least one person to help me out with something.  A note about mentors: a large lab will usually have Scientists (with PhD's) who head their own projects. So the chain of supervising would go to them first, then the PI.

More variety of cool research to do and learn about. This is great if you have a passion for learning new techniques, and will also broaden your CV. In addition, if you help out with various projects, you have the opportunity to be a co-author on all those papers. 

Usually will have more dedicated positions, like a lab manager whose full time job is only admin-related stuff, or someone who cleans all the glassware/makes cell media/etc. It takes the multi-tasking away from actual research.

Really organized. You just have to be in an environment like this (but on the downside, if someone deviates from the organization system in place, it could cause more chaos than in a smaller lab with less material). 

Company at all times. There will always be someone around, so that's great if you don't like to ever be alone in the lab.

More redundancy in expertise. One downside of a small lab is that if one members is out, their project would come to a grinding halt (or they’ll be bombarded with inquires about where things are and how to do this and that--super frustrating). But in larger labs, the other members can help out. 

Your lab will probably be well known, even outside of the institution, so that's useful in leveraging that "brand" during the rest of your career.

Related, you will have a large network of lab alumni who can also help you in your next career steps. 

More variety of fun outside-of-lab activities. The large lab I was a part of had amazing potlucks (sooo much food) and even their own soccer games on the weekend. 

Cons:

Can be overwhelming, even months in. The learning curve will be higher for fully understanding all the different projects happening at once.

PI may be spread thin, and may not give you the one-on-one time you want (but that can be remedied by the presence of other mentors in the lab).

Can be loud and slightly chaotic at times, which just comes with the territory of being around more people. There may also be a higher chance of interpersonal friction between lab members.

More people will be using the same equipment, so planning and communication are crucial to properly share them.

Personal work space (like your own desk or lab bench) may be limited. Hopefully the lab isn't hiring more people than it can fit, but if having your own space is important to you, be sure to inquire about that during the interview.

Specifically for Covid-19: Social distancing may be harder, and there may be personnel scheduling “rotations” in place (like spreading out shifts during the day, which may involve some members coming in during the evenings/weekends). This is something to definitely bring up in your interviews. 

That’s all I can think about from the top of my head. If anyone else has experience working in large labs, feel free to chime in!

Hello anon!

I'm sorry to hear you're having a less than ideal time in your lab. I agree with you that it's very unfair you're not given the chance to do more than just shadow, and you definitely have a right to be disappointed and frustrated. Your supervisor seems ill-matched to be accepting interns; they don't seem to have the capacity, energy, and/or drive to be a proper mentor.

Here are some options you could try to change things for the better:

Firstly, communicate with your supervisor about wanting to do more. Thank him for letting you work with him, tell him it's been informative watching him conduct experiments, and you think you're ready now to try some things first hand yourself, even if it's something small in the beginning like doing a few of the midi prep samples side by side with him next time. You can also ask if there are other "low-risk" tasks you can start helping with, like data analyses.

Set up a meeting with the PI and talk to them about this issue and how it can be resolved (if your PI and your supervisor are not the same person). The PI may not realize that your supervisor doesn't have the capacity to mentor someone right now, so the solution could be as simple as picking another lab member to work with.

Show documentation of internship expectations to back you up. If your internship is a program you applied to, you can pull up the program description that contains expectations/goals to remind your supervisor and/or PI that you would really appreciate their guidance in fulfilling these goals.

If nothing can be resolved internally within the lab, you could contact whoever runs the internship program (if applicable) to ask for their advice. They could have more options for you, or talk to your PI on your behalf. And if this lab really doesn't have the capacity to take on future interns, the program would probably benefit taking the lab off their list for a while.

If all else fails, you can consider doing some sort of independent research project. For example, a literature review where you generate a research question related to your lab's work and dive into the current literature to curate a mini thesis of sorts. The final product can be a paper, a powerpoint presentation, or a poster. It would be a great opportunity to use your supervisor’s expertise in the field for feedback.  (And feel free to also reach out to me if you need any ideas!)

Those are all the ideas I can think of for now. I hope the situation gets better for you anon, and that you take away some good experience from your internship. 

Hi anon! Congrats on your internship! I'm beyond excited you'll be doing research in a cancer lab, not that I'm biased or anything :D

I have a post here about some pointers on making the most during an undergraduate research experience, and I think many would also apply to a summer internship. I hope it helps! And let me know if you have any other questions.

Hello anon!

That's really great to hear you enjoyed your lab! Long term experience in one lab (vs many different ones) during undergrad is the norm, so that will definitely not hurt your application.

Hello overwhelmed anon! It’s good to hear from you again. 

Oh gosh that is definitely frustrating. Anyone would feel overwhelmed in a situation like yours where they’re given a new task with very little guidance. There definitely is a time for learning on your own, but that’s like, level 50 of the game. PhD students who are a year away from graduating should be cool with learning something new by themselves because they already have the tools necessary to overcome a challenge like that, but this is not fair to ask from someone just starting out. Pandemic or not, I don’t think it’s fair for you to be given a task with no direction. My entire job is remote right now, but I still get crystal clear instructions and guidance from my boss over the phone, and she’s always available if I have questions. 

I suggest having a one-on-one (remote) meeting with your PI or whoever is supervising you in lab to talk about your concerns. Just tell them exactly what you told me: you would like more guidance on your projects. And if they say, “ok, what kind of guidance?” you can respond with any or all of the following:

A quick meeting before each experiment to go over the details of the project, especially if it’s on concepts you’re still learning about.

A copy of the SOP of the experiment (either on a shared lab computer, or in someone’s lab notebook). If an SOP is not available (like if you’re doing this for the first time in your lab’s history), ask about what resources you can use (including people in other labs who do the experiment) to figure one out. 

A walkthrough of the SOP over the phone (so you can be in the actual lab) of the steps and anything pertinent, like how to use specific equipment, or how to safely dispose of waste.

Who (and how) you should contact should you have questions about the experiment while you’re doing it (it could be the person teaching you, or it could be another lab member).

Another meeting when you have results to go over them together, and to also talk about the experiment and how that went (mistakes and all). 

Any other resources you can seek out to learn more about the procedure and/or the subject matter behind it (very important for students).

You can definitely modify these according to your task at hand (for example, some things may not have actual SOPs, like projects requiring literature searches, and some walkthroughs may be best done via screen-sharing (to use lit searches as another example)). 

Hey anon. I totally get what you’re going through. Research--especially during the first few months--can be suuuper overwhelming. It’s very much like drinking out of a firehose. The learning curve can be intense because everything is so new. The lab! The equipment! The people! The projects! The subject itself!! Just, bam bam bam, new new new! And to top it all off, the people who are teaching you, like the PI or other senior lab members, have been doing this for years, maybe even decades, so by comparison it’s definitely going to feel intimidating when you’ve only been here for a few months. 

But just take everything day by day. Think about what you know now that you didn’t the first day you started. If you want to, make a physical list and just marvel at how far you’ve come! My current new job is just piles and piles of never-ending information (my team basically knows literally everything about every single cancer, from how they’re diagnosed to what drugs are associated with what biomarker to the biology of how that biomarker works--yeah, a LOT of stuff). To keep from feeling overwhelmed and to remind myself that I do deserve to be there and that I am making progress, I always finish each work day by reflecting on something I learned that I didn’t know when I got up that morning. Even if it’s just one thing. 

I also find it helpful to write everything down. Sometimes when I’m learning something new, it doesn’t make any darn sense because my brain is just overloaded with processing everything. But then as I start doing the procedure on my own afterwards, the puzzles slowly start to fit together. So it really helps to have notes to review (and sometimes edit). If you’re not doing so already, I highly recommend keeping a notebook with you in lab (including meetings). If you have print-outs (like lab SOPs), write your own little notes in the margins. Whenever I learned a new protocol in lab, that SOP would be absolutely covered in notes that I scribbled while I watched whoever was teaching me. No detail is too small, especially if it’ll prevent me from making a future mistake!

My third piece of advice is knowing it’s ok to ask for help. It’s ok to ask whoever is teaching you to slow down, or repeat something, or “hey just to confirm, I do this?” A lab it a team, and a team operates best when everyone helps one another. Asking questions also shows that you care. My favorite undergrads in the past have always been the ones who asked the most questions. It showed that they cared about the subject and their performance in contributing to the lab, and I loved them so much for it. 

Hi anon!

I’ve definitely felt like that for yeaaars during lab meetings, especially in the beginning when I started in a lab for the very first time! So it’s totally ok and understandable to be feeling those emotions. But it’ll get easier as time goes by and you become more and more familiar with everything. 

What really helped me stay calm during lab meeting was to keep a lab meeting notebook. In it I would record the following things:

Before the lab meeting: I would write down what I accomplished since the last lab meeting--even if it’s just “I’m still working on the same assignment but now I’m half-way done, versus just getting started like last time”. That way when it came to my turn to talk, I have my notes to turn to. I also used this time to bring up any questions I had. 

During the lab meeting: I would take notes on what was going on (like what other people are working on, any general lab updates, etc), especially if we cover any action items that I’m responsible for. Also a good way to stay awake 😉 

After the lab meeting: I would review those notes, and use them to partially guide what I need to do in lab that week, especially if they directly relate to my project. 

It also helps to meet with your supervisor separately to go over your tasks and your progress, if you’re not doing so already. This is especially helpful if you want any feedback to be given to you privately one-on-one rather than in front of the whole group. 

Lastly, remember that no one is out to get you. A lab is a team, and you are a valuable team member. Everyone will understand you are trying your best, especially as a volunteer! You are not expected to operate at the same level as the post-doc, who has like probably close to a decade of experience. No one is making it their life mission to see you embarrassed (and if someone like that does exist in your lab, well, then that says more about them than about you.)

Hi Anon! 

Oh man that’s an awful thing to go through. I hope your elbow feels better soon. I’m so glad your workplace is understanding though! 

I’m not sure if I have the magical solution, but I went through a similar situation where an injury kept me from doing what I needed and wanted to do and it just left me feeling very frustrated and, tbh, useless, as well. So I totally get it. It did cause me to re-evaluate my way of thinking though: am I really useless simply because I need to heal for a few days, or is that just society making me feel useless because I’m not being “productive” in a world centered around capitalism? I’m not trying to get super philosophical here, but I think a frameshift in our thinking to where we learn how to prioritize kindness towards our well-being over the demands of money-generating-entities will come a long way in how we feel about ourselves in situations like these. 

You deserve time off to heal. You need to heal. If professional sports players are given time off to heal from injuries, even in the middle of playoff season, then the same goes for lab researchers as well, right? It may also help to acknowledge that taking the time off to heal right now is an investment towards your future productivity. A few days or weeks off to get back to 100% is much better than operating at 50% (and in pain) for the rest of your time. Also, it would be really detrimental to have this turn into a chronic issue that has consequences throughout the rest of your life, even after you’ve left this job. 

But I also totally understand the need to do something--I also sometimes feel my best when I’m being productive, especially when I’m a part of a team (like a lab). So if you find yourself wanting to still contribute, to just do something to pass away the 8 hrs/day, you can seek out tasks that won’t make your injury worse. The good (and bad) thing about research labs, as you know, is that there always seems to be an endless to-do list. If you’re unsure where to start, meeting with your supervisor (who knows you and your capabilities better than I do) and communicating these concerns with them would be really helpful in coming up with a solution that benefits everyone (including letting you heal from your injury). Something like, “I still would like to contribute to the lab. Are there any tasks that I can help with that won’t aggravate my injury?”. 

I hope talking about those things helped. Again, I know this isn’t a magical solution, but I hope a change of thinking that prioritizes your healing combined with finding other ways to contribute to your team is a good place to start :) And I hope you feel better soon.