#lab work tips

When you start a brand new research project you look at the vast expanse of possibilities in front of you and think, "Where the hell am I suppose to start?" There is where the literature review comes in. You have to do a butt load of reading so you actually have a chance to understand the research you're conducting. If you're lucky enough your prof will give you a list of recommended readings, but I urge you to go beyond. Start hoarding important studies, manuals and textbooks like a paranoid squirrel preparing for a neverending winter.

1. Find a solid review study that provides a good introduction to your field and gives a bit of context. If you look a scientific journal they have a variety of pieces ranging from research papers to editorials to opinion pieces to review studies. A review study is a kind of like the voice-over narrator in a trailer. They're like: In a world with anemone toxins...blah blah blah. For me when I was started learning about anemone toxins, Sea Anemone (Cnidaria, Anthozoa, Actiniaria) Toxins: An Overview was a great introduction to the field. Once you get the basics down you can look at specific things in that field in more detail (e.g. later on, you could find more studies on potassium channel toxins). You can also go the citations section of a review study to find even more studies that relevant to specific concepts.

2. Get all of your manuals and protocols! If you are using a lab technique that's new to you like peptide synthesis or FRET get your hands on the manual or protocol for the equipment or reagent that you're using. Sometimes the manual for the equipment you're using provides the best introduction to a technique. When I was learning about peptide synthesis I didn't get the clearest explanation from a textbook or study, I got it from the manual for the peptide synthesizer in my lab. Most manufacturers have the PDF version of the manual online (FOR FREE! GRAB ALL OF THE FREE STUFF!). Pay special attention to the troubleshooting section because everything will go to hell eventually and at least you'll know why nothing worked.

3. Read studies effectively. Based on my experience you need to read a study at least twice to really understand it. There is a typical reading order: Abstract-->Introduction--> Results--> Discussion--> Methods and materials. When you read the results pay close attention to the captions for each figure because they will help you understand the data better. Passively reading a study is a great way to ensure that you remember absolutely nothing. It's a good idea to read and annotate the important studies. I use Mendeley to annotate and highlight my studies, but you can also use Acrobat Reader. 

Side note: The real reason I use Mendeley is because it lets me highlight everything in lots of pretty colors. I have and always will—love pretty colors. 

I have one comment summarising each section (e.g. Introduction, different parts of the results etc.) 

4. Sometimes you look at a method used in a study and it has an intimidatingly long and complex sounding name, you think, "The hell is THIS? Did they just throw a bunch of sciency words into a hat and use convoluted satanic rituals to get their results?" If you don't really understand or know about a technique find the original study where the researcher discovered the method. The OG study provides you with context and applications for that technique.

5. Are you daydreaming during a long train ride or waiting for a reagent to arrive or you're running an experiment that takes forever? Do your reading! When you're stuck waiting for results don't waste your time! Keep reading and reviewing literature.

6. Ask for help. Sometimes you try your best to understand a concept and it still doesn't sink in. Ask the Ph.D. students, post-docs and other equally clueless undergrads in your lab for help.

Those are my tips for doing all the reading and background research for a research project, but next time we will dive into writing and editing hell. 

So, after reading about my misadventures in undergrad research, you may be thinking about doing your own research project. Why? Seriously, why? Depending on the kind of uni you're in, the length and type of research project varies. There are some common elements, though. At NUS, if you do an undergraduate research project you are expected to write a report and do a presentation. In general, there are three parts: the research, the lab work, and the writing. The aim shouldn't be to dedicate x amount of hours to your project every week. You should focus on getting certain done in a specific time span.  This is why you should plan your project. Now there will be bottlenecks that will cause delays but having a rough outline of baby deadlines helps. Get your basic reading and research out of the way first. Once you have a solid foundation you can move onto the lab work.

Before you carry out any experiment, you should always read up on the expected results and troubleshooting. You don't have to understand every detail of the method or technique you're using (e.g. mass spectrometry). However, having a rough idea of how things can go to hell and what to avoid, will cut down the number of times that you will have to re-do an experiment. You need at least half of the day to get any decent lab work done. So block out the days you'll use for lab work. A lot of protocols like size exclusion chromatography have long incubation times.  Instead of wasting that time waiting for results, work on writing your report or doing any extra reading. Make room for screw ups because there is a high chance that your experiment won't work.

Keep a record of everything, label things properly and have detailed lab notes. These things will help you understand any results that skew from expectations or don't make any damn sense. While you’re running your experiment, really think about what's happening. What things have you screwed up during the process which will affect your results? Did you use TRIZol to extract RNA but instead of getting three distinct layers, everything clumped together and turned into a pinkish milkshake? Write it down! You don't have to stick to the protocol given by the manufacturer. There are studies which provide improvements for pre-existing protocols. You can weave those things into your method and get better results. 

This is your research project. It is your precious baby and you have to take initiative.