What To Expect From Research? (First Time)

[scmed2306]

Hi there!

 

I am a grade 12 high school student who will be starting undergrad this fall.

 

I am very fortunate to be able to volunteer at a research lab this summer after contacting a professor back in November who did not have a spot for me back then, but offered to take me into his lab in the summer if I was still available. 

 

I am starting upcoming Monday, but I am not really sure what to expect.  

 

Can anyone please describe what I can expect from a research lab? Any Do's and Don'ts?

 

I would appreciate any feedback!

 

Thank you!

[NeuroD]

It's great to hear you're getting involved so early. I'm finishing my PhD, and I also created a co-op program for high school students to get credits in my university's research labs, so I know a little bit about this. Here is some info, in no specific order:

 

-Don't worry about expectations, they will be very low for you

-There are 2 ways they will use you: 1. They will mentor your, teach you how to be a scientist, think like a scientist, problem solve like a scientist. 2. They will use you as a junior intern. By that I mean doing a lot of the basic grunt work in the lab. Every lab is different, but those are the 2 extremes you can expect.

-If you're lab has multiple grad students, expect to work primarily with them and not very much with the professor. Some professor's actually think this is important and will spend time with you, but most don't.

-Dress code is usually casual, but if its a wet-lab, you'll want to avoid exposed skin (ie: closed toe shoes, pants instead of shorts)

-They won't usually care about how many hours you're there (unless they are part of a program with a quota), so don't feel guilty about being honest with your availability

 

If I think of more I'll come back and post them. You should be happy and proud because it's rare and unique for a high school student to be involved in university research. It's usually a good sign for their longterm productivity, and it is one heck of a CV entry at your age.

[GH0ST]

It's not as glamorous as you think, and you will pretty much know zero going in. Whatever you think you know about science ..... it's just the tip of the iceberg. 

 

DOs

- Work hard and diligently throughout the summer (inconsistency of effort is not a good quality in a summer student) 

- Learn about the protocols + background information on your own time, but when you are with someone mentoring you --> all your attention should be on them

- Take good notes and record what you do + the steps on a lab book (and be consistent... don't skimp) 

- Ask questions based on what you're learning. Note: some questions however can be easily found out on your own... try to solve some basic questions yourself and if you can't, then you ask. If it's based on applying knowledge or the protocol itself it's safer to ask right away. 

 

DON'Ts

- lazy is a four letter word ... it's only one letter away from fired 

- fool around/ do other things when you are supposed to be learning/doing labwork... if there's downtime and nothing else to do then you can consider it ONLY with permission (or you get a better feel of the lab dynamic with the staff interactions) 

- lie/falsify data.... if you did something wrong or made a mistake, own up to it ... as soon as you lie you are done. 

- be late/take too long of a lunch or regular break --> see DON'T #1

 

 

There are many other points but I feel that if you can do the ones I wrote here well you're on your way. The other things you can learn over time. 

 

- G 

[Artier]

Another thing I'd add is if you find that you like the research, take initiative where possible! Meet with the professor regularly, say "hey I was thinking, what if we try XYZ", show that you really care about the work and that your presence adds value to the lab.

In my experience, professors are quite receptive to people who show the greatest initiative early on and will start to give you more responsibilities and authority to work on your own project and possibly lead to publications or other opportunities like presenting at conferences, etc.

Not to mention you will likely get more out of your experience (and probably a better letter of reference)!

[VolumeOverload]

Great advice in this thread so far!  As someone currently doing their MD/PhD, another thing I'd add is to make sure you have decent familiarity with the background literature surrounding your lab's research focus. This may involve contacting the prof/grad student mentor early in your training and asking them to forward a few key papers/review articles that are pertinent to your work.  I feel that if you're doing an experiment or mining a database, it is good to have an understanding of why you're doing it and how it relates back to the overarching research question. Too many times I've seen undergrad students at research seminars get asked "Why did you explore protein x in this assay?" and them answer "Well because my grad student told me to".  Additionally, doing the background reading will help you troubleshoot failed experiments or contribute towards the future direction of the project.  All of this looks really good when you're presenting your data at lab meetings and moving forward, your prof may give you more autonomy with the work (which may put you in a good position towards getting a first-authored publication!)

 

The goal of your time in the lab is to develop a foundation of skills that will help you become an independent thinker.  Even if you never touch research again in your career, these skills will serve you greatly as a practicing physician.  

[scmed2306]

It's great to hear you're getting involved so early. I'm finishing my PhD, and I also created a co-op program for high school students to get credits in my university's research labs, so I know a little bit about this. Here is some info, in no specific order:

 

-Don't worry about expectations, they will be very low for you

-There are 2 ways they will use you: 1. They will mentor your, teach you how to be a scientist, think like a scientist, problem solve like a scientist. 2. They will use you as a junior intern. By that I mean doing a lot of the basic grunt work in the lab. Every lab is different, but those are the 2 extremes you can expect.

-If you're lab has multiple grad students, expect to work primarily with them and not very much with the professor. Some professor's actually think this is important and will spend time with you, but most don't.

-Dress code is usually casual, but if its a wet-lab, you'll want to avoid exposed skin (ie: closed toe shoes, pants instead of shorts)

-They won't usually care about how many hours you're there (unless they are part of a program with a quota), so don't feel guilty about being honest with your availability

 

If I think of more I'll come back and post them. You should be happy and proud because it's rare and unique for a high school student to be involved in university research. It's usually a good sign for their longterm productivity, and it is one heck of a CV entry at your age.

 

 

It's not as glamorous as you think, and you will pretty much know zero going in. Whatever you think you know about science ..... it's just the tip of the iceberg. 

 

DOs

- Work hard and diligently throughout the summer (inconsistency of effort is not a good quality in a summer student) 

- Learn about the protocols + background information on your own time, but when you are with someone mentoring you --> all your attention should be on them

- Take good notes and record what you do + the steps on a lab book (and be consistent... don't skimp) 

- Ask questions based on what you're learning. Note: some questions however can be easily found out on your own... try to solve some basic questions yourself and if you can't, then you ask. If it's based on applying knowledge or the protocol itself it's safer to ask right away. 

 

DON'Ts

- lazy is a four letter word ... it's only one letter away from fired 

- fool around/ do other things when you are supposed to be learning/doing labwork... if there's downtime and nothing else to do then you can consider it ONLY with permission (or you get a better feel of the lab dynamic with the staff interactions) 

- lie/falsify data.... if you did something wrong or made a mistake, own up to it ... as soon as you lie you are done. 

- be late/take too long of a lunch or regular break --> see DON'T #1

 

 

There are many other points but I feel that if you can do the ones I wrote here well you're on your way. The other things you can learn over time. 

 

- G 

 

 

Another thing I'd add is if you find that you like the research, take initiative where possible! Meet with the professor regularly, say "hey I was thinking, what if we try XYZ", show that you really care about the work and that your presence adds value to the lab.

 

In my experience, professors are quite receptive to people who show the greatest initiative early on and will start to give you more responsibilities and authority to work on your own project and possibly lead to publications or other opportunities like presenting at conferences, etc.

 

Not to mention you will likely get more out of your experience (and probably a better letter of reference)!

 

 

Great advice in this thread so far!  As someone currently doing their MD/PhD, another thing I'd add is to make sure you have decent familiarity with the background literature surrounding your lab's research focus. This may involve contacting the prof/grad student mentor early in your training and asking them to forward a few key papers/review articles that are pertinent to your work.  I feel that if you're doing an experiment or mining a database, it is good to have an understanding of why you're doing it and how it relates back to the overarching research question. Too many times I've seen undergrad students at research seminars get asked "Why did you explore protein x in this assay?" and them answer "Well because my grad student told me to".  Additionally, doing the background reading will help you troubleshoot failed experiments or contribute towards the future direction of the project.  All of this looks really good when you're presenting your data at lab meetings and moving forward, your prof may give you more autonomy with the work (which may put you in a good position towards getting a first-authored publication!)

 

The goal of your time in the lab is to develop a foundation of skills that will help you become an independent thinker.  Even if you never touch research again in your career, these skills will serve you greatly as a practicing physician.  

 

 

Thank you guys so much for all the great advice! I found it very helpful!

 

I just have few quick questions. The lab that I will be volunteering in is actually a dry lab. I was told that I will be mainly doing data entry and interview transcription, sometimes observe some study visits. Does this seem like a typical work that lab beginners start with?

 

Lastly, I know I should be very grateful for this opportunity and this question might be too early to ask, but is the research experience that I will be getting considered a good EC for medical school admissions? (I am not taking on the research opportunity just to build my resume, but I am also really interested in the research itself)

 

Thanks in advance!

[Artier]

Thank you guys so much for all the great advice! I found it very helpful!

 

I just have few quick questions. The lab that I will be volunteering in is actually a dry lab. I was told that I will be mainly doing data entry and interview transcription, sometimes observe some study visits. Does this seem like a typical work that lab beginners start with?

 

Lastly, I know I should be very grateful for this opportunity and this question might be too early to ask, but is the research experience that I will be getting considered a good EC for medical school admissions? (I am not taking on the research opportunity just to build my resume, but I am also really interested in the research itself)

 

Thanks in advance!

1) Seems normal to start you off with data entry type stuff. I had a similar experience, and as I took initiative, did my work diligently, asked good questions, and had a positive attitude, my prof. and grad student started giving me more responsibilities and I got to do more decision making in addition to grunt work.

 

2) Yes in my experience this is very valuable for med school admissions at schools which consider EC's (not necessary but definitely a bonus) but it is equally important to word the experiences well in your apps to emphasize the CanMEDS roles you demonstrated by virtue of the experience. But don't worry about the admissions process for now, just focus on doing various things that you are interested in and when it comes time to applying, you will be equipped to share your experiences.

[NeuroD]

1) Seems normal to start you off with data entry type stuff. I had a similar experience, and as I took initiative, did my work diligently, asked good questions, and had a positive attitude, my prof. and grad student started giving me more responsibilities and I got to do more decision making in addition to grunt work.

 

2) Yes in my experience this is very valuable for med school admissions at schools which consider EC's (not necessary but definitely a bonus) but it is equally important to word the experiences well in your apps to emphasize the CanMEDS roles you demonstrated by virtue of the experience. But don't worry about the admissions process for now, just focus on doing various things that you are interested in and when it comes time to applying, you will be equipped to share your experiences.

Agreed.

[GH0ST]

Hello! See below ...

 

Thank you guys so much for all the great advice! I found it very helpful!

 

I just have few quick questions. The lab that I will be volunteering in is actually a dry lab. I was told that I will be mainly doing data entry and interview transcription, sometimes observe some study visits. Does this seem like a typical work that lab beginners start with?

 

I specialize now in a field that is basically a dry environment (teehee.... statistics can be dry =p). Yes this is very typical of someone starting out but it doesn't have to be all you do... like what the other posters have said above ... IF IT'S APPROPRIATE (and reasonable) you can take some initiative to go beyond your scope. 

 

Lastly, I know I should be very grateful for this opportunity and this question might be too early to ask, but is the research experience that I will be getting considered a good EC for medical school admissions? (I am not taking on the research opportunity just to build my resume, but I am also really interested in the research itself)

 

Could be... all comes down to what you can learn and what your experiences will be like ... I mean if you were to wash glassware for example... that's important but not something I would be able to write favorably in my opinion.  

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Best wishes.

 

- G

[Cyclosarin]

After talking with lots of other researchers, I think my research experience in undergraduate was quite a bit different from the norm.  So, I'll share it with OP just encase it's something of interest. 

 

When I was in my second year, I designed my own research project that was somewhat related to biochemistry.  Once I organized the idea and typed up my literature review and mini proposal, I pitched it to one of my professors.  I actually didn't know them, I searched their research on the university website and read some of their recent publications.  I carefully crafted an email to send and they were kind enough to support me in researching my own project.  It was a really great experience.  My next research project was my honours thesis, which was a really complicated project that I also 'made up,' but that same professor offered to be on my committee.  That was really inspiring and made a great professional relationship long term.

 

My advise in there is to create your own research projects.  You learn best by doing, and you'd be surprised how many people are willing to help if you put the effort forward.  It's also a lot more meaningful when it's your own project.  At least for me it felt like I actually accomplished something, no matter how small, when it was done.