NSERC Starter

[Jochi1543]

Is that unusual?

Actually, even though the number of volunteers may be 6, each volunteer volunteers at most 5 hours (2 shifts) a week, so I don't see more than one volunteer in the lab during my shift.

 

We don't have ANY volunteers at my lab.

[ysk1]

thami: Unfortunately the lab I volunteer in doesn't have such things. It's said that 90% of the lab lunteer opportunities out there suck. My lab is one of them, for sure.

[noqturne]

Post-docs are most prone to slave-driverism compared to the other lab members, especially if they're looking to put out a paper. That being said, whether or not you'll become a lab slave depends on the individual post-doc. Huge variability there. Plus, despite the slave-driverism, they will understand that you're only human and you can't do everything if you feel like you have too much on your plate and talk to them, so don't fret.

 

With respect to volunteering in a lab, you really can't compare your workload to someone who is getting paid in the lab. Since you are volunteering, they can't force you to do as much work, because your obligation to the lab is much weaker, and you can cut and run any time you choose, and the PIs/post-docs realize this. This is why many labs don't accept volunteers, because PIs really can't make volunteers do more work than they want, or really make them do any work at all. Of course, there are always those who want to learn and do great volunteering in the lab, but there is this flipside, which is why volunteering for a post-doc may be very different from working for a post-doc.

[skvangs]

"slave-driverism" lol