Good VS Bad Undergrad Summer Research

[ysk1]

I'm doing undergrad summer research now for the first time in a molecular biology lab.

Most things I'm doing are mindless tasks like picking worms, designing primers for PCR, running PCR experiment, etc., which are all told and guided by my PI and supervisors.

I understand that most undergrads start out like this in research but I'm worried about being stuck on these for the rest of summer, without actually getting to do intellectual tasks. But isn't this usual for undergrads?

What exactly are the differences between great and poor undergrad research experience?

[AndyDude]

To answer your question, it depends on what year you are in. I would say it is pretty good for someone who's just finished second year yet may seem trivial if you are done 3rd and especially if you are going for a thesis project coming fall. In terms of good and bad experience, anything you do in research lab counts. It might seem non-intellectual but at least you can look beyond and see what your PI/supervisors are doing. Their field of research, techniques, etc.

 

I don't think designing PCR primers or running PCR is all that worthless. This is pretty much ALL I did for my undergrad thesis project (cloning).

 

Honestly, taking my prejudice into account you do seem a little anxious (I am assuming you just finished your 2nd year). Just take it one step at a time. I doubt you can yet be trusted with all the intellectual stuff just yet. Sorry if it sounds harsh, I mean to say that it is normal to be treated like this. But it doesn't mean you have to restrict yourself to your assigned tasks. I asked tons of questions to other post-docs, master's, and PhD students regarding their research, and learned a lot. But they were kind people.

 

Good luck!

[Pathomimi]

I am in the same shoes..2nd year...NSERC...that's exactly what i just started doing...i did histology slides for 1 month and a half...now I am on RNA extraction--cDNA synthesis--PCR--Cloning--Sequencing.....and I am still on histology whenever i have time..yeah..we are just hired to do the work in exchange of a wage slightly above minimum and also free learning of some techniques. PhD students design research methods, we just do the mannual work...they are the mastermind behind these projects...

 

take it easy, dude. That's the attitude I have just learnt.

[whale.of.a.time]

Don't worry about it guys. Remember, most PhD students can do PCR in their sleep....and they learned that amazing skill (!) when they were undergrads slaving away in someone else's lab.

 

The point is that you have to build a solid foundation first anyway, so why not relax and enjoy getting paid for it?

[mbene085]

I'll let you know about my last three years - which I'd call a 'good' undergrad summer research experience.

 

I found a prof (in neurobiology) who was young, and had only had his lab up and running for about 2 years. He was impressed by my GPA, and gave me my first task of reading up on his model system for the first few (maybe 3?) weeks. After that, he asked me what I wanted to do. I found something that was poorly explained in the literature, and through some journal hunting, came to realize that it was a part of the sensory pathway in this organism that had just been gently explored in the 60s, then dropped as assumptions were cited over and over and were eventually treated as fact. So he gave me the go ahead to start my own project to pick up where research had left off in the 60s. I ended up working on this project for all three of my NSERCs, my third year part-time, and for my Honour's research as well.

 

I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that he was a new prof, but he really gave me a long leash and let me pursue what I found interesting, instead of just sending me to do a PhD's gruntwork. I feel really lucky for having had that experience, but I know it wouldn't have happened in a biochem lab.

[daryn]

I'm doing undergrad summer research now for the first time in a molecular biology lab.

Most things I'm doing are mindless tasks like picking worms, designing primers for PCR, running PCR experiment, etc., which are all told and guided by my PI and supervisors.

I understand that most undergrads start out like this in research but I'm worried about being stuck on these for the rest of summer, without actually getting to do intellectual tasks. But isn't this usual for undergrads?

What exactly are the differences between great and poor undergrad research experience?

 

Not to be so heavy handed as to denounce your feelings about this, but actually, the stuff that you are doing right now is pretty damn good for an undergrad. Research is not just about the "intellectual" things. Experiments give you results, without which everything would be reduced to just thoughts and ideas.

 

Good experience is what you make of it. Come to think of it, the point in undergrad research is to expose undergrads to the lab and let them know more about how it functions. Just wondering, what kind of intellectual tasks are you thinking of doing anyway?

[Byrne]

My experience has been pretty positive so far. Some of the things I have been involved with:

- DNA/RNA extraction

- Restriction enzyme digestion

- Gel imaging and extraction

- RT-PCR

- Riboprobe synthesis

- In situ hybridization

- Plasmid transformation

- In vitro fertilization of frog embryos

- Frog dissection to prepare for in vitro fertilization

 

I feel like I've learned quite a bit in only a month and a half.

 

My project for the summer is to clone Baz2B, a gene that has not yet been described in X. laevis and is a transcription factor whose expression is related to Pitx3, which is "THE" gene of the lab I work in. Pitx3, among other things, is crucial in eye development and its misexpression is linked to Parkinson's disease in humans.

[lostintime]

I've done my share of the grunt/slug work, and some of the intellectual work. I just think of it as doing the grunt work to answer the research questions. No one likes doing repetitive expeiments or pipeting, etc. But it's part of the job, and once you're good enough, YOU can be the PI or research associate ordering the students/techs around to execut your ideas.

[ysk1]

Thanks for the posts.

 

My experience has been pretty positive so far. Some of the things I have been involved with:

- DNA/RNA extraction

- Restriction enzyme digestion

- Gel imaging and extraction

- RT-PCR

- Riboprobe synthesis

- In situ hybridization

- Plasmid transformation

- In vitro fertilization of frog embryos

- Frog dissection to prepare for in vitro fertilization

 

I feel like I've learned quite a bit in only a month and a half.

 

My project for the summer is to clone Baz2B, a gene that has not yet been described in X. laevis and is a transcription factor whose expression is related to Pitx3, which is "THE" gene of the lab I work in. Pitx3, among other things, is crucial in eye development and its misexpression is linked to Parkinson's disease in humans.

 

Is this your first research? You seem to be doing and learning more useful things than just mostly grunt work with respect to me.

[BlackJack]

I'm doing undergrad summer research now for the first time in a molecular biology lab.

Most things I'm doing are mindless tasks like picking worms, designing primers for PCR, running PCR experiment, etc., which are all told and guided by my PI and supervisors.

I understand that most undergrads start out like this in research but I'm worried about being stuck on these for the rest of summer, without actually getting to do intellectual tasks. But isn't this usual for undergrads?

What exactly are the differences between great and poor undergrad research experience?

 

Most labs have their undergrads do the menial gruntwork, with minimal intellectual contribution. Your situation is the norm.

 

That being said, make sure to discuss publication authorship with your supervisor prior to getting results. Many labs believe that only those who have contributed intellectually should be given credit on the paper. Remember, get a definite yes or no answer from the supervisor.

 

If your lab will not consider you for publication authorship, then your job is just that - a job - and you should treat it as such by not working more than you are being paid for.

 

If, however, the lab will grant you authorship, then you would be smart to try to get results as quickly as you could, such that you could write it up, or follow it up with further experiments.

[Byrne]

Thanks for the posts.

 

 

 

Is this your first research? You seem to be doing and learning more useful things than just mostly grunt work with respect to me.

 

Yeah it is. I think I really lucked out. I sort of have my project mapped out, but since a lot of the protocols I do have these 1, 2, 3 hr+ time gaps, I find I'm helping out the grad students a lot too, which I don't mind at all and sometimes volunteer to do. So I am doing those grunt tasks, but they're varied and spaced out enough that I haven't really had an issue with doing them. Plus they refine your lab techniques if you go on to do a thesis in your final year of undergrad.