Continue Research or.....

[celestse]

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Hi! I'm new here, so I hope this the right place to ask this. 🙂


I'm currently a sophomore, junior by credit. I began research at my university straight outta high school before I was freshman (I was accepted into my college's summer research program) and was matched with a neuroscience professor.

I learned a lot that summer, including techniques like brain slicing and data analysis. I worked on two projects, until the professor decided to quit and I had to move labs.

I moved to another lab after a few recommendations from some friends, another Neuroscience lab.

We study addiction and I set up an operant box alcohol addiction project with another PhD student. It's a pretty time consuming project so I managed other undergrads to do shifts, until my professor told me to start learning patch clamp.

You are probably already aware that learning patch clamp takes awhile...I'm finally somewhat decent, maybe in some time I can record and provide data. But that's still a long time from now.

The MAIN PROBLEM is that...it is way too time consuming. I'm making A's/a few B's but I am getting stressed that I have zero time for anything else. ALL THE TIME, I'm getting texts from my PhD student to come in and practice and work on something else, which I guess is normal. But it seriously cuts into my studying and other things.

Now my professor wants me to come in AT LEAST 4 hours a day (I come in 2 hours almost everyday, all day Sunday) to 'fully commit'. My parents are pissed off about this whole situation and are now demanding me to leave. (And I don't even live at home..)

The problem is, I have yet to publish an article. This new lab isn't really amazing - we maybe get one article out a year. And even if I stay longer and master patch clamp, at best I'll get 3rd or 4th author, maybe.





TLDR; Been doing research awhile, but prof is putting pressure on me to spend even more time than I already do in lab. Parents want me to quit, chances of me publishing are slim.

Should I stick on and bear it? I really appreciate any kind of response/advice.

 

[TriagePreMed]

If it's getting in the way of studying or doing other things that interest you, I suggest you move on. You simply cannot compromise your grades. Assuming you also don't get any stipend out of this, don't receive units and publication chances are slim, there's very little benefit in this arrangement. I would move on.

On the other hand, you could speak to the PI and ask for a stipend, units and be a co-author in any publication the grad student comes up with. Don't be afraid to ask. You're the one paying tuition at this college and volunteering your time. You are the one in control even if it doesn't appear this way. The PI is abusing you because s/he's used to it with grad students and post-docs, but unlike them, you're not being paid.

P.S. You need to talk to the grad student about his/her texting habits. You should establish a schedule and not be expected to work outside of that schedule.

 

[stoic]

are you there because you WANT to do research or because you want the experience for your resume? can you see yourself continuing in research or are you interested in a clinical career? either one is fine, you are indeed paying for this experience.

the answers to these questions should inform your decisions. if you want to be doing research for either reason, you'll have to cut back on classes enough to fit it into your time schedule. research really isn't a traditional 9-5 - especially as a student. you might walk to talk to your grad student about more clearly defining your role in the project - make sure that when you are in the lab it's for a reason, not just to be in the lab. if the project planning is loose that's not really your fault and but you'll have to find a way to deal with it or find a way to contribute significantly significantly in spite of that. be proactive. find a way to make your role important.

if you are interested in a strictly clinical career or your classwork is suffering there's nothing wrong with walking away before things get ugly. you've already got 2 years experience in research - that's nothing to sneeze at. in this case, focus on your classes. 🙂