How Can I Get Lab Experience?

[Chevy Chase Fan]

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outside of school that is. can i just go to a research place and offer to wash petri dishes?

Advice?

 

[sonia1177]

outside of school that is. can i just go to a research place and offer to wash petri dishes?

Advice?

Your school should have some sites where you can apply to internships that will allow you to get substantial lab experience. Also, if this is one of your first lab experiences, I suggest you ask a professor who you know really well or whose class you did very well in to kindly allow you to get some lab experience under their wing! Some are really very welcoming! 🙂

 

[Kevin Baker]

Just email a group. Bonus points if you research what they are doing and can comment on it. Target labs with grad students as they generally enjoy the free help, and you don't need too much specialization to get things done.

 

[Kaustikos]

outside of school that is. can i just go to a research place and offer to wash petri dishes?

Advice?

I need a minion... no pay but you get to maintain cells and get me coffee every morning Inquire via pm

 

[MilkmanAl]

I had lots of trouble getting involved in private research as an undergrad. Every place I applied or tried to apply to required at least a bachelor's degree in some science for consideration. I'm sure there are places that'd take you, but I had zero luck.

 

[anfleisch]

I would guess the best way to start is in school, since the professors are definitely interested in providing the experience to undergrads. And you can be a big part of the labs productivity if you are taught well. You most likely need experience to work privately.

Washing petri dishes as a volunteer is not research experience. Maybe you could write that as community service if you do it for free, but nothing more.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Washing petri dishes as a volunteer is not research experience.

Agree in a literal sense, but if you know enough about the project to discuss it in depth at an interview, I don't see much reason to not list it as research experience. It's not any different than transporting patients for clinical experience, in my mind.

 

[Musclemass]

Agree in a literal sense, but if you know enough about the project to discuss it in depth at an interview, I don't see much reason to not list it as research experience. It's not any different than transporting patients for clinical experience, in my mind.

I'm gonna disagree strongly with this.

Trying to pass off a clean-up role as research experience in your app would be a mistake. Research is often asked about in interviews, and an honest response about what exactly you did would result in a massive fail.

Labs will often start interested students doing the drudgery clean-up as a way to weed out those who are only partly interested. If you stick with it and prove yourself to be responsible, such jobs can often evolve into something that can be called research experience.