How to take more initiative in research?

[allcle4r]

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I've been working in a lab this semester and I go every day for a few hours. I help with /observe different components of the one or two projects we're working on. I have also started doing things on my own like maintaining cell lines and fixing cell colonies for clonogenic assays. I'm hoping that in the coming months I'll be doing more and more parts of the experiment myself.

According to my supervisor, the project we are focusing on should be done by the end of the semester and we should have a publication by summer. I also know that I'm going to be continuing in the lab this summer and I'll be getting paid hourly.

My question is, how can I take a more active/involved role in the research I'm doing? Should I think about proposing different experiments/projects or different questions we could try and address in the paper? For example, how do undergraduates typically get first-author publications? Should I talk to my PI? Should I be reading a whole ton of associated papers?

Also, what are some things you can do to expand your research "beyond" the lab? I have been thinking about writing for undergraduate science and medical journals at my school -- I think that would be a good start. But I'm not sure what to do beyond that. Maybe giving talks? How do people get to do poster presentations?

I know this is a broad and vague question. Thanks so much if you have any suggestions! 🙂 👍

 

[911 Turbo]

My question is, how can I take a more active/involved role in the research I'm doing?

Donate your own tissue for the study.

 

[allcle4r]

Donate your own tissue for the study.

Well as far as I know, I don't have lung or colon cancer, so I might be out of the running... 🙁

 

[911 Turbo]

Well as far as I know, I don't have lung or colon cancer, so I might be out of the running... 🙁

I was being sarcastic.

 

[911 Turbo]

To answer your question more directly, I would just tell the PI that "I really enjoy this crap blah blah blah blah how can I be a larger part of this project."


And as an undergrad, there's really no point in gunning for a first authorship position. You just gotta go with whatever you get.

 

[mcloaf]

Unless I misunderstood, you've been in this lab 1 semester, will be on a publication this summer, and are getting taught new techniques along the way.

What more could you want?

 

[911 Turbo]

Unless I misunderstood, you've been in this lab 1 semester, will be on a publication this summer, and are getting taught new techniques along the way.

What more could you want?

Missed that part. OP don't expect anything after only a semester...

 

[allcle4r]

To answer your question more directly, I would just tell the PI that "I really enjoy this crap blah blah blah blah how can I be a larger part of this project."


And as an undergrad, there's really no point in gunning for a first authorship position. You just gotta go with whatever you get.

I guess I'm not really gunning. But I have suggested alternative/additional experiments we could do that could contribute to the paper we are writing. I know that wouldn't be a basis for a first author (since I'm not proposing something entirely new), but that's kinda what I was talking about. Just trying to take a more active role. I know the PI really likes me and I think my supervisor does too so I think they might be receptive to things I might propose.

 

[allcle4r]

Unless I misunderstood, you've been in this lab 1 semester, will be on a publication this summer, and are getting taught new techniques along the way.

What more could you want?

Haha you're right. I guess I just feel intimidated by a lot of the stellar applicants here who have multiple publications and years and years of research experience. I'm a second-semester sophomore so I feel a bit late to the game (though I have worked on research before).

 

[Amba]

According to my supervisor, the project we are focusing on should be done by the end of the semester and we should have a publication by summer

I can guarantee, with almost 100% certainty, that it will not go this smoothly.

My question is, how can I take a more active/involved role in the research I'm doing? Should I think about proposing different experiments/projects or different questions we could try and address in the paper? For example, how do undergraduates typically get first-author publications? Should I talk to my PI? Should I be reading a whole ton of associated papers?

You may think you're behind the game, but you're really not. I started at the same point in my undergrad as you. It sounds like you have a good PI who will let you do some independent stuff -- you're more than set. The biggest advice I can give is to show legitimate interest in what you're doing. If you actually enjoy your work, it'll show and everything else will take care of itself.

 

[allcle4r]

I can guarantee, with almost 100% certainty, that it will not go this smoothly.

You may think you're behind the game, but you're really not. I started at the same point in my undergrad as you. It sounds like you have a good PI who will let you do some independent stuff -- you're more than set. The biggest advice I can give is to show legitimate interest in what you're doing. If you actually enjoy your work, it'll show and everything else will take care of itself.

Thanks for the heads-up and advice. Apparently, that paper was supposed to be published at the end of last semester, so the supervisor I'm working with has already gone through a lot of missteps and hiccups with the experiment. We are hoping to correct those this semester I guess.

 

[Sacerdotalist]

The undergrads that have been most successful in my lab have been those that have been reliable, consistently demonstrated interest in the science (rather than just learning protocols), and have shown steady improvement (in their technical skills, scientific understanding, and degree of independence), and have worked in the lab for a long and continuous period of time.

Think about your supervisor's (PI, postdoc, grad student - whoever is actually spending the time with you) point of view; a new undergrad in the lab doesn't know anything and can't do anything. Advancing from that takes effort on your part, but also from your supervisor. You will almost certainly be a drain on their productivity in the beginning, and therefore you need to promise to provide a return on that investment.

I would recommend setting your first goal to be collecting and analyzing data to produce a panel or two in a figure. This could be a large or small task depending on your current competency and the techniques in question, but for most projects there will be some pretty mundane but essential experiments that might be good for you to do (and would be things your collaborator would love not having to spend their time on).

But don't neglect your routine lab maintenance tasks (passaging cells or whatnot), as that's probably what's "buying" your access to the lab (and what you'll get paid for in the summer).

And don't switch labs without serious reason. I don't know what year you are, but it would behoove you to work in the same lab for several years. Even if you end up deciding you like some other research topic more, your productivity will take a big hit if you change labs and you'll have to prove yourself to a new group of people.

 

[Aerus]

The undergrads that have been most successful in my lab have been those that have been reliable, consistently demonstrated interest in the science (rather than just learning protocols), and have shown steady improvement (in their technical skills, scientific understanding, and degree of independence), and have worked in the lab for a long and continuous period of time.

Think about your supervisor's (PI, postdoc, grad student - whoever is actually spending the time with you) point of view; a new undergrad in the lab doesn't know anything and can't do anything. Advancing from that takes effort on your part, but also from your supervisor. You will almost certainly be a drain on their productivity in the beginning, and therefore you need to promise to provide a return on that investment.

I would recommend setting your first goal to be collecting and analyzing data to produce a panel or two in a figure. This could be a large or small task depending on your current competency and the techniques in question, but for most projects there will be some pretty mundane but essential experiments that might be good for you to do (and would be things your collaborator would love not having to spend their time on).

But don't neglect your routine lab maintenance tasks (passaging cells or whatnot), as that's probably what's "buying" your access to the lab (and what you'll get paid for in the summer).

And don't switch labs without serious reason. I don't know what year you are, but it would behoove you to work in the same lab for several years. Even if you end up deciding you like some other research topic more, your productivity will take a big hit if you change labs and you'll have to prove yourself to a new group of people.

This seriously. The most successful people in my lab were the ones who stayed in the same lab for multiple years.

 

[Josh7]

I've been working in a lab this semester and I go every day for a few hours. I help with /observe different components of the one or two projects we're working on. I have also started doing things on my own like maintaining cell lines and fixing cell colonies for clonogenic assays. I'm hoping that in the coming months I'll be doing more and more parts of the experiment myself.

According to my supervisor, the project we are focusing on should be done by the end of the semester and we should have a publication by summer. I also know that I'm going to be continuing in the lab this summer and I'll be getting paid hourly.

My question is, how can I take a more active/involved role in the research I'm doing? Should I think about proposing different experiments/projects or different questions we could try and address in the paper? For example, how do undergraduates typically get first-author publications? Should I talk to my PI? Should I be reading a whole ton of associated papers?

Also, what are some things you can do to expand your research "beyond" the lab? I have been thinking about writing for undergraduate science and medical journals at my school -- I think that would be a good start. But I'm not sure what to do beyond that. Maybe giving talks? How do people get to do poster presentations?

I know this is a broad and vague question. Thanks so much if you have any suggestions! 🙂 👍

The chance that you're going to contribute anything dramatic is pretty low as an undergrad. If you're really into it you could ask your PI or graduate student for some journal articles that would be useful for learning and viewing your project in a larger scope. Other than that, I'd just recommend taking good notes in your lab book and tying to perfect your lab skills. The more useful you are, the more respected you'll be by the group.

 

[galaxyx]

1. Offer to write part of the paper. It would likely be just part of the procedure at this stage, but it shows that you're willing to contribute and work outside the lab.

2. Ask your PI if you can make a poster on the research done in the lab or one of your "new ideas" to present at a conference.

3. If they've been struggling to get this paper out for a while, I don't think adding 'new things to test' would be very receptive, but see #2. You could possibly investigate on your own and do a poster on one of those related things you want to test.

 

[allcle4r]

The undergrads that have been most successful in my lab have been those that have been reliable, consistently demonstrated interest in the science (rather than just learning protocols), and have shown steady improvement (in their technical skills, scientific understanding, and degree of independence), and have worked in the lab for a long and continuous period of time.

I plan on continuing in this lab throughout the rest of my undergrad career so hopefully I'll be able to do this. I know I'm continuing this summer and definitely in the fall.

Think about your supervisor's (PI, postdoc, grad student - whoever is actually spending the time with you) point of view; a new undergrad in the lab doesn't know anything and can't do anything. Advancing from that takes effort on your part, but also from your supervisor. You will almost certainly be a drain on their productivity in the beginning, and therefore you need to promise to provide a return on that investment.

Yes, I initially had to watch my supervisor do everything but now I'm starting to things more on my own.

I would recommend setting your first goal to be collecting and analyzing data to produce a panel or two in a figure. This could be a large or small task depending on your current competency and the techniques in question, but for most projects there will be some pretty mundane but essential experiments that might be good for you to do (and would be things your collaborator would love not having to spend their time on).

Thanks, that's a good idea. I will ask my supervisor if part of the paper is written yet so I can figure out what kind of figure I can contribute. I could also look at related papers. I think I could also ask for the data we have so far.

But don't neglect your routine lab maintenance tasks (passaging cells or whatnot), as that's probably what's "buying" your access to the lab (and what you'll get paid for in the summer).

Yep! I take care of splitting cells first thing. Hopefully if I extend my involvement I might be able to do additional things on top of my lab duties.

And don't switch labs without serious reason. I don't know what year you are, but it would behoove you to work in the same lab for several years. Even if you end up deciding you like some other research topic more, your productivity will take a big hit if you change labs and you'll have to prove yourself to a new group of people.

Fortunately I find this research really interesting and cutting-edge. I'm a sophomore.

This seriously. The most successful people in my lab were the ones who stayed in the same lab for multiple years.

Cool. A lot of people in the lab have been there for years so I guess it's a precedent -- and it also means the lab's a great place to work.

The chance that you're going to contribute anything dramatic is pretty low as an undergrad. If you're really into it you could ask your PI or graduate student for some journal articles that would be useful for learning and viewing your project in a larger scope. Other than that, I'd just recommend taking good notes in your lab book and tying to perfect your lab skills. The more useful you are, the more respected you'll be by the group.

OK, cool. My PI and supervisor have already shown me several articles (which I have read). I guess I could also read other papers written by my PI to get a better idea.

1. Offer to write part of the paper. It would likely be just part of the procedure at this stage, but it shows that you're willing to contribute and work outside the lab.

2. Ask your PI if you can make a poster on the research done in the lab or one of your "new ideas" to present at a conference.

3. If they've been struggling to get this paper out for a while, I don't think adding 'new things to test' would be very receptive, but see #2. You could possibly investigate on your own and do a poster on one of those related things you want to test.

1. I'll do that (as we near a little closer to completion)
2. How do you find conferences or places where you can make poster presentations, especially as an undergrad?
3. Investigating on my own is a good idea, I'll think about.

Thanks for all the great advice everyone!