I feel my research is unproductive: Is it too late to change labs?

[s.nd]

hi guys,

I'm an international student (rising junior) studying in the U.S (one of the HYP schools, if it matters).

I joined a lab last year when I moved to the U.S for college and have been doing research there since then, with one month break in May. The way I joined this lab was through the PI: I took a basic science course and the preceptor contacted me after the course ended to let me know about this opportunity and then I joined.

My mentor is a postdoc (he's been a postdoc in this lab since 2017) and is quite helpful and a good teacher. However, I don't feel productive in the lab. I have been working on the same project since I joined which is nice but I realized during the summer that my mentor has already done these experiments for these strains. He already has all the results which will be probably included in a paper they're writing.

I don't know if this is common but I just don't understand why he would have me spend months repeating experiments he has already done. I had a talk with him and he basically told me "if your goal is to get published in this lab, I can guarantee that you won't get published here. I have been working on this paper for 5 years and am just getting published. you're just a sophomore and have time to get published in the future".

this made me feel a bit strange because my goal is not to get published (Sue, I would love to!) but is to do something that's productive. I don't know if publications are a good measure for productivity in a lab, but in terms of that, my mentor joined this lab five years ago and he has had one publication (working on his second one).

I'm not sure if I should stay in this lab or not. I talked with him on Friday about my senior thesis and he said it's going to be the same project (extending the same project for 3 years, when he has already gotten results, seems a bit strange to me).

I was wondering if joining another lab after working in a lab for one year only would be a red flag for MD admission? as I mentioned, I have gone to lab consistently since September 2021 (expect for the month of May) and had two fellowships as well. Would it be fine to join another lab and stay there for the rest of my undergrad?

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[pierty]

Yes, you are fine switching labs. Spending time learning/optimizing protocols when you join a lab is expected and encouraged, especially for first time students in a lab at the undergrad level. But it is a lot less common to be reproducing experiments several months in, unless you are having trouble learning a new technique, or adding samples/subjects to previous experiments to run proper analyses (and you would be added as a co-author on a manuscript in this case).

From the conversation with your postdoc, it sounds like your lab (or potentially him, exclusively) is rigidly hierarchal as a formality. Have you spoken directly with your PI about these concerns? You can bring them up not as issues, but as you seeking to build on your passions and skills needed to become more autonomous in the lab space. If you get significant push-back here, too, I would say it is fine to switch labs.

If you are worried about admissions, they are primarily interested in how you are able to present your research - explaining the background, rationale for experiments, follow-up, etc. - all of which are gained from being more autonomous in your work. But I wouldn't focus on admissions here. Focus on becoming a good scientist now, and it will reflect naturally well on you later.

 

[voxveritatisetlucis]

it’s never too late until it is