Is the quality of research lab a major factor

[hkdude97]

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Hello,

I am at a university where there are a lot of research opportunities as of right now, it is overwhelming to simply choose one. Does the quality of the lab really have an impact for just starting off. They all seem good but should I just go for the one that seems to have the brightest minds and most advanced type of research?

thanks

 

[DoctorSnow]

Hello,

I am at a university where there are a lot of research opportunities as of right now, it is overwhelming to simply choose one. Does the quality of the lab really have an impact for just starting off. They all seem good but should I just go for the one that seems to have the brightest minds and most advanced type of research?

thanks

I would also like the answer to this as I have two possible positions (one in Boston and one at my undergrad).

 

[ObjectiveBoba]

Does the quality of the lab really have an impact for just starting off.

No, unless you are going for a PhD, and even then it doesn't really matter.

should I just go for the one that seems to have the brightest minds and most advanced type of research?

No.

Pick the one you feel you will thrive in.

 

[Lawpy]

Hello,

I am at a university where there are a lot of research opportunities as of right now, it is overwhelming to simply choose one. Does the quality of the lab really have an impact for just starting off. They all seem good but should I just go for the one that seems to have the brightest minds and most advanced type of research?

thanks

I’d pick the lab that offers the best chances of getting papers and presentations at scientific meetings.

 

[Goro]

Hello,

I am at a university where there are a lot of research opportunities as of right now, it is overwhelming to simply choose one. Does the quality of the lab really have an impact for just starting off. They all seem good but should I just go for the one that seems to have the brightest minds and most advanced type of research?

thanks

You should look for the lab that is the nicest and most supportive place to work in. A high quality lab may expect more of you than you're capable of giving (because you're not a grad student, a tech, or a post-doc.) The type of research should also be interesting to you.

 

[aldol16]

When picking research labs, you should take a couple factors into consideration. The most important one is mentorship. Does the lab have a strong history of mentoring undergrads? This is something that you might be able to find out by talking to other students in your department - they'll likely know the PIs who are good mentors and whose labs have great graduate student/post-doc mentors in them.

The second factor is productivity. The lab should be productive in the sense of having publications. Smaller labs will have fewer publications but if you get a small lab with zero publications within the past year, that might be a problem. Or if you have a large lab with only a few publications. Generally speaking, tenure-track faculty who are not yet tenured will be more eager to publish and to have you lead your own project (once you're ready) since productivity is a strong component of tenureship review.

The third factor is of course your interest in the work the lab does. If you're not interested in the work, it's hard to justify spending time on it and it'll be hard to be productive. Find a lab whose work intrigues you.

 

[Microbug]

Mentorsip is everything when you’re starting out. Pick better mentorship over interest, this is the advice even for people choosing thesis labs. Like they say, your mentor is the one person who can single handily make your graduate experience amazing or hell.

Prestige of lab doesn’t matter unless you’re going for PhD or MDPhD.

 

[AllBleedingStops]

If you are going for MD/PhD (or other combinations with research components), pick the one with the best likelihood for getting your name on publications. If you are just looking for MD (or DO) just pick the one you feel most comfortable in and interests you to some degree. Quality should really only matter to you and maybe if you are an MD/PhD applicant, otherwise no one will look at it.