Is this a red flag in research?

[Round786]

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A university lab, that’s looking for unpaid assistants, heavily emphasizes on their website that they prefer freshman and sophmores. Is this a sign that they are more looking for a dish washer then a actual research assistant? Or am I being cynical and these guys are actually just committed to training the next generation of researchers.

Would it be rude if I ask them in a email how productive their assistants are?

 

[PuzzlesMD]

they probably prefer students who will be there for longer = more time to learn and be useful.

Imagine a senior starting in the lab. You won't get much out of them and then they graduate.

A freshman can learn where the lab stands research-wise in their first year. Start on a project their second year. Become more independent on their third year, and be fully independent, conducting experiments that they can publish either themselves or with more experienced lab members by their senior year
.

You can always email them to ask. You could always ask them during the interview/when you tour the lab.

 

[shotgunlagoon]

Undergrad research assistants are typically unpaid. In my experience, the dishwasher is a work-study paid position.

Labs do prefer to start with younger students so they have them for a longer time rather than training a rising senior and having them leave after just one year. How productive an undergrad research assistant is depends on the student. You need to show responsibility, curiosity, independence, self drive to be successful. You will likely have more simple and boring tasks at first, such as preparing buffers, but as you learn and show you can handle it, you can do more.

I would suggest talking to the grad students and other undergrad assistants as well.

 

[Round786]

they probably prefer students who will be there for longer = more time to learn and be useful.

Imagine a senior starting in the lab. You won't get much out of them and then they graduate.

A freshman can learn where the lab stands research-wise in their first year. Start on a project their second year. Become more independent on their third year, and be fully independent, conducting experiments that they can publish either themselves or with more experienced lab members by their senior year
.

You can always email them to ask. You could always ask them during the interview/when you tour the lab.

Undergrad research assistants are typically unpaid. In my experience, the dishwasher is a work-study paid position.

Labs do prefer to start with younger students so they have them for a longer time rather than training a rising senior and having them leave after just one year. How productive an undergrad research assistant is depends on the student. You need to show responsibility, curiosity, independence, self drive to be successful. You will likely have more simple and boring tasks at first, such as preparing buffers, but as you learn and show you can handle it, you can do more.

I would suggest talking to the grad students and other undergrad assistants as well.

Ahh okay; I never thought of it that way. I was always under the assumption that labs rarely teach and only hire upper classmen that have taken multiple lab classes or have previous experience.

 

[shotgunlagoon]

Lab classes rarely provide the level of knowledge or skill you need to succeed in an actual research lab. At the most, they provide some basic skills like how to use a pipette, the basics of sterile technique. I learned more within the first month of being an undergrad research assistant than I did in all the lab classes I had to take over my Bachelors in Biology.

Keep in mind that they will expect your knowledge of biology to be very minimal, but they will expect you to do your own work to learn the background information you need. I highly suggest looking up some review articles in the field the lab works in, and try reading their articles before the interview. It's okay if you don't understand much, but you should at least try. If you can ask even some very basic questions about the research, it will really help show how you are self driven and take initiative. Asking a dumb, basic question at least shows interest. Having no questions is the worst.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Better to teach a newbie some skills that might help them later on than to try to correct someone's bad habits.

Basically ask the PI. There may be some real interest in mentoring students in the department.