pennypinching PIs

[chef]

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would u work w/ a PI who doesnt buy any Qiagen kits for anything, homemade taq pol's, 2 ppl share a set of pipets, no disposable anything, u get your glassware & wash/autoclave em yourlsef, no stationery provided BUT the work was good & u could publish?

 

[coldchemist]

I dunno--depends on the circumstances, I guess (whether there are better options available). Sounds like hell, though...

 

[duncanfj]

I'd like to be sympathetic....I'd like to, but I can't be. You have to wash your own glassware and you don't get stationery? Oh the horror! Seriously, a little grunt work never hurt anyone, and it sounds like you have a chance to get something good out of it. Just remember this when you are a post-doc and PI.

 

[Aptamer]

Geez...no Qiagen kits??? They work so well, so efficiently, and so quickly. Why not use them? They do cost more but you can focus on your research and not redo ten midipreps with some other method just to isolate a plasmid (doesn't that cost more in the end if you're redoing stuff over and over again?). I would never work for that PI.

Have you ever shared a bench with someone? I had to when I first started in a lab and it was so frustrating if both people were at the bench at the same time. You also had to worry about radiation contamination, RNase, and all that good stuff. Eesh.

My personal opinion is that if your lab protocols hinder with your research, ditch the lab. If you're spending all of your time doing taq preps, cleaning glassware, and not getting data, screw it.

But if you're getting things accomplished and have the opportunity to write manuscripts, it would probably be worth the compromise and your while.

 

[Treg]

I think that a lot of PIs come across as cheap when it comes to this stuff, but mostly it is being old school. Many PIs hate kits because "back when they were students they had to...." yadayadayada. They think that kits are mindnumbing since you don't have to actually think about how anything works. Also, if something goes wrong, you have no way to figure out if buffer C went off, etc. Keep in mind that I love a good kit that saves time...

The glassware, stationary, etc., could also be an old-school thing. However, it could be that they are choosing to have a certain tech in your lab, or to pay for an expensive facility (i.e. confocal or something) rather than spend money on "useless" things like paying someone to clean glassware or buying stationery.

Above all, this stuff should NOT be a factor when picking a supervisor. Would you pick a spouse based on if they loaded the dishwasher?

You should look for someone who has a good track record with students in your position (i.e. does well by summer students vs. using them for grunt work, or his/her grad students never publish before the 3rd year of work, etc.). Then, pick someone who has research that facinates you.

The worst mistake I have seen my fellow students make is to go to a lab because it was the lesser of the evils during their rotation, or because they liked the other students. You have to have a passion for your work, otherwise it will be hard to justify missing Friends to go and transfer your western blot overnight, rather than leaving it until tomorrow. 🙂

(Sorry this completely deviated from your post-good luck with whatever decision you make 🙂 )

Treg

 

[Ceremony]

Why don't you find someone who does great research and is flush with cash? It's not hard to find someone good who has a load of money and so won't care about buying qiagen preps. You're setting your sights too low.

Cer

 

[ckent]

Poorly funded labs are generally those which do not put out consistent research, and therefore are not able to get grants. I wouldn't reccomend working for such a lab if you have a choice. I like the labs where even students have lab tech support.