Research Experience

[djsbaseball2014]

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Hi all,

Currently i am a part of a psychology research lab that is looking at the effects a particular drug has on boosting memory and cognitive ability. My job includes running the participants through our study as well as data logging. The issue i have, is we are not really learning a lot about the science behind what we are doing. I am interested in the subject but feel like my efforts would be better utilized in a research lab that was more "experiment" based.

This being said, i have been in the lab for almost 5 months now and do not know if i should continue with it to potentially get a LOR or not. My hopes when joining this lab was to stick with it for over a year and establish a good relationship with my PI and or graduate student; however, i havent been given the opportunity to meet the Pi as our graduate student is technically the boss of us and we only work in the lab with them. The PI is never really around.

So my question is, would it be wise for me to stick with the lab at least through the summer, get a LOR and then apply for other labs? Or should i start looking for other labs right now? I feel as if i have learned as much as i can given the position and duties i have been assigned and really want a lab that is more focused on helping me learn and potentially giving me my own project to work on. Any feedback helps!

 

[JustAPhD]

To me, it sounds like you want to do more more basic science/benchtop research, correct? If that's the case I'd finish up the semester in your lab and join a new one, but start reaching out to potential PIs now with the intent to start in the Summer or Fall.
I'd be a bit worried about the strength of the LoR. You've never met the PI and you've only been in the lab for a couple months.

 

[djsbaseball2014]

@JustAPhD I agree. My only concern is jumping around from lab to lab and never really establishing longevity in my research but this is just something i really want to change and if anything, the experiences i learned while in this lab have given me a unique skill set that a wet lab won't give me. That being said, i want more science!! haha

 

[MaxPlancker]

5 months is a fraction of college. Better to be decisive and switch if you want to before you run out of time to develop a good experience elsewhere.

 

[Cookiess]

Based on how you describe your experience with your current research lab, I would not continue in your current lab beyond finishing up this current semester. Start looking for new labs now. Even if you invest your time from now until the summer in your current lab, there's no guarantee your work will result in a poster presentation, publication, or strong research LOR.

Look up PIs at your school that are doing research on topics you're interested in and take a look at some of their recent publications (ex. maybe look at what techniques/methodologies the lab used to obtain the results). This may help you narrow down your choices.

The dynamic of every research lab group is different. After you've been accepted to a lab, be proactive when you first join. Ask your PI for research papers to read so you can acquire the background info on the project you'll be contributing to. Attend lab meetings where you can interact more closely with the PI. Usually you'll start off by contributing to a current project. If the lab dynamic is great, you may eventually be able to propose experiments and run your own independent projects.