Starting research-unsure of how to voice concerns

[Ashley1989]

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I am beyond excited to start research with my favorite professor in the fall. She's my mentor, advisor, and an incredible person. I initially asked her if I could do research with her in the fall and she told me that she had no more openings, but later in the quarter emailed me essentially saying that she would make room in her lab for me because she thinks I have a lot of potential and doesn't want to lose that. I of course agreed and am still 100% over the moon about it, and so excited. However..
She told me that she usually requires about four hours a week in the lab, which I'm totally okay with. My concern is that I was talking to my friend about it and he said that it starts out like that and then professors start demanding more and more time from you. I'm worried about this, because I like her so much and don't want to be put into a position where my mentor wants me to spend 10+ hours in the lab if I'm overwhelmed with studying and i become a disappointment. I dont think she would do this because she would want what's best for my future, but do professors have a tendency to do that? I'm totally fine with dedicating as much time as I can, even more then 4 hours if I can, but I'm concerned because my friend made it seem like you're a slave essentially.

Does this happen? Should I talk to her before I start and set a time in my class schedule with her so I don't go too much over or under? Schedule it like a lab time? Do I tell her my concerns, or would I come across as a slacker? I dont want to do that because shes giving me this opportunity and she's going out of her way to do it.

Like I said, she's awesome, and I don't want to ruin it and have her be disappointed in me by performing poorly/not investing enough time, etc. I have a meeting with her later this week to nail out the time commitment and everything, and I would like to go in with a better idea of what to expect and what other people's experiences have been.

Thank you so much!

 

[NickNaylor]

Yes, this happens. If you want to actually accomplish something in a basic science lab, 4 hours - even 10 hours - per week isn't enough. If you simply want to acquire "research experience" and pipette things from one place to the next, 4 hours/week will be sufficient. If you want to generate useful data for your PI and accomplish something, the time commitment will be significantly greater.

Also keep in mind that your PI is investing both time and resources to train you and make you familiar with their work. They expect something in return, namely a lab member that produces something useful. As I said, this almost certainly isn't possible if you're only spending 4 hours per week in lab.

 

[Jamie561]

Talk to your professor. How is she your mentor when you can't even discuss something as banal as scheduling?

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[unluckybanana]

What do you hope to gain from this research position? Do you want exposure to the sciences? Be involved in a project? Or do you just want have it to look good on a resume?

My experience doing research, and currently in the process of writing a paper for publication. I can tell you this: if you expect to make any significant process in a research project, you have to invest in a lot of time, I would say at least 15+ hours a week.

Now if you want to work 4 hours a week, that's fine if you just want some exposure and see what it is like. But don't expect to make any significant progress in a project. I would personally tell her your concerns and your expectations before you start working too much. Otherwise, you professor may be training you to do a research project that is too much of a time investment for you. If your professor knows this, she just may give you smaller things to do that fits better in your schedule.

 

[Ashley1989]

I know I can talk to her about it but I don't want to go in and talk to her based on what one friend who has never done research before says. Shes my mentor but in a situation like this shes also my boss so I don't want to sit down and start spitting out uninformed rumors. Yes, she is my mentor and I can go into her office and be totally honest about my concerns but I want to thoroughly think through what I'm going to say because she's spending time and resources on me and I need to at least have some idea about what research usually entails. I needed to know if this is common and so I can figure out how I'm going to prepare for it, figure out what my schedule will be like etc. I don't want to do be a hindrance and I want to do well, and now that I know that my friend wasn't just trying to scare me, I can be open about it without looking like an idiot saying "you know professor my one friend told me...." thanks everyone! 🙂

 

[Ashley1989]

And in response to what I would like to gain: I want to learn, contribute, and help my professor in any way I can. This isn't something I'm doing to pad a resume.

 

[Ashley1989]

And lastly: Do you take a full course load with your research if you're spending 15 hours a week in the lab?

 

[coyotelime]

And lastly: Do you take a full course load with your research if you're spending 15 hours a week in the lab?

Many students at my school juggle 4-5 courses with lab in addition to 10 hrs or more of research lab a week. I would venture a guess and say students are other universities do this also, premed or not.

In my honest opinion, if you are allocating your time wisely, no undergraduate institution's coursework could be time consuming to the point of taking away from your sleep (unless you take 3+ science, maybe other difficult engineering or humanities courses). As NickNaylor said, 10 hrs usually won't be enough if you're engaged in truly substantial research. This is not to say your time in lab won't be meaningful if you spend less, but it would be considerably tough. I would advise you have a mental cap for number of hours a week, and if it requires more, just be frank and tell her. Also at my school, there is a rough equivalent of credit hours to number of hours, with 1 credit hr = ~4-5 hours in lab. PIs by no means adhere to this guideline, but it may be useful as a general tool for your purposes.

You seem to be really excited about this opportunity, so make good use of it, and don't be afraid to sacrifice a bit of your free time to put in lab. You won't regret it.

 

[Danlee07]

If you're wanting "to learn, contribute, and help my professor in any way I can," then about 15+ hours a week is necessary. 4 hours is time for 1 Western blot detection. Or a run through of a PCR and gel. Or a midi-prep. And completing 1 protocol a week may end up getting you some exposure, but if you actually want to learn and contribute to the experimental process, aim to put in at least ~12-15 hrs/week. Reading papers is part of the hours as well. Credit for my school is department/lab-dependent, ranging from 12-20 hrs/week.

The thing is even if you're a contributing undergrad (i.e. you have read papers and know the next step, setting up experiments and such), you will still have downtime to do some coursework/studying while you wait.

I always took a full load, around 15-17 credit hrs, in a semester.

Key thing is to keep your coursework as your priority. If you feel that your coursework is slipping, cut lab time but communicate this.

 

[GoZags]

From someone who has done research full time for a summer, and as part of a thesis project during my senior year, 4 hours per week is practically nothing when it comes to getting anything done. My prof demanded a lot from me as well and I ended up putting in extra hours (sometimes 20+ hours per week while taking 15 credit hours) but that was because I wanted to get published and also finish my project. It is doable, but I can say that my hours were 8am-10pm almost every day except weekends (gotta have free time in there). Anyways, if you don't want to put in that long of hours make that very clear to the professor that you aren't ready to put in that kind of time, nothing wrong with that.

 

[Ashley1989]

These are all great comments with excellent advice thank you so much to all of you. My next step is to go in and talk to her and see what her expectations for me are, but now I can go in with a better idea of what to expect and have a better idea from your experiences. Again, thank you everyone this has been really helpful 🙂

 

[Danlee07]

Key thing is to be vocal... other wise you will be milked for all you're not really worth. Just communicate everything in a constructive way to convey a few things to your PI:
1) Your needs
2) That you're actually in the lab working, hard-working
3) You're learning
4) Your intelligence

If you get stuck with a supervisor such as a post-doc, grad student, or a scientist, make sure that you still meet with your PI whether in lab meeting or a 1 on 1, to show the listed items.

 

[BiopsychStudent]

Are you getting paid? While its not unusual for them to expect a minimum number of hours each week its silly for any PI to think that an unpaid student volunteer is going to be devoted to their research at the cost of academics.

Just ask them up front what their expectations of you are, there's no harm in that. If you're worried about school ask ahead if they're willing to be flexible about the hours, e.i. cutting back during midterms and making up for it later, etc.

 

[Ashley1989]

I don't think she would ever ask me to put research over my grades, she cares about my success and grades quite a bit, but I was worried because I don't know anyone who is doing or has done research so I didn't know what the norm was as far as time investment. I really don't think it will be a problem at all, but I'm so glad people have told me about the time investment so I know what it usually entails so I can be better prepared and not go in too naive 🙂

 

[coyotelime]

Be sure to consult other in undergraduates in your lab or friends who are/have done research if you are receiving course credit. Or go to your department. Again, that arbitrary cap is usually a pretty good standard to go by. Good luck in lab!

 

[obgyny]

And lastly: Do you take a full course load with your research if you're spending 15 hours a week in the lab?

Yes, it's very doable. I was in 2 different labs in college (though not at the same time) in which I spent 15+ hours/week. Just be very upfront about your time commitment with your PI.

In the lab I worked in after college, we had a hard time making use of undergrads if they couldn't come in at least 10 hrs/wk. Most experiments required that you were available at least for a few hours every day. Those students were often given their own projects and some were put on publications.

 

[kami333]

And lastly: Do you take a full course load with your research if you're spending 15 hours a week in the lab?

I used to take a full load of classes (16 credit hours) while working full time (40+hours/wk) in a lab.

It's just a matter of scheduling your classes correctly (early morning, lunchtime, evening classes), and planning and timing your experiments ahead of time.