What to look for in research?

[Pikabuu]

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Hey all, newbie here. I'm graduating from UG in May, and for the next 2-3 years I'm planning on finishing my prereqs, getting my GPA a little higher, getting more clinical hours in, and I'll be working as a research assistant in a stem cell lab.
Question: I have offers from two labs. One is massive, the PI is a reeeeaaally big name, but I'll probably just be doing a lot of dishwashing, pipetting, and doing more tech stuff. The other lab is small, the PI is very young (just finished postdoc a couple years ago), but she said there will be room for independent study and possible publications.
So what is the better move? Working under a really big name PI in a high impact lab, or working in a new lab but possibly getting some pubs? Will that connection pay any dividends down the line? Or is having pubs to my name way more valuable when applying to med schools in a few years? This is my first research experience, so I don't really know what to pick.

Thanks!

 

[The Knife & Gun Club]

Seek out "low hanging fruit" so to speak. Wherever you can get more pubs, if all else is equal

 

[Pikabuu]

So being able to get a letter of rec from a leader in his field isn't as valuable as some pubs? I know pubs are a huge bonus, but is all else equal in this case?

 

[Goro]

The small lab....you'll get more out of it.

Do NOT assume that a big shot's lab will lead to any pubs. That's hard enough even for me and my grad students.

Hey all, newbie here. I'm graduating from UG in May, and for the next 2-3 years I'm planning on finishing my prereqs, getting my GPA a little higher, getting more clinical hours in, and I'll be working as a research assistant in a stem cell lab.
Question: I have offers from two labs. One is massive, the PI is a reeeeaaally big name, but I'll probably just be doing a lot of dishwashing, pipetting, and doing more tech stuff. The other lab is small, the PI is very young (just finished postdoc a couple years ago), but she said there will be room for independent study and possible publications.
So what is the better move? Working under a really big name PI in a high impact lab, or working in a new lab but possibly getting some pubs? Will that connection pay any dividends down the line? Or is having pubs to my name way more valuable when applying to med schools in a few years? This is my first research experience, so I don't really know what to pick.

Thanks!

 

[Pikabuu]

Do NOT assume that a big shot's lab will lead to any pubs. That's hard enough even for me and my grad students.

Oh I'm almost absolutely certain it won't lead to pubs. I'll probably just be a glorified dishwasher/mouse colony curator; I guess I'm just asking if pubs/independent study is worth more than being able to say "I spent 2 years working under 'so-and-so'." Intuitively I feel like it would be, but I just want to make sure.

 

[Pikabuu]

Awesome. Thanks, everyone!

 

[wcohen93]

Off topic, but how did you go about finding labs to apply to?

 

[JustAPhD]

Agreed with the above posts. To add my experiences, out of college I was a tech for two years. I had a similar choice you have. I chose the smaller, less established PI and it was the best choice I've ever made in terms of research. I gained the ability to not only publish, but to have my own project. Plus, I got an awesome mentor who I am still in close contact with today.

 

[Pikabuu]

Agreed with the above posts. To add my experiences, out of college I was a tech for two years. I had a similar choice you have. I chose the smaller, less established PI and it was the best choice I've ever made in terms of research. I gained the ability to not only publish, but to have my own project. Plus, I got an awesome mentor who I am still in close contact with today.

Yea I was really hoping to land in a more intimate lab. Not really sure I'd like to be one of 15 technicians lol.

Off topic, but how did you go about finding labs to apply to?

I looked at research positions through tons of jobs portals, looked up specific labs in the fields I was interested in, etc.; and sent out a ton of emails to see if anyone was looking for research assistant/techs. It seems the turnover is typically 2-3 years for those positions so from what I can tell, a lot of labs will be hiring 1-2 newbies every summer.

I honestly sent out maybe 80 or so resumes before I got anything, but it ended up working out (and I have zero research experience, so you can do it too!). Not sure if this is the best way to go about it, but whatevs.