Comments on: Be The Golden Child In Your Lab http://bitesizebio.com/2009/11/09/be-the-golden-child-in-your-lab/ Daily tech tips, news and comment for molecular and cell biologists Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:09:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0-beta2-14565 By: Bo http://bitesizebio.com/2009/11/09/be-the-golden-child-in-your-lab/#comment-17181 Bo Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:30:43 +0000 http://bitesizebio.com/?p=2344#comment-17181 Carefull with those leaves! IT took us 3 months to discover that the mysterious background signal showing up in everyones MS-es was the piney scent of the new air freshner! Carefull with those leaves! IT took us 3 months to discover that the mysterious background signal showing up in everyones MS-es was the piney scent of the new air freshner!

]]> By: Suzanne http://bitesizebio.com/2009/11/09/be-the-golden-child-in-your-lab/#comment-17157 Suzanne Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:26:20 +0000 http://bitesizebio.com/?p=2344#comment-17157 Thanks Melodee, If you have any incantations that work especially well, we would love to share them with our readers. I think some strategically placed sage leaf can work wonders in clearing out malevolent spirits. Have you tried that too? Have a great week. Suzanne Thanks Melodee,
If you have any incantations that work especially well, we would love to share them with our readers.
I think some strategically placed sage leaf can work wonders in clearing out malevolent spirits. Have you tried that too?

Have a great week.
Suzanne

]]> By: Suzanne http://bitesizebio.com/2009/11/09/be-the-golden-child-in-your-lab/#comment-17156 Suzanne Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:23:00 +0000 http://bitesizebio.com/?p=2344#comment-17156 Hi Labdave, I totally agree. I wrote about that in this article (point #7- http://bitesizebio.com/2009/07/29/pointers-for-new-graduate-students/) The difference is asking for help when you really don't know and when you can't find out yourself and asking out of laziness. Most new graduate students are expected to ask a lot of questions and are usually paired with an older student to help them get up the learning curve quickly. Part of getting up the learning curve is learning how to think for yourself so if you are going to ask someone else, the person should have thought about it first and have an answer and be "double-checking". But this is just my opinion...and does not apply to brand new students and new employees who are trying to learn new lab procedures and a new project. Hi Labdave,
I totally agree. I wrote about that in this article (point #7- http://bitesizebio.com/2009/07/29/pointers-for-new-graduate-students/)

The difference is asking for help when you really don’t know and when you can’t find out yourself and asking out of laziness. Most new graduate students are expected to ask a lot of questions and are usually paired with an older student to help them get up the learning curve quickly. Part of getting up the learning curve is learning how to think for yourself so if you are going to ask someone else, the person should have thought about it first and have an answer and be “double-checking”. But this is just my opinion…and does not apply to brand new students and new employees who are trying to learn new lab procedures and a new project.

]]> By: labDave http://bitesizebio.com/2009/11/09/be-the-golden-child-in-your-lab/#comment-17151 labDave Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:09:06 +0000 http://bitesizebio.com/?p=2344#comment-17151 I disagree with the statement which dissuades researchers from asking questions. Quite to the contrary, much of the knowledge needed in day-to-day lab work is of the kind that cannot be looked up (eg, has a certain plasmid been constructed already? what previous experiments have been run? how do i operate specialized equip?) In short, the people you work with are perhaps your most valuable resource. Of course, you don't want to over use any resource and asking too many will erode everyone's patience, but you still shouldn't be afraid to ask if you see a good reason to. The difference between asking and not asking could be the difference between reinventing the proverbial wheel(or breaking it!)and making new progress and new discoveries. I disagree with the statement which dissuades researchers from asking questions. Quite to the contrary, much of the knowledge needed in day-to-day lab work is of the kind that cannot be looked up (eg, has a certain plasmid been constructed already? what previous experiments have been run? how do i operate specialized equip?) In short, the people you work with are perhaps your most valuable resource. Of course, you don’t want to over use any resource and asking too many will erode everyone’s patience, but you still shouldn’t be afraid to ask if you see a good reason to. The difference between asking and not asking could be the difference between reinventing the proverbial wheel(or breaking it!)and making new progress and new discoveries.

]]> By: Melodee Patterson http://bitesizebio.com/2009/11/09/be-the-golden-child-in-your-lab/#comment-17150 Melodee Patterson Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:53:50 +0000 http://bitesizebio.com/?p=2344#comment-17150 I've never seen this in a list of "how to get ahead in the lab" suggestions, Suzanne, but it worked for me: Be the Lab Exorcist. Know the spells and incantations for removing lab demons and evil spirits that are messing with your experiments. A good lab exorcism is worth its weight in agarose gel! I’ve never seen this in a list of “how to get ahead in the lab” suggestions, Suzanne, but it worked for me:

Be the Lab Exorcist. Know the spells and incantations for removing lab demons and evil spirits that are messing with your experiments. A good lab exorcism is worth its weight in agarose gel!

]]> By: Suzanne http://bitesizebio.com/2009/11/09/be-the-golden-child-in-your-lab/#comment-17130 Suzanne Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:50:10 +0000 http://bitesizebio.com/?p=2344#comment-17130 Wow! Great feedback Maxim! I totally agree. Thanks for commenting, Suzanne Wow! Great feedback Maxim! I totally agree.
Thanks for commenting,
Suzanne

]]> By: Maxim Schillebeeckx http://bitesizebio.com/2009/11/09/be-the-golden-child-in-your-lab/#comment-17129 Maxim Schillebeeckx Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:37:47 +0000 http://bitesizebio.com/?p=2344#comment-17129 As a perspective from a new grad student, I offer this to the PIs out there: This past week I, along with my PI, attended a meeting in my respective field (epigenomics). Discussing with him afterwards, we both agreed that sending me to this meeting was probably one of the best things he could have done to promote my Ph.D career (I just started my second year... out on my own). Going to a conference fosters those critical social skills and presents great opportunities to practice talking about one's science and helps a novice to the field become aware of the tools out there. More importantly, getting to meet those scientists whose papers I read and listening to them speak brought the world of epigenomics closer to home; it made everything more interesting, exciting, and real. Participating in a meeting is an encouraging experience as it instills a feeling that you really do belong to a scientific community. This feeling is already helping in keeping me motivated during long days alone at the bench. Meeting your community really brings more purpose to your own research. Furthermore, I was surprised and ecstatic when my PI asked me to come showing me that he was still thinking about me and my work and giving me an opportunity to prove my worth a bit. So PIs, if you really want to motivate, encourage, and build some momentum for your grad students, send them to a conference or meeting EARLY. This gesture will show them your willingness to invest in their work and demonstrate your confidence in them and their future. maxim As a perspective from a new grad student, I offer this to the PIs out there:

This past week I, along with my PI, attended a meeting in my respective field (epigenomics). Discussing with him afterwards, we both agreed that sending me to this meeting was probably one of the best things he could have done to promote my Ph.D career (I just started my second year… out on my own). Going to a conference fosters those critical social skills and presents great opportunities to practice talking about one’s science and helps a novice to the field become aware of the tools out there. More importantly, getting to meet those scientists whose papers I read and listening to them speak brought the world of epigenomics closer to home; it made everything more interesting, exciting, and real. Participating in a meeting is an encouraging experience as it instills a feeling that you really do belong to a scientific community. This feeling is already helping in keeping me motivated during long days alone at the bench. Meeting your community really brings more purpose to your own research. Furthermore, I was surprised and ecstatic when my PI asked me to come showing me that he was still thinking about me and my work and giving me an opportunity to prove my worth a bit. So PIs, if you really want to motivate, encourage, and build some momentum for your grad students, send them to a conference or meeting EARLY. This gesture will show them your willingness to invest in their work and demonstrate your confidence in them and their future.

maxim

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