by Emily on February 19, 2010

Chances are, in the course of your scientific career, you will encounter a common problem in research: losing time due to someone else’s mistake. Whether the problem is an incorrect strain or plasmid given to you by another (read on...)

by Nick on February 10, 2010

As a newcomer to a research lab, looking at the seasoned, experiment-beaten postdocs around you, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the task of acquiring their level of knowledge and expertise, and of making (read on...)

by Nick on January 21, 2010

Evernote is an amazing FREE application that could change the way you record, store and retrieve your data, in the lab as well as at home. The idea behind Evernote, as shown on the right, is to allow you to capture all of your (read on...)

by Suzanne on January 18, 2010

When I worked in technical service for a well known biotech company, I have to confess that we often used a certain phrase in the frustration of dealing with calls from angry scientists ranting about a problem they were having (read on...)

by Nick on November 23, 2009

How often do you make errors in the lab that ruin a good experiment? Rather than flaws in experimental design, I mean errors like forgetting to add a reagent, pipetting the wrong amount or following a protocol step (read on...)

by Victoria on July 2, 2009

Rushing and overloading yourself in science is common, even normal. Surprisingly it is considered as an admirable aspect of "scientific flair" in some quarters. And the sad fact is that it is an ingrained part of the scientific (read on...)

by Nick on May 13, 2009

I've talked about the benefits of mind-mapping before. It's a fantastic technique for note-taking, brainstorming and organising your thoughts. I am a big fan of using mind-mapping software, as opposed to paper, to construct mind (read on...)

by GuestWriter on April 1, 2009

You know you’ve been there. That one super productive post-doc who breezed into and out of your lab in two years is now gone, and you realize you need one of the constructs she made. You know there’s a tube full of (read on...)

by Paul on March 19, 2009

The manner in which some people orchestrate their daily activities is sheer poetry. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people. I need help...and lots of it. So I put a lot of thought into managing my To-Do Lists, and here I'll (read on...)

by Nick on March 9, 2009

Undergrad courses teach you to learn in a specific way. You have to cram in as much information into your brain as possible, hold it in there, then regurgitate as much of it as possible on exam day. Of course, actually (read on...)