Starting Life in the Lab

1. Starting Life in the Lab Dr. Gail P. Taylor Hon 3253 – Summer Research Mentoring Program 09/11/2008

2. References • At the Bench: A Laboratory Navigator. Kathy Barker. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 1998. • Personal Experience

3. Your Goals for Program • Experience scientific research • Enrich your undergraduate education • Prepare for doctoral education • Gain required experience • Build network/references/letters • Build up CV with presentations/pubs • Learn techniques • Familiarity with field

4. On the Job Training • Sink or Swim? • Common to feel like fish out of water • Learn by Osmosis… • Important to know… • Who is in the lab • What to wear • Who will teach you • What to ask • How do you “fit in” • How NOT to annoy people • How you will be evaluated….

5. Who is in the Lab? • The Principal Investigator (P.I.) • Research Scientists • Technicians • Postdocs • Graduate students • M.S. (UTSA graduate “means” M.S.) • Ph.D. • Undergraduate students

6. Dress Code • Generally relaxed at UTSA • Shoes/shorts • ↑ cost of clothes, ↑ chance of spilling • UTHSCSA tends to be more formal • Industry more formal • Lab Coats

7. Laboratory Instruction • Some done by observation • Generally a laboratory member will instruct • Take copious notes!!!! • Names • Equipment settings • Incubation times and temps • Locations of chemicals and reagents • Instructions • Ask questions during instruction times • Be polite about subsequently interrupting • Do NOT mess up by not asking question

8. Things to ask about • Dress code • Time others are in the lab • Eating in laboratory or food storage • Computer use policies • Chemicals: location, who makes stock solutions, pH measurement, weighing conventions • Trash disposal: sharps, biohazard, recyclables, glass • Glassware policies: where found, washing, autoclaving • Laboratory coats: required, provided, cleaning • Lab notebook: provided, format, copies, non-removal • Photocopying and printing

9. Things to Do Early On • Read papers that you are given • Cooperate with university requirements • Laboratory/radiation safety • Animal care and use • Learn what is expected of you • Learn techniques • Do an experiment • Learn the “Unwritten Laboratory Rules”

10. How to Annoy People I • Work fewer hours than the average lab member • Leave when experiments are unfinished • Leave a mess • Use someone’s pipettors, buffers, reagents without permission • Move common use chemicals/reagents • Use something up and not tell anybody • “Hide” mistakes and things you break

11. How to Annoy People II • Ignore alarms or phones • Bad phone etiquette • Ignore sign-up sheets • Be loud, engage in horseplay, when others are trying to focus • Read a novel, newspaper, or play a computer game in the lab • Keep comparing this lab to a prior one • Skip laboratory meetings

12. Fitting In • You are a part of laboratory family • Participate in laboratory socialization • Tea • Coffee • Sports • Complete laboratory responsibilities

13. Societal Microcosm • Variable levels of maturity • Variable strengths • Variable social skills • Variable insecurities • Your goal: • To be mature and hardworking • Key: Communication!

14. What Your Mentor is Looking for: • What do you want on LOR for Grad School? • Excitement about research • Hard Working • Teachable • Learns from mistakes • Thinking, not just performing (Ideas!) • Digging into literature • Problem solving • Designing experiments • Mature

15. Rewards • Greatly enriched science education • Insight into career • New friends and network (letters) • Leg-up for attending doctoral program