Category: Getting Started

 

1. Don’t rush into large research projects; take the time to read around the subject.
2. Don’t print off thousands of reviews and never read any of them. Print off one and read that. Most likely it will lead you to a few more papers which are worth reading.
3. Don’t only read reviews. It is not infrequent that the reviewer gets things wrong, and primary research will give you a much better feel for how science is actually done.
4. Read your supervisor’s papers and it will give you a feel for the way they like to do science and what they are interested in.
5. If you are more interested in either the academic or the experimental side, don’t ignore the other one.
6. See how many other ways there are of obtaining the same data. There is always more than one. Assess the positives and negatives of each, and if they are not clear ask someone. Most likely, they will be impressed at your dedication.

 
When I was using a relatively new assay to image my cells for the co-localisation of proteins, someone in lab meeting asked why I didn’t use the more established technique.

I was forced to make up some vague nonsense on the spot about the new technique being more accurate and blah blah blah.

Long story short, it was none of those things. The real reason was promptly explained by my supervisor to the rest of the group, that the established techniques were useless on in vivo samples, which was the endpoint goal of my project.

She knew that because she understood my project. I didn’t because it had never occurred to me to do it any way other than the way I was told.

The result was a lot of semi-amused faces staring at a very red one, which was in turn staring at a very annoyed one.

 

1. If your current goals don’t fit together in a cohesive story, think about any alterations you could make to both the goals and the story.
2. A story can start by examining an effect. Then, if the effect is observed, it goes deeper into examining the underlying reasons.
3. Don’t worry if you do not have a story immediately. Sometimes the effect must be observed before the reasons can be explained. In such cases, a backup plan is extra advisable (see Always have a Backup Plan).
4. A story does NOT mean plan out what results you are going to get. Your story should account for every possible outcome of the experiments you are doing, otherwise you run the risk of biasing your data.
5. DO NOT wait until the end to fit your disjointed project together into a single story. This will lead to panic and a series of rushed procedures that will be very bad science and probably won’t work.

 
My PhD was very well structured, which helped me immeasurably in its timely completion. Most of the people I know who struggled to finish by the deadline had detached or incoherent stories.

Some students didn’t know where there work was leading, which made it difficult for them to design experiments, and led to a slow start and a rushed end. Others knew exactly what their project involved, but couldn’t fit all the different aspects of it together. It made their data much more difficult to publish because journals rely more than anything on a coherent story. Not even the lower impact ones will accept random blocks of data that offers no combined conclusion.

When people have done joining experiments to link their data it is always easy to spot in journals because these are the sections which look rushed. They don’t always have good controls, the images and supplementary data are usually poor or absent and they are generally referred to in the text as little as possible. This is bad science, and it is worth avoiding if you can.

 

1. If you are stuck, there are most likely online forums where people have had similar problems. Just type your question into google.
2. Have a separate book you use to take notes during explanations, then immediately type them up in full before you forget them.
3. Make your notes are as exact and specific as possible.

 

• For techniques using machinery there are nearly always online tutorials on youtube, science blogs, or yahoo answers. These are all great resources, but check the manufacturer’s guidelines first. They probably know best.

 
My first year notebooks read like the ramblings of lunatic on LSD.  Numbers scattered everywhere, names and values written without explanation. I’ve still got them all, though I have no idea why. People could gather more information from books that have been burned.

One result was that I had to ask my supervisor for several explanations of how to use the same machine even before it stopped working. Fortunately, he was patient.

When dealing with nasty or impatient people that you are reliant on for help, the best thing you can do is make thorough notes the first time they tell you something. If they speak too fast, ask them to slow and repeat. If they are truly foul they may still be annoyed, but their reaction will be 1000 times better than if you have to go back later and ask them to repeat it as if you weren’t listening. This, in my experience, is what they truly hate because it makes them feel like they are wasting their time.

 

1. You should do a written risk assessment before a new experiment, but if for some reason you haven’t, at least think about the possible outcomes of each step.
2. If other people are involved always consider the impact of your work on them as well as yourself.

 

1. Check the hazard labels on any chemicals the first time you use them.
2. After finishing a procedure involving nasty chemicals, immediately change gloves. This will prevent you spreading those chemicals around your work area.
3. If you are itching, or worse burning, immediately remove your gloves and wash your hands.
4. Touching skin to water is not sufficient. Hold the hand under until you are bored and rub with soap. Taps are not magic cleaning devices, and some stuff sticks more than you would think.
5. Always check whether a new chemical needs to be used in the hood.
6. Know what chemicals are in “buffers”. As science relies more and more on buying kits which do most of the procedure for you, you will find yourself using nondescript things like “buffer QP”. It may sound like it is basically water, but that doesn’t mean it is.
7. Don’t reuse gloves. The procedure is likely to get whatever is on your gloves onto your hands.

 
I once knew a supervisor who used to keep his sandwiches in the fridge next to the ethidium bromide (a potent carcinogen), which he thought was perfectly safe. It wasn’t… though on the plus side no one ever stole his lunch.

I have also had a nasty experience with a nondescript buffer, which I researched only after I’d splashed it in my eye. Although the initial burning was disconcerting enough to head straight for the eye wash, my later edification as to its content made me return to give it a second shower.

In addition to washing my eye for longer, I would have been more careful when using the buffer had I known.

 

1. Compare high impact with low impact papers on the same subject, and see how many different methods each type uses to demonstrate their conclusions.
2. If there are limited possibilities for answering the same question, try answering a different but related question at the same time. You can always branch your project in a different direction.
3. DO NOT give up on every experiment that does not immediately work. A backup is important, but should not be immediately resorted to. Science takes perseverance. Look to correct the mistakes in your current procedure before starting a new one.

 

• Complicated machinery breaks. It is best if your backup plan is not reliant on the same machines. Get to know different machines, even if they just do the same thing. When one breaks, which it probably will at some stage, you won’t be completely stuck.

 
Not having a backup plan was one of my main mistakes. I spent several months trying to get a drug to have an effect on my cells when the sensible course of action would have been to either find a different drug or look for a different effect.

Both of which I did eventually, but if I had done so earlier I would have saved a lot of time. Later, I spoke to a man at a conference who asserted that the reason I got no effect was because the drug was killing any cell that absorbed it. Possible.