<p>I'm working in a research lab right now. This is my first research job, and I'm a little lost. I'm afraid I'm disappointing my professor. I haven't had notable results since early September. I think there are only 3-4 students working on this project: 2 undergrad + 2 grad. When I first started working, my professor gave me positive feedback like "great work" or "excellent." Now that I haven't been in the labs due to a difficult courseload, I asked him if I should dedicate more time to the labs. He told me to worry about my GPA and not worry about how often I show up in the lab. Right now, I don't have a set schedule to work. It's either homework or studying for a test. I have things in mind on what experiments I want to do, but I keep forgetting.</p>
<p>What advice can you give me? Am I in a red zone with my professor? Should I pull my sh** together this weekend and seriously commit as much time as possible to my lab?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Are you an undergrad? If so, you should definitely have time between classes or a few hours here or there to spare. I would suggest you make a schedule and figure out where there are gaps for you to show up. Try to be as consistent as you can because otherwise, you’ll have the problem you have now. You won’t even be able to get things going because you are making your lab time too flexible. When I was undergrad, I tried to get lab time in between classes (I usually had 3 days a week where I could go 2-3 hours in between my classes). That way, I didn’t feel obligated to come in after class and lose any study time. </p></li>
<li><p>What do the other students expect of you? You said two other grad students are on the project, so perhaps ask them what you can do and explain the situation. The chances are, you are probably annoying the other people on the project more than your PI. They are the ones who pick up your slack, not the PI. Nothing was more annoying to me than when other people on my project slacked and didn’t communicate with me about it. </p></li>
<li><p>How many hours did you sign on for when you started this position? No reason you need to stick to it, but it might be useful to get a reasonable schedule together and discuss it with the people you work closest with. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>You are busy, and that is fine but don’t leave people guessing about your status.</p>
<p>My co-advisor has always told me that schoolwork should come first. Try your best to create a schedule where you can regularly go in, but don’t let it hurt your grades.</p>
<p>The key here is communicating and being honest. Keep your PI and your labmates in-the-loop about your time commitment. ESPECIALLY your labmates if they are relying on you to do something. PIs understand that undergrads have classes to balance, but they really appreciate an open line of communication. Consider aiming for x hours in the lab each week, and just let your PI know your goals and if you can’t do that or if you need to reduce it by a certain amount. What you DON’T want to do is say “yeah I’ll be in this week!” and not show up. Be frank! </p>
<p>Always try to be positive about things as well. You don’t want the labwork to sound like a chore you can’t ever get around to.</p>
<p>Definitely give your classes the time you need to get the best grades you can. Your lab professor told you this. You are not in trouble with him. The worst case scenario is that you don’t use him for a recommendation- don’t worry, there will be other professors in future years if need be. Write things down as they occur to you so you can refer to them without needing to keep them in your brain- you have far too many other things to think about. Consider this- the more you learn in your classes the more you will know to contribute to your lab research. The professor does not expect a college sophomore to have the same knowledge base as older students- he would rather you get the solid foundation from your classwork to use your lab time more efficiently later. I do not like to remember some of my undergrad efforts knowing what I learned after them.</p>
<p>The advice to consult with your labmates is good. You may also find out that some of them totally ignored their lab work at specific times in their careers. They may have been studying for grad exams at some point and their professors basically told them “see you after you’re done with them”.</p>
<p>ISU, I am also a sophomore who joined a research lab this semester, though at a liberal arts college where only undergrads work with professors. Based on my experience and what I heard from older students who also started as sophomores, I think that you worry way too much. First of all, you started research for less than 2 months, there is no way you can become an expert in such a short time. If your professor said it’s ok to focus on classes, this is perfectly true and you shouldn’t think he said that just to be polite. </p>
<p>As far as time commitment, I don’t know how it works for you, but at my school, to get credit for research you need at least 5 hours a week ON AVERAGE. That means that you can work less or not at all in a particular week that is busy for you (exams or whatever) but you have to work longer in some other weeks to make up for that. However, my professor told me that in the first semester of research i’ll probably not be able to put the 5 hours a week and he will still give me the credit. One reason is that apparently I am not allowed to work when he is not at school, even if other older students are around, probably because of safety. </p>
<p>Bottom line, everyone understands that you are just a beginner. Do your best, but keep in mind that you are only starting to learn, and nobody is born knowing how to do research.</p>