<p>I'll be joining a neuroscience department this Fall, and this is my first time in a biomedical-related department. I had a question for the senior members r.e. lab rotations: </p>
<p>Do lab rotations typically lead to journal/conference publications? Will the PI usually assign you to an ongoing project, or will it be something smaller in scope?</p>
<p>I'd appreciate it if you can share your experiences!</p>
<p>No, they won’t typically lead to anything like that (unless of course you join the lab and continue the work). I’ve met one or two people who completely lucked out (I forget the details but almost certainly picked up where someone left off) and got a publication out of a rotation. </p>
<p>As far as whether or not you pick up an ongoing project, you won’t be twiddling your thumbs. But the amount that you contribute to a project will probably vary depending on the lab, your familiarity with the techniques, rotation time (8 weeks? 12?) and your motivation. If it’s something totally new to you, your overall contribution may be less, but you’ll probably have learned quite a bit technique-wise. </p>
<p>I know people who have done a third rotation, after having essentially chosen a lab, in a lab which has essentially chosen a grad student, with the understanding that they’ll be there to learn some interesting protocols, etc.</p>
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This has been my experience, too – I’ve heard of a very small number of people getting a publication from a rotation. </p>
<p>Of course, if you end up joining the lab, you may continue your involvement with the project and end up with a nice second- or third authorship or something.</p>
<p>In my lab, rotation students are paired with a current student or postdoc to work on a specific current project, but also to get exposure to other projects that student or postdoc is running.</p>