<p>i missed out on the opportunity to do intern at a lab and do research of my own at a local university this summer but i really want to begin as soon as possible. is it possible to do research during the school year? what i mean by that is will it be extremely time consuming (more than 2 hours a day?). has anyone conducted research or interned at a lab during the school year? i'm going into junior year and i don't want to start something that will take over my life. i'm not looking to start a project of my own during the school year but i want to intern and help with research already being conducted at a lab (already contacted profs)</p>
<p>You really can't do much in 2 hours. Running a gel alone takes like an hour or two. But I suppose it depends on what you will be doing. Since you are in high school, I doubt you will be doing much other than washing beakers or maybe looking at slides for a while. I'd say spending 4 hours once or twice a week is more realistic.</p>
<p>I was also hoping to help out in a lab during the school year and have a related question. In general, do you think there would be opportunities to work on the weekends? Or would it be more of an after-school thing? I really have no idea if profs/grad students do some of their work on the weekends or if it is mainly weekdays, 9-5 (which would be difficult to schedule during the school year).</p>
<p>^ yeah, I have the same question.</p>
<p>No, most don't come in on weekends. You'll be lucky to find one that does AND is willing to give you something other than dish work.</p>
<p>depends on what kind of research you do.</p>
<p>for example, biology research requires a lot of dedication and commitment, simply because a lot of procedures take a long time to do, and if you mess up, you have to start from scratch. i did do research over the school year, and i usually spent from 2-5 hours daily at the lab. also, a lot of the people practically lived in the lab (like spent 10+ hours there daily), including weekends. the plus side is, there's a lot of waiting time when doing your work, so you can always multitask and do homework or something while at the lab.</p>
<p>but i know others who did math/computer science research and the workload was much less for them</p>
<p>^ when you stayed for 2-5 hours, what hours did you go from? are labs open longer than 9-5?</p>
<p>i usually worked around 2-4 to 2-7 pm....the lab was pretty much open at anytime, since the professors were in there practically 24/7 anyway</p>
<p>haha whoa guys - hs students washing beakers?</p>
<p>i dont know, maybe its because i live in new york city, but im a rising sophomore thats been doing research for well over 6 months at a lab in biochem. i spent for the first few months learning techniques and getting the "feel" for the lab, and went on to develop my own project. </p>
<p>to the OP - i dont think you'll have too much of a problem. im going into junior year as well, so i cant really predict how bad it'll be. i live in queens and go to school in the bronx, and my lab is in manhattan, lol. so for over half of sophomore year, i'd wake up at 6 am, go to school, get out of school at 4, get to my lab at 5ish, work until 7, sometimes... 8, and get home around 9 30 - 10. and then homework blah blah. research isn't a joke. its a huge commitment. i think if you're motivated enough and if youre interested you can pull it off. i usually did research maybe 2-3 times a week, depending on my schedule / tests / homework, etc. </p>
<p>haha, but actually. this IS going to be our junior year. meh.
my advice, do the research. but dont lose focus in school. if your grades are going down, take time off. its a good experience for the future, in any way you look at it.</p>
<p>hope that helps.</p>
<p>oh and my lab has a few grad students, and almost no one is ever in on weekends. i suppose labs hold up similar times as normal businesses. good luck</p>
<p>btw - hcheng501 is right. like i said, i do biochemistry research and the procedures are a pain in the ass. a mini prep takes two overnights followed by an hours work. a maxi prep the same. a gel elect. takes 4-5 hours. a western is similar. biology research is very time consuming. but its cool.</p>
<p>I'm in a similar position. I have marching band and swimming on top of everything else in the fall and winter so I'm going to try to get an internship in the spring.</p>