<p>I constantly feel like I am under-achieving in my research, but I don't really have a sense of context for what the normal expectations are for undergraduates research. (In my case, in neuroscience.) Basically everyone else in the labs I have worked in are graduate students or post docs, so I don't have a frame of reference. My PI seems consistently impressed by what I have done, but I feel like I am not being as productive as I could be or managing my time well.</p>
<p>In general, though, what is expected of undergraduates in a research setting? How much grunt work (data collection, programming) vs. independent thought? What is generally expected in terms of "productivity" (useful results). How do the expectations compare to what is expected of PhD students?</p>
<p>As an undergrad your research should probably be heavily supervised and it should either be relatively simple or heavily laid out for you. Independent thought is built more as you get later into a graduate program as the first year of grad school is often courses and you should spend the rest of your time getting mentored heavily by someone, either the PI, a post-doc, or a senior grad student.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t expect to be doing semiautonomous research untill year 2 or so of grad school. Right now yea you should probably be doing grunt work but you might also well be served by shadowing someone and learning from them and how they are doing their project.</p>
<p>What exactly does “relatively simple or heavily laid out” actually mean, though? I’m basically in charge of my own project, working full time on it for the last six months. I feel like with only grad students as a reference point, I may have set my own expectations for myself higher than what the general population expects of me, and that’s why I feel like I am falling short.</p>
<p>Then I’d say you are setting the bar for yourself pretty high. Most undergrads are considered successful if they are simply able to master the protocols and techniques used to contduct the research and have a decent understanding of the concepts behind them. I’d say at your level you are doing better than a lot of grad students and heck some post-docs.</p>