Updates & News

April 04, 2024 by Teamrat A. Ghezzehei

On being a good scientist and labmate

60 small steps you can take today+

(copied from Reddit)

  • You aren’t required to know everything.
  • You are required to try to find out.
  • Don’t ever lie to your PI or lab mates. If something is hard to say, learn to say it without lying.
  • There is a huge difference between not knowing and not caring.
  • You can fake confidence with the public, but not with your coworkers.

  • Own your mistakes. We all make them, but only the best of us own them.

  • Only when you own your mistakes will you learn from them.
  • Experience is relative.
  • Master record keeping. Be such a good record keeper that someone could replicate your results 10 years from now.
  • Give credit where it is due.
  • Find a team that supports you. Support your team.

  • Have someone to talk to when things get hard.

  • Let failures increase your appreciation of successes.
  • Protect your mental health. It might be the sole determining factor of the length of your career.
  • Say please and thank you.
  • When you see someone who is really good at a particular skill, ask “can you teach me how you do that?”
  • Safety supplies should always be available, and the location known.

  • We can’t be prepared for everything.

  • We can be prepared for a lot of things.
  • Nobody can give you happiness or job satisfaction.
  • Forgive yourself for your mistakes.
  • Forgive your coworkers for their quirks.
  • Think about what you would do if this was your last week in the lab. Do that stuff.

  • Carry your weight.

  • Ask for help if you need it.
  • Accept “no” as an answer.
  • If you receive help, say “thank you” and mean it.
  • Help others out.
  • Don’t be afraid to say “no” if you do not have the bandwidth.

  • When someone says “I’m struggling”, believe them.

  • There is never a reason to yell at someone. Ever.
  • Clean your bench.
  • Don’t rush, it is not urgent.
  • Disregard the above if it has anything to do with safety.
  • Some people will lie to you. Assume they are telling the truth until you have evidence to the contrary.

  • If it feels like you might regret a decision later, you probably will.

  • Never lie about the results. If they ever change dramatically, you want people to believe you.
  • Don’t convince yourself that negative data means you’re doing something wrong.
  • Learn from the bad experiments. Then let them go.
  • Incremental progress is still progress. And negative results are still results.
  • Learn how to teach yourself.

  • Be willing to change your mind.

  • Ask for guidance, not instruction.
  • If you are not collaborating, you are hindering scientific progress.
  • Knowing when to stop is an important skill you must constantly hone.
  • Treat young scientists well. They will remember you for a long time.
  • People always remember how you made them feel.

  • Be patient when someone doesn’t understand.

  • You represent our profession.
  • Gatekeeping the public from your research because you think they won’t understand it means your aren’t explaining it well enough.
  • Know what’s happening in your colleagues’ lives. Ask them about it.
  • Let your days off be your days off.
  • Have a hobby that has nothing to do with science.

  • Have a mentor that isn’t your boss.

  • Tell the good stories. And tell the bad ones.
  • There is no shame in wanting to be revolutionary. Ask for recognition.
  • Remember that scientific progress is not about a single person.
  • No matter how hard you think you worked for them, your knowledge and skills are not yours. They were gifted to you. The best way to say thank you is to share them with others.
  • Don’t worry too much about what the reviewers think of you.

  • Worry about being good at what you do.

  • Banner image credit: Generated with AI ∙ April 5, 2024 at 9:46 AM by Bing, Microsoft Inc.