By Jamie Georgelos, OUR Peer Research Ambassador
The idea of “doing research” sounds so vague and pretty daunting as an undergraduate student. For people in the sciences, we usually picture a person in a white coat with a beaker doing… something. As a freshman, I wasn’t sure what those people in lab coats were actually doing. I assumed it was important but really didn’t understand it.
Research doesn’t have to be like this! Let’s take a walk through my past week to demystify what really happens behind the closed doors of a lab.
Monday
On Monday, I met with my graduate student mentor, Abraham, to discuss my plans for the week. Last semester, I sat down with the principal investigator (PI) of my lab, Dr. Kumar Venkitanaryanan, and used my research questions to design some experiments and construct a basic timeline for the semester. Abraham helps me plan the details – what types of agar, plates, test tubes, and gas to buy, when to start my experiment, and the procedures involved in making agar or washing test tubes. The experiment for this week was a growth curve experiment, which seeks to determine how much of each type of bacteria has grown in a test tube, if they are producing toxins, and how they change the acidity of their environment. We planned to start the experiment on Friday morning.
Tuesday
One of the great things about research is that you make your own schedule! I have most of my classes on Tuesdays, so I only stopped into the lab for half an hour to give my bacteria fresh agar (essentially, I fed them).
Wednesday
Even though my experiment starts on Friday, there is a lot of preparation that has to be done! This was something I did not expect when beginning research – I never thought about who washed the test tubes, prepared the petri dishes, or mixed antibiotics. Turns out, it’s me! On Wednesday, I focused on preparing all of the materials I would need throughout my experiment.
Thursday
Another busy day of classes – I just stopped in to feed the bacteria.
Friday
Day 1 of the experiment had finally arrived! I was in the lab by 9:00AM to start measuring bacterial growth. I came back 10 hours later for the next time point, again measuring growth, acidity, and toxin levels.
On Friday afternoon, I went to a lab meeting between the undergraduate students, graduate students, and principal investigator. Although I used to be terrified of these meetings because I felt so undereducated, I find myself looking forward to them now! It is a great opportunity to give a quick synopsis of my current work, and get feedback from more experienced researchers.
Saturday
Day 2 of the experiment, at the lab at 9:00AM for the 24-hour timepoint. I took about three hours to collect all of the data I need, but I listened to Green Day while I did it!
Sunday
Day 3, same routine more Green Day. Maybe research can be fun?
All in all, independent research is some hybrid between a class and a job, with a bit more freedom. Research doesn’t have to seem so scary or impossible, especially not when you realize there is a team of mentors available to guide your questions, your experiments, and help your failures or roadblocks turn into success stories.
Jamie is a senior majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology. Click here to learn more about Jamie.