For all you Future Scientists
Lab Citizenship
For those future scientists, here are a few things to keep in mind about working in a lab. Whether it be for a class or for research there are certain standards that should always be maintained in order to be successful and respectful. These are a few tips that I received in my upper level biochemistry lab course that I felt were important to share with you. (http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~bios311/bios311/311grades.html)
- Punctuality: It is important to be on time to class, or to arrive to your lab at the time you specified. Other people are relying on you and planning their day around you when you are working in a research lab. If you show up late it is a sign of disrespect. This is because you may be using the equipment at a later time than you had let others know which changes their schedule, or if someone is teaching you a new protocol that person has to wait around for you. Furthermore if you are taking lab as a class this means it is like any other class, which means you shouldn’t walk in late.
- Be courteous: Clean up after yourself. Always leave the workstation the way you found it. Be courteous to other people’s stuff. Don’t mess with material that isn’t yours because it may be disruptive to someone else’s experiment.
- Attentiveness is key.
- Come prepared: Understand the protocol you are about to perform. If you don’t understand something it is important to ask before you attempt to do anything. All the supplies you use cost money and therefore should not be wasted.
- Teamwork is very important
- Be efficient.
5 Memorization Tips:
- Do not cram! This never works. When you cram the majority of the information is not being stored in your long term memory.
- Do no multi task. Realistically you mind can only focus at one thing at a time. Adding more information for it to focus on makes the subject you are learning more difficult to remember
- Establish regular studying schedule. Learn material little by little throughout the course of a week or month.
- Organize the material you are learning; categorizing helps with your memory because it allows your to group information
- SLEEP!