Grad Year 1, Tiny Learnings

Tiny learnings from grad year 1, stated briefly, for my own purposes. Trite? Maybe. Suck it up.

Mentorship is everywhere, always take the opportunity to meet people doing different things in different labs. The guy down the hall may solve the problem that's been killing you all month. That actually happened to me today, and it was great.

Look out for #1, a little bit. Cognizant of the goal being science, remember that not everyone has your interests at heart. Example: you are very cheap labor for your PI and he/she isn't itching to see you leave. This cuts both ways, remember that you might not be respecting someone else's need to look out for #1. Example: Your PI has duties besides being on-call for you 24/7.
Related Fact: When your PI says it's easy, it's probably hard. If he says it's doable, it'll probably consume all of your attention for as long as you want to work on it. Remember that you are missing years of experience on the person you're talking to.

Write up your research goals early and often, and set some timelines. I almost never make my own deadlines, and almost always find new other goals that I forgot. But you can get a long way by taking a step back and seeing the big picture in which you are swimming, rather than that one method that hasn't been working for a month. Stupid library preps...

All that is gold does not glitter, and all that glitters is not gold. Corollary: Not all new technology is what it claims to be. Stronger claim: It never is. Stay frosty.

When you are on a roll, rock it. There is no more scant resource then genuine excitement. Push it.

Tons of papers are wrong. Downright wrong. Sometimes scandalously wrong. It's embarrassing, and some of it represents systemic problems with peer review and that whole mess. You can moan about it for a long time (I did). Not sure if that's worth the bellyache, but I'll keep you posted.

Don't make second-hand goals that stake your success on the assessment of the Nature/Science/NEJM intelligentsia, or the ivy pillars of the academe.  Those gals and guys have their own little world, and it should come as no small surprise that the people in that club house aren't always all that fun to play with anyway.

Say something, or suck it up. I love to whine. It's a problem that I have. I'm still waiting for an example of when it has helped me. If you have problems with something that's going on in the lab, nip it in the bud and have a conversation. You might learn something, you might stop the problem, or you might at least feel better for having it off your chest. Otherwise suck it up.

The goal is knowledge. The goal is not a first author publication. Find the pleasure in solving the puzzles and exploring the science; it is its own joy. The other rewards may find their way to you somehow or another. Remember what you are building, and why you are building it. Remember your ideal.