We've all been there. You've followed the protocol to a T, you've made sure you've bought all the reagents from the exact same suppliers, you've tried it at different temperatures, for different time periods, even gotten other students/lab staff to look over what you're doing coz you're fearful that you're losing your mind. Troublesome experiments are easily the worst part of working in a lab. It's unbelieveably frustrating when it just will not go right, especially when you know you're doing everything in your power to ensure that it does!
The best advice I can give is try to keep your head up, we've ALL been there, some of us more than others, but there's no one who has done a PhD or who's working in a lab now that will tell you it's plain sailing, and if they do it's a big fat fib. If possible, talk to your peers or supervisors as much as you can, having support of others is essential, helpful tips and even an ear to moan in can make all the difference sometimes. Read lots of papers or try to get information on protocols online. Try not to get overwhelmed or stuck doing the same thing over and over, it's great to have side projects to turn to when things aren't working. Take a break from it completely for a few days, don't think about it, look at it or research it at all, sometimes a fresh look at things can make a big difference. And if all else fails, just go shopping instead! ;)
Share your tips on surviving the bad times in labs here; any advice for us scientists when we're struggling to make things work will be much appreciated!
Rachel xxx
OK, there's one way I've come across that tends to improve the situation. Here's the protocol
ReplyDelete*Take ordinary tap water pour into a segregated tray and expose to -4deg C until frozen.
*Remove frozen water (now referred to as 'ice') from the tray and transfer 3-4 'cubes' to a 200-250ml highball glass.
*Having located a lime, bisect the lime and further divide each half into four. If you complete this step you will have eight slices - if you don't you've gone wrong.
*Decant 70mls of Captain Morgans Spiced Gold rum over the cubes of ice.
*Further decant 80mls of pre-chilled CocaCola into the glass & mix by gently sworling.
*Transfer the lime wedge to the mixture.
*Drink!
Rachel likes this! That is a brilliant protocol. So good in fact that it has made me want to leave the bench & my so-not-gonna-work experiment & head to the pub! Plus it's guaranteed to work everytime-almost unheard of in the science world. Bravo! :)
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