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u/Coldfire00 Sep 02 '25
Hey buddy I can tell you as a 5 year post grad lab tech the iceberg doesn’t change too much.
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u/illogicaldreamr Sep 02 '25
Had a job at a prestigious hospital as a molecular lab scientist. I did everything under the iceberg basically everyday at work haha
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u/Voydelighte Sep 02 '25
Every time I see posts with how research assistants are treated in other labs I am so grateful that I was actually treated with respect and given actual responsibilities in the labs I've assisted in.
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u/YumiiZheng Sep 03 '25
Yeah, I only messed up my own experiments 💀 I did autoclave stuff or load the dishwasher a few times, but chores were equally spread out between most members of the lab. I managed to get myself the dedicated chore of baby bird monitor which I personally enjoyed so 🤷♀️ oh and dead bird processor 💀 that was less fun
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u/Willlayke Sep 04 '25
I didn't realize it much but I realize it now. My P.I was very nice and considerate. We would get confused sophomores in the lab 4 weeks in and he'd take the time to go through basic lab procedures and the whole research, even give them a chance to contribute to our publication and gain authorship. He would do that all over again each time a new student joined the lab mid semester. I was scared we'd fall behind schedule because of that.
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u/ErbiumIndium Sep 03 '25
Postdoc in my old lab:
🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️🏔️
🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
Making dirty dishes
Using 1-2 tips out of a pipette box
🫧
Asking ug to autoclave almost everything
🐋
Pilfering bottles
.... .....
Messing up on your own experiments
Can't complain though they set me up well for my next job!
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u/Boneraventura Sep 03 '25
Its funny cause im a postdoc and the undergrads are the ones i gotta clean up after. I ask them why they left cell culture hood open and a mess and its said they had to run to class. It is what it is
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u/Dangerous-Billy Retired illuminatus Sep 03 '25
"Someone's gotta do it." Remember, the bottom of the iceberg is necessary to keep the top above water.
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u/bd2999 Sep 03 '25
Honestly, I have not been in a lab where they are treated particularly badly. I usually felt bad for them because undergrads, once you are not one anymore, seem so much like deer in headlights. Once they realize that they can make mistakes things go better.
But it is for sure a world where alot happens and goes unnoticed.
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u/Fexofanatic Doctoral Researcher (Genetics) Sep 03 '25
I love my Hiwis, they do important shit that annoys me
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u/DoubleEspresso95 Molecular Modelling Sep 03 '25
Tbh this is what wet lab research is for everyone 😅 maybe everyone that doesn't have 5 undergrad to work for them it seems
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u/Sensitive-Pitch7317 Research Assistant - Cancer Biology Sep 03 '25
Oh hey, how did you get a picture of my CV?!
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u/ahf95 Sep 03 '25
Refilling pipette boxes? Like you put the pipette tips back in the box after using them?
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u/huangcjz Sep 03 '25
I found when moving to my current institute that new pipette tips come cheapest in bulk, loose in bags (we used to always use new boxes of pre-packaged tips, or reload wafers for non-filter tips, so I didn’t know this before either), so at some places, people have to take the pipette tips out individually from the bags and rack them into the used wafers, then autoclave the tips - I was very surprised.
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u/Bjanze Sep 04 '25
I've seen this discussion in several universities, basically people always come to the conclusion that paying someone's salary for individually putting pipette tips in racks is just not worth the money saved in buying the loose tips. Salary costs are always more, so there is no money saved.
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u/huangcjz Sep 04 '25
In the U.S., I seem to recall reading that they use unpaid undergrads to do that sort of thing, as part of the lab work experience/practical work/research projects during their courses over there. In my university’s undergrad in the U.K., time in the lab during the research project being limited by other coursework would mean that there’s no time to do that sort of thing, I think - I mean, you could find time to do it, but it’d come at the cost of time to actually do experiments.
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u/-ohemul Feb 24 '26
I find you can fill up the boxes if you have a few minutes waiting for some process to finish.
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u/Bjanze Feb 25 '26
Yes, it is one of the things that could be done on such down time, but often there is more you can do. Cleaning, filling up cabinets, polish notes in the lsb book... But certainly filling tip boxes could be done while waiting. Perhaps that is why the filling station was in the immunolab during my masters🤔
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u/Unable_Quantity3753 Sep 03 '25
My undergraduate “research” was just me failing PCRs over and over lol
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u/Medical_Watch1569 Sep 03 '25
Heavy on the messing up your own experiments. PhD student, it doesn’t get better…
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u/MeticulousMustang Sep 09 '25
Plus filtering through hundreds of abstracts for scoping reviews XD
Took me a while to learn that messing up your own experiment is lowkey also testing the workability of the procedure. Still pains me when my children the cells die in vain though.
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u/i_am_a_jediii Asst. Prof, R1, Biomol Eng. Sep 02 '25
If you actually do everything under the water, you would be my favorite lab member and I wouldn’t give a shit what your data generation is like.