Clueless and alone in lab.....

[charlie11]

AHHH....I am freaking out. I am in an MSc Thesis program and started in September (about to start 7th month) and I have NO idea what I am doing. I am the only student in our lab, in fact, I'm the only person in the lab that is doing any of the research and I have no one to show me how to do things correctly, or even WHY I am doing things. I am supposed to have my first committee meeting in a couple of weeks and I don't have any clue what I am even supposed to do at the meeting! Should I be letting my committee know what I have been doing so far or what the plan is for the rest of my thesis? If it is to let them know what my thesis will be about.....I have no idea about that either and I don't even know where to start figuring that out.

So basically, I don't know what my thesis will be (my supervisor told me to come up with a title but I have no freakin clue what the title should be about) and I don't want to look like a complete idiot at my committee meeting even though I have NO idea what I'm talking about and NO idea about the stuff we are doing in our lab. Can anyone help guide me in the right direction for my first meeting? What should I be prepared to do/say?

[robot_hamster]

What sort of research is your lab involved in?

[fuzzylogician]

That's a strange situation to be in. What field are you in? Do you know students in other labs that you could ask about the committee and the goings-on in your department? Your advisor would be the natural address for all of your questions, but if you're posting here after 7 months of work in your lab, obviously something is not going right with him/her. Is there a Director of Graduate Studies or any other professor that you could turn to? Maybe the department chair or the grad secretary? A guide published by your department? -- even the online description of the program requirements would help. If you're not getting any proper mentorship, you should try to actively seek the answers you need. I'm guessing the meeting with the committee will be about you explaining what you've done so far and maybe outlining what you plan to do next.. but these procedures can vary quite a bit from school to school.

Edited February 28, 2011 by fuzzylogician