At a loss

[mbbz]

I'm currently in my first rotation. I've started out well, been working very hard, spending a good 10-12 hours a day, plus weekends in the lab.

In the beginning, I was really excited because things were working out, or if they weren't, at least I knew what to do to get them to work.  

The post doc in the lab was helping me soooo much. This is a fairly new area and I didn't know much about it before coming to the lab.

But now everything sucks! I have no motivation to come to lab, it's a real struggle for me. I can't get things to work, and I have absolutely no idea about what to do. 

The post doc stopped helping me and he is being extremely rude and hostile towards me for no apparent reason (this is not something only I noticed, and he is known in the lab for having a very difficult personality and always being in a bad mood. The other grad students told me it takes a couple of days for them to prepare before asking him any questions).

So, now I feel really bad when I'm in the lab, there is all this tension that I don't know how to fix. And I can't seem to complete my project. I only have a few more weeks left and I don't think I will be able to get any results. The PI told me in the beginning that she never expects rotation students to accomplish much since there isn't much time, but it would be good if I could get her some results. I feel so frustated because I worked so hard and I won't have anything to show for it.

Is it somewhat common for rotating students not to get any results? Do you think this will impact me when trying to join a lab? I already decided not to join this lab, the research doesn't interest me that much and I really dislike the dynamics here. 

Thank you for reading and for any input you may have. 

Edited November 18, 2015 by mbbz
typo

[Butterfly_effect]

So I'm still rotating, but in my program, rotations students are generally not expected to get results. This is PI-dependent. There are some (crazy) PIs that expect you to get results, but for the most part, I've found that my own PIs have been reasonable. Can you talk to other students in your program to ask how their rotations are going? It seems like you've put in a good amount of work (at least in hours alone!). And even if you don't get perfect data, there is probably something you've learned or can contribute to the lab. 

[St Andrews Lynx]

I didn't get any (positive) results from my rotation - was still accepted into the lab without issue. The rotation is more about proving your work ethic, seeing how you get on with the other group members, etc. If you can't make your experiments work, then perhaps invest a bit of time in figuring out why they don't work. It shows you are thinking about the project and can use your brain to tackle hurdles.

I think it's rare for faculty members to look at how your other rotations went when deciding whether to admit you into their lab: unless there was a crazy red flag that everybody was talking about, most of the time they accept that you will be more suited to some labs than others. 

I don't know how much research experience you have, or how successful it was...but from what I've seen you spend most of your time in grad school dealing with failures, setbacks and weird negative results. The stuff that works is few and far between. In my own case, I had a 12 month period where I got nowhere with my project. It's something to make peace with and learn how to cope with after you formally join a group. 

[Lisa_McCoy]

It is true that rotation students don't get the expected results cos of very limited time. Most PIs understand this and are little easy on the rotation students. No matter you achieve results or not, it would not affect you when you join a lab. Most rotational students sail on the same boat.