Advice would be appreciated

[hamster09]

I always wonder for people in the sciences, how do you end up in the current lab that you are in?

What sort of criteria are you looking for when joining a lab?

How do can one avoid being an unhappy camper?

How do you evaluate potential PIs?

What sorts of Journal Publications are good and which ones are not so good?

What do you look for in PIs track record?

any help would be appreciated.

Edited December 18, 2009 by hamster09

[belowthree]

In my field you usually just pick the lab that does the research you're interested in. I get the impression that in bio people are a lot more flexible about what research they actually do for their PhD. It frankly seems kind of strange.

As for determining a PI's track record, you can look up their funding levels, see which review boards they're on, where their students publish and where their students end up with tenured positions.

Edited December 18, 2009 by belowthree

[zilch]

also, talk to their grad students. They'll be able to tell you more about the lab's atmosphere and how they conduct research and so forth.

If they have review papers that's generally a good sign because you have to be invited to write those which means that they're recognized in their field as a valuable contributor.

[Genomic Repairman]

First off make sure its a lab that you are interested in, you don't want to loose interest in your work half-way through your studies. Next, is the PI a decent person to work with. You don't want a tyrant but on the other hand I don't need another damn drinking buddy. You want a mentor, one who will bust your ass and put you back in your place when you need to be. Another big question is funding. It is really hard working for a broke ass PI, you have old equipment, lesser resources and reagents. And the lack of funding on the PI may also show that they are not doing that great of science (they suck at grantsmanship, field has passed them by, etc). Also the money issue becomes really important based upon their funding source (NIH vs NSF).

Other issues to consider:

-Size of lab (small [3-4], medium [6-10], big [10-15], mega-group)

-Status of PI (new PI, mid stage, established, aging old codger)

-Publication record

What are they publishing in? An occasional high impact journal or a steady rate of pubs in field specific journals. I'd go with the latter, a slew of publications in your field can establish your eminence in your field. Save the vanity shit for when you are a postdoc trying to get a TT position or early stage PI and need to get through T&P.

-Where do there former lab members go? Good postdocs, good jobs, into a cave, etc.

Before I set foot in the lab, I knew my PI's funding situation, I knew that he had the funds on hand to support me for at least 3 years (give me enough time to get a fellowship if funding became an issue), and I found his work exciting. One more issue is how do you fit with the lab (especially the lab manager), are the kind or more reminiscent of Attila the Hun?