Stuck with a Bad Project (or Just a Bad Attitude)?
by
Long before the Lady Gaga parody, graduate students and postdocs everywhere were painfully familiar with the term “bad project.” When we were sold the project everything sounded great- a huge impact in a hot field, and best of all it was only a couple of “straightforward” experiments away. We all know how this story ends.
Perhaps the objects of our phobias aren’t the only things that can be distorted by our perceptions. Maybe, like beauty, the quality of a project is really in the eye of the beholder. After all, more than half of scientists believe that a positive attitude in lab can manifest positive experimental results. Although we may not like to admit it, what if it’s not actually our project that’s bad but our attitude? So let’s take a step back – and a deep breath – it’s time for a tough question: How do you actually view your project?
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Caroline Angelard
wrote on March 5, 2012 at 9:02 am
I view my project as a great one! the experimental design is nice, the questions are great. Now the problem is the results! I don't have them yet, but if I found nothing (significant) exciting, is this a sign of a bad project?
alan@benchfly
wrote on March 5, 2012 at 9:23 am
Depends. It probably also depends on the odds of getting those exciting results. No matter how exciting the result may be, if the project is a longshot with 1 in a million odds of working, I'd argue that's not a good project. Maybe a good *side* project, but not a good main project.
Regardless, I think viewing your own project as great is fantastic! Helps keep up motivation, morale, and hopefully the good results will start pouring in!
Matt Ritter
wrote on March 5, 2012 at 11:49 am
Great post! It's too rare to see the a discussion that's open to the possibility that a situation could stem from multiple factors, instead of arguing a false dichotomy between contextual and personal explanations.
Benchflies should band together and bombard radio call-in shows with nuanced, carefully measured points of view.
k richardson
wrote on March 5, 2012 at 1:22 pm
What about when your PI does not help you with your project design/experimental plans and sits and watch you fail and drown in your failures? What if they do not give any advice or words of wisdom and watch you go deeper into depression?
alan@benchfly
wrote on March 6, 2012 at 12:17 pm
It's painful, no doubt. In my opinion, the best mentors know what each student/postdoc needs and then provides it. Some students prefer the hands-off approach, whereas some prefer more frequent interaction. And even those that prefer a more distant style should be able to get some help from their PI when things aren't going well. All too often though, PIs paint their style with one broad stroke, almost ensuring that some people will be unhappy.
Optimist
wrote on March 15, 2012 at 2:00 pm
Wow, the scientist in this post have a severe case of low self esteem!!!
Cheer up, please!!!!!