雜七雜八的研究經歷到底教會了我什麼| Lessons From My Research Experiences

(本文系Dyad學員所撰寫，禁止轉載）

在我做這些研究的時候壓力山大，對一個大學生來說絕對是一個最大的挑戰。在這篇文章中我希望通過我的個人經歷也可以讓你們在做研究的時候收穫一些什麼。

當我剛開學的時候，我的本能是往研究領域發展。但是可怕的是跟許多同學交流的時候我發現他們或多或少有過這方面的經驗，而我高中的時候沒做過什麼實驗研究，所以也就沒有一點經驗好說了。但是雖然一開始沒有什麼經驗，我還是成功地在大一結束的時候找到了一個實驗研究項目。

那個項目是我第一個全職研究項目，然而當開始著手研究的時候，我也不太確定我到底想要什麼。所以當時我也犯了一個大錯，就是憑想像認為自己得馬上做好每一步。然而教授並沒有告訴我們每一步具體怎麼做。結果我每一步都憑自己的想像，整個暑假都在試著從我的記憶里找尋步驟，導致我的很多步驟看起來都很亂。

1.試著問一下教授每一步具體怎麼做，然後在課上記筆記，以後做實驗的時候就有東西可以參照了，而且更重要的一點是：人無完人，更何況你還是一個剛剛進實驗室的新手，千萬別為難自己，想著自己怎麼學的這麼慢。為了打一個紮實的基礎，以及為了一些基本的實驗室常識，還是學慢一點，重要的是理解。

2.那個暑假，在我開始自己的第一個研究項目的時候，另一個巨大的挑戰就是如何和自己的同伴溝通。我的另外兩個同伴也挺忙的，他們也有自己的項目，所以我意識到有效溝通是一個項目能否有效完成的關鍵。因為我們常常會被分配到小組學習中，我這一部分做好之後就是留給下一個人做，這樣會比較有效率。然而因為沒有溝通好，導致我第一個項目里有很多錯誤。

3.膽子大一點，然後什麼時候該做什麼要清楚，這樣才能有條不紊，在做一個具體的實驗之前，我從中學到的是：提前問一下你的同學他們是怎麼做的。比如：如果我的實驗涉及數據錄入，我會提前和我的同學確定他們錄入的順序（正的來還是反著來？）而且這樣我就不會重新錄入，但如果我是錄入多餘的實驗數據的話，也要提前和同學溝通好，這樣就不會在接下來的分析中出錯。

現在回想起來那個暑假，雖然我嘗到了很多挫折和教訓，但自己也慶幸從中能夠學到一點東西，現在我覺得自己越來越往一個研究者方向成長了。經過了哪一個暑假，我也知道了如何更好的與我的同學溝通，以及掌握了一些基本的實驗室常識。新的研究項目也在新的學年等著我。

即使我當時已經有了一定的研究經驗了，但是選擇一個好的適合自己的項目還是挺難的。

我還記得自己下課之後就在斯坦福大學的網站上搜索著相關的研究項目，我也寫了無數封郵件給那些教授，問他們能不能見個面聊聊天，也諮詢了一下能不能做助教，實驗室里還有沒有什麼名額空出來的。這其實挺打擊人的意志的，但是在這個兩個多月艱難的條件之下我堅持不懈地發郵件，和各個教授見面，最後也很幸運的找到了符合我的興趣的項目。

接下來實驗室的時光總是不同尋常的，和我以往的研究經歷都不同。我覺得自己更像是一個學者，而不是助理。我在實驗室的工作就是和不同的導師見面，然後探討一下研究論文中的問題，他們也會教我怎麼給動物手術，然後給我傳輸一些納米科技的知識（我的導師他就是這個專業的）你們也許會問為何我會接受這樣一個職位，畢竟我在實驗室里也沒做什麼實驗。然而我的解釋是因為這個領域是我非常喜歡的，尤其是跟在導師後面學習，讓我知道了如果要做實驗的話需要哪些步驟，該如何進行，在這個過程中我也會接觸到海量的研究論文而且是最近發表的，所以作為一個學者，我可以學到任何我想學的東西，也許在其他的實驗室不會這樣。

所以從中我學到的是：你得經歷比你的名頭更重要。有的學生會申請實驗室助理，他們反而從中沒有得到任何東西，就算你現在沒有什麼名頭，沒有什麼籌碼，你的經歷是第一位的，因為它將來會在你的人生中閃耀。

在我跟著導師越學越久的時候，我對自己的研究計劃越來越自信，在學年將近結束的時候我已經感受到了巨大的成就感，以至於我畢業後在休斯頓的一家研究所找到了一個職位，這一切都是我做了那個研究室的學者所帶來的經驗積累。

而在我的研究之路上的最後一個篇章就是在去年暑假在家旁邊的一家醫院裡的實驗室里結束的，我當時研究的方向是肺纖維化，而在實驗室里的一切工作都是基於我過去的研究經驗，我知道這段經歷是我研究之旅的精彩之處，因為我已經熟練得掌握了研究需要的知識和技巧，所以我也是順風順水的走到今天這一步。

不出意外地，那個暑假我們從最基本的實驗步驟開始入手，導師們也指導了我們一些最基本的需要注意的地方，已經項目背景介紹等等。我也確保我都把一些步驟給幾下來然後嘗試各種方法去實踐，在我對一些實驗方法完全放心之後，我的導師變放心地讓我開始指導所有實驗了。這也是我從來沒有體驗到的一個機會，現在我有更多自我發揮的空間了，可以自己制定實驗計划了，以及指導我的同事們完成所有的實驗。

基於我對於我的小輩的責任，我從中也總結了三點：

1.總是知道自己在做什麼，然後自己會花多少時間去完成這件事。

當然這也要看你具體做的是什麼研究項目，但是在我的研究項目中，我列出所有的步驟，然後我發現有很多步驟是要廢很多時間的，於是我就把它單獨列出來，因為這個實驗是要在暑假前完成，所以我就在這些零碎的等待的空餘時間完成其他的步驟，這樣就做到了高效，無論是要整理圖片還是整理數據還是說要準備考試（我當時要考MCAT),所以一個合理的時間安排也確保了我的時間利用率很高基本上沒有什麼浪費。

暑假的時間一天天過去，但是每天早上我都是精神滿滿地來到實驗室，等到暑假接近尾聲，我的實驗也快完成了，數據基本上收集好了，然後實驗該做的也做了，我也收集 了作者的信息，以後可以發到雜誌上去的。這也引出了我的第二個收穫：

2.你付出了多少，就會有多少回報

其實一開始剛進實驗室的時候我並沒有指望我能夠哪天在雜誌上發表文章，但是一旦我設下目標了，我就覺得一定要儘力完成那個目標，這樣才值得我為之奮鬥。而為了達到我的目標，我給自己設定了計劃表：每天早上6點7點就準時到實驗室門口了，而那個時候就連實驗室旁邊的道路上都沒看見幾個人。有些實驗步驟比較花費時間的，也許兩天才能完成的，我都會儘力把它們都縮減到一天。也許這會擾亂我其他的計劃，但是我知道完成這些是值得的。而之後事實證明這些努力這些力氣甚至花在了比我意料中更有用的地方，產生了更大的價值。我也不是說努力了就一定能在核心期刊上發表文章，但至少它能讓你成為一個更優秀的學者。

暑假結束後，我覺得自己完全就是一個準研究者了，在這兩年的研究之路上，我變得自信了許多，，也收穫了我應有的東西。一個暑假的時間也是值了，我的旅程並沒有阻止我的腳步，我仍在漫步前行，我的研究領域也從生物轉型到新的領域 「健康政策」。具體我也不知道我是怎麼成功轉型自己的研究領域的，也許是自然而然的付出吧，這裡也住各位能在這條路上找到你們想要的。

英語原文：

My experience with conducting research has certainly been one of the most challenging endeavors I』ve undertaken in my time as a college student. I』m writing this series of blogs basically to take you through my personal experience so that, hopefully, you can learn a few things from my story that will help you find success in the lab.

When I first entered college, I knew immediately that I wanted to get involved with research. Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to participate in any research while I was in high school so I had no prior experience to build on. To make matters worse, it seemed like everyone I talked to had done some sort of research before. Despite my lack of research, however, I succeeded in finding a research position for the summer by the end of my freshman year.

This was my first full time research position ever and I was not sure what to expect when I first began working. One major mistake I made was thinking that I had to know how to perform every procedure perfectly right away. My mentor in that lab never used any protocols when he was teaching my peers and I how to perform different procedures. As a result, I was under the impression that I was expected to know every step of every procedure by memory. I spent the first part of that summer trying to perform tasks from memory and I usually ended up messing up some part of the experiment.

Lesson 1

Ask for a written protocol for each procedure you are taught and take notes so that you can refer back to them if you need to. Furthermore, major lesson number two: no one is perfect when they first start out in a lab. Take the time to learn things correctly the first time around so that you don』t repeatedly make mistakes later on. Don』t beat yourself up if you think that you』re learning too slowly. Everyone has to start somewhere and it』s better to build a solid foundation than to rush through learning basic lab techniques.

Lesson 2

The other major challenge that I encountered that summer involved how I interacted with my fellow student researchers. I worked with two other students on different projects throughout the summer and, while doing so, I realized that I needed to improve my ability to coordinate the tasks that needed to be completed. Often, we would be tasked with carrying out a procedure that was quite lengthy, so each of us would complete one part and pass off the task to the next person to make the entire experiment more efficient. However, we quickly realized that we were not communicating with each other well enough, which led to quite a few failed procedures.

Lesson 3

Be vocal, be organized, and ask questions when you』re working with others on a research project. In my case, I had to learn to ask my peers questions about how they performed certain parts of the experiment. For example, if an experiment involved loading samples into an analysis machine, it would be helpful for me to verify with my peers the order that they loaded the samples in. That way, I don』t misinterpret the results or, if my job was to load additional reagents into the machine before running the analysis, I would not load the wrong reagents in the wrong order.

Looking back on that summer, I can definitely say that I learned a lot. Though the position was stressful at times, I honestly feel like I grew significantly as a researcher. By the end of that summer, I had learned to work better with my peers and I had gained a lot of experience doing basic lab techniques. The next part of my research journey would begin again as soon as the new school year started.

I now had a respectable amount of actual experience under my belt, but even then, finding a research position proved to be quite difficult.

I remember browsing the Stanford faculty website every day after classes for a good two months and constantly reading about the different research projects that were being conducted. I sent countless emails to professors asking to meet with them and discuss any potential research assistant openings they might have in their labs. I admit that it was quite discouraging at times, but there』s always a little luck involved in the process and you just have to keep your end goal in mind during these challenging phases of the search process. Eventually, after about two months of emailing and meeting with different professors, I finally found a lab that had an open position that matched my interests.

My time in this lab was unique from all of my other research experiences in that my role was more of a mentee rather than an assistant researcher. My work mainly consisted of meeting with my mentor who trained me to perform animal surgeries, discussed research papers with me, and gave me lessons on nanotechnology (his research area of expertise). You may be wondering why I even accepted this position if I wasn』t going to be actively participating in any research projects. Well, my reasoning behind it was that this position gave me an opportunity to learn about an area that I was fascinated by, from a mentor that was extremely knowledgeable in his work. I got to learn how to do the hands on procedures that were required for nanotechnology experiments and also got to discuss the latest literature in that field as well. From my perspective, I was getting everything I wanted to out of this position and I truly felt that I was learning just as much as (if not more than) I would have, had I accepted a position at another lab.

Ultimately, the major lesson from my time in that lab is: what you get out of an experience is so much more important than your title. I know plenty of students who accepted positions as research assistants and ended up leaving without any valuable lessons from their experience. Don』t turn down a position just because you don』t have a certain title. You may be passing up on a great opportunity to learn a lot from a position that suits you just as well as any other.

As I spent more time with my mentor, I gained more and more confidence in my research skills. By the end of the school year, I left with a true sense of accomplishment and I had succeeded in securing a full time research position at a lab in Houston (my hometown) for the summer. My experience that summer would be when I finally felt like all of the research experience I had worked to accumulate was finally paying off.

The last major stage in my research journey occurred this past summer. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to conduct research in the medical center close to my home and I worked in a lab that focused on pulmonary fibrosis. This experience was the highlight of my research journey thus far because I knew that I had all the necessary skills to be successful in the lab and I was finally getting the opportunity to integrate everything that I had learned from my past work.

The summer began with lessons on the procedures that I would be expected to do and discussions on the background of the project that I would be working on. I made sure to ask for written protocols of every procedure and I took advantage of every chance I had to practice the procedures. Once I was comfortable with the techniques, my mentor informed me of the goal of the project and set me loose to conduct all the necessary experiments. This was the first part of the experience that was unique for me. I had never before gotten the opportunity to work on an experiment independently. I now had the freedom to set my own schedule and to plan out when to conduct the procedures that needed to be done.

Having this responsibility led to my discovery of major lesson number one from this experience: always be conscious of what you have to do and how much time you have to do it. What this lesson involves for you may vary depending on what kind of research you are involved in. In my case, when I began planning out the experiment schedule, I realized there was a lot of work that needed to be completed before the end of the summer. In an attempt to be more efficient, I went through all of the procedure protocols and identified the steps that involved a lot of waiting time. I then scheduled other tasks to take care of during those waiting steps so that I could be more productive in the same amount of time. Whether it was collecting pictures of slides, preparing samples, analyzing data, or even studying (I was preparing for the MCAT) I made sure that I was making full use of my time in the lab.

As the summer progressed, I became more and more involved in my work. I loved what I was doing and I couldn』t wait to get back in the lab each morning. By the end of the summer, I had completed all of the necessary experiments and the data that I collected is now being used to author a research manuscript that will be published in the near future. This leads me to the second major lesson I learned that summer: the more work you put into something, the more you will get out of it. I was not actually expecting to be published when I first started working in that lab. I had one objective in mind, and it was the same objective that I had during all of my other research experiences: to learn as much as I could and to make the experience a worthwhile one. With this goal in mind, I planned my schedule so that I would come into the lab and begin working at 6 or 7 in the morning, hours before people in the surrounding labs even showed up. For procedures that could be completed in either one or two days, I made an effort to try and always complete them in one day. This may have taken more work and planning, but I knew that this endeavor would produce more valuable data in the end. Ultimately, the extra work that I put into the project paid off in greater ways than I expected. I』m not saying that hard work will always result in a publication, but putting in extra work can always help you become a better researcher.

At the end of that summer, I finally felt like a real researcher. My journey had gone on for close to two years and I emerged confidant in my abilities and with a feeling of accomplishment about what I had achieved. The journey was difficult at times, but I can undoubtedly say that my work this past summer made all of the effort that I invested worth it. My journey actually doesn』t stop there. I have transitioned away from biological research and I am now focusing on my other great passion in life: health policy. This part of my journey is still developing, but I will be sure to let you all know how it turns out. Until then, I wish you all the best of luck with your research journey and I hope my story has helped to prepare you for your research experiences.

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