One of the services I offer is to help create a research plan for a Social Science lab. This can include populating the lab, creating a yearly time-line, or just getting the lab back on track. Most academics have a workload that is overwhelming and when someone is teaching courses, balancing several grants, mentoring students, and maintaining a family life, certain tasks become stressful. Having a successful lab means that the researcher is publishing, going to conferences, collecting copious amounts of data…. Right? Well when someone is trying to maintain life, sometimes deadlines for conferences pass by, or mountains of data is just being sat on, and research assistants are unsure to what they need to do to help. From my own experience, I know that this is where that dark feeling of failure becomes a factor.

I have been part of Dr. Steven Smith’s (SMU, Dean of Science) Social Attitudes Psychology Laboratory since May 2009. I started as a research assistant collecting data and learning how to build an experiment. After completing my honours, I was promoted to lab manager. Remember that blog post about Imposter Syndrome? I was very much experiencing that phenomenon, and I think everyone else around me was thinking the same thing that I was….

I was new at this! I needed to come up with a guideline that was going to help me out. And don’t get me wrong, there were some learning lessons that have been included well after failing a few times. I want to talk about some of the guidelines that I follow to ensure that I have a successful year in the lab. First things first, you need a plan that outlines what needs to be accomplished. It doesn’t need to be set in stone, but there should be some structure.

1. BUILDING YOUR TIMELINE

Typically, if you have a grant this is a priority project. Let’s call the grant “Project X”. Project X needs a timeline. You need ethics… when should you be submitting it? What material is needed to do that? How will you be collecting data? Does this mean you need several research assistants to help you gather this data? Do you need to build an experiment? What about conferences? When are those deadlines? These are the kinds of questions you want to ask yourself. Depending on how many projects you run at a time, these timelines are important because this is how you are going to manage your lab. The great thing about most grants is that you need to have this information explained already, so you do have a timeline, but that is a more holistic view to an entire project. You want to focus on specific years, and tailor it to your institute as well your collaborations. This seems simple right? Well, remember you have a list of other priorities that need to be considered. And in most cases, there is never just one project happening in your lab. This is where the team that you have in your lab is crucial.

2. POPULATING YOUR LAB

You need a strong team. Every person brought into the lab needs to have a role and needs to contribute something to your lab. I personally like to have an academically diverse lab. What I mean by academically diverse is that I want the research assistants to come from different levels of experience, and sometimes field interests.

Every person that comes into the lab, I sit down with them and I ask them their personal goals. Where do they feel their strengths are? What about their weaknesses? What do they want to learn from the lab? And how can I help them reach their next goal (graduate school)? This is important because this is how you will assign people to different tasks within the lab, it also helps you know where you need to help build on these student’s skills. But also, because you have their goals in mind, they are going to ensure that your goals are met because it is their goals and accomplishments as well.

Well first, you need a leader. This person is typically a graduate student who sees your labs success as their success. They would need to have a strong understanding of research design, and statistics. You want someone who an efficient worker, who is independent, but who is also great at asking questions when they are needed. This person needs to understand that they won’t have all the answers, and that everyone on the team works as a unit. So even though they are a leader in the lab, others growth is their growth too. It is this person who is helping you write and do analysis. They are monitoring the lab and ensuring that your timelines are being met, and that everything is being done efficiently, ethically, and that you are well informed.

Because you have your timeline figured out, you know how many tasks you have, how many participants you need, the method to which you are gathering your data. This is where you need your volunteer research assistants. The next person on your team is your “head research assistant”. This person is either doing an honours or has just completed one and is looking to get into graduate school. This person is motivated and is working closely with you and your lab manager to maintain the flow of the data collection in the lab.

Depending on how many projects you have will contribute to how many volunteers you will want in your lab at a time. Sometimes space is an issue, but if you are collecting data, having a few volunteers to put in 4 hours a week will mean you are collecting data fast and efficiently. This is where scheduling data collection times is crucial, as well as ensuring the small research tasks you need done are happening. Your volunteer research assistants can do literature reviews and annotated bibliographies for you. They are eager to collect material for ethics and this is a great opportunity to help them build up their CVs as well as your own. Having three research assistants would be smart. Try having at least one of them in 2nd year or 3rd, because these are returning students, who may want to do an honours with you or become a graduate student and continue to contribute to your lab. It is a great way to shape your next couple of years.

3. BE INVOLVED BUT NOT TOO INVOLVED

Everyone has a different working style. Because I am writing this from the point of view of a lab manager, how I keep Dr. Smith in the loop is I go to him with each step of development. He edits anything that comes out of the lab. Any research ideas must be past through him. But he lets us explore and approach him with ideas, so we can learn from our mistakes as he guides us through the research experience. This is where it is important that you as the principle investigator decides how much you want to get through your lab. There should be strict monitoring but do it through the lab manager. With proper training, and a tight timeline your lab manager will know exactly how to fit your needs. But also remember that this is a learning experience for you as well, and to have a successful lab, courses, and family life, your timeline and team is what makes you flourish.

If you are a researcher who feels they would like to set up their lab this way. Who needs to regroup and consider how they can be efficient this coming year, please do not hesitate to contact me as I am more than willing to sit down and discuss how I can help your lab grow and help you have a successful research year. I know the stress that academics endure every year, and if I can help you alleviate some of that stress, then you are one step closer to living a happier and healthier research life.

I was THAT student! You know... the one that was always talking and disrupting the class. When I was younger I use to walk to the front of the class with my hand raised because I wanted and needed the teacher to answer my hand. I remember in grade 8 science, I had entered the class at the beginning of September thinking “this is my year!” I sat next to my best friend Jess and started talking with my peers around me. The teacher walks in, and without skipping a beat she points to me and says “nope, your seat is right here for the rest of the year”. She pointed to a seat that was in the very front of the classroom facing the wall (which had a very large eagle picture on it by the way), meaning that my back was not only to the class but also the teacher. I also want to point out that until that day I had never had an experience with this teacher, so I am 100% sure that the other teachers were warning her about me...

I got an A+ in science that year. My entire workload consisted of me drawing a master piece of that eagle on my desk, and not doing the science fair. My attitude was if she didn’t want me to be part of the class, I wasn’t going to be. My grade reflected that the teacher just didn’t want to deal with me. But, my other grades within the school were great, I just was a disruptive student. I realized after that year that the only way I was going to successfully learn in school was to seek assistance outside of the typical dynamic where someone would get assistance. I reached out to other classmates, guidance counselors, eventually in high school even university students within the city. I had learned to study and teach myself theories and application outside of the school system.

When I had decided I wanted to go into university I realized that I had learned a skill, because the professors were not going to be holding my hand throughout the courses. They came to class, they read their lectures and they left. It’s the students’ responsibility to build studying habits and learn how to apply their knowledge to the real world. Which I had already learned to do while I was in grade school... Hold on a second. CULTURE SHOCK!!! How does one get culture shock without moving anywhere... wait... the international students are experiencing what I am experiencing 1000x more than I am?? ... HIGH SCHOOL DOES NOT PREPARE YOU FOR WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO DIVE HEAD FIRST INTO. Have I made that clear? No?... ok!! You know how in high school you are like "hahaha I have a 95% overall average, and I have a few friends, and I can play all the video games I want, and plus sleep all weekend, and eat whatever I want". Culture shock is about to happen while you are sitting on your couch staring at the wall because for some reason staring at the wall is a stress response to the work load that is included at university. Ok yes, grades are important. That’s obvious. But there are skills and experiences that are not taught by going to class. To be successful during and after your undergrad, you need different skills other than getting an A in your social behaviour class (nobody tells you this!!)

Academic success is more than just good grades. And if you want to go to graduate school... there is a long list of other requirements that are needed other than grades. When students learn about these other requirements, it is either too late to apply, so late in the academic program that more schooling is required, and hundreds of questions that no one seems to know the answers to.

Even myself, who was involved within the university had to take an extra year and a year off to prepare myself for my academic journey. If I had someone who was able to tell me what I needed and help guide me to those resources and help prepare me, I would have saved myself 2 years, and about $10,000 of tuition and book costs (I can hear the senior students now... "Let them figure it out themselves!!! Muahahahaha.)

From my mentoring within the Social Attitudes Psychology lab at Saint Mary’s University, I soon learned that a lot of the students who were approaching me really had no idea what they needed to do to either go into graduate school, apply to professional programs, or even just gather information about co-op or volunteer experience. I spent most of my time guiding these students and helping them gain the required experience they need to get to their next goal in life.

I decided that through Alpha Ethics, I want to be able to guide more students into the career path that is best suited for them. And doing this earlier on in their academic career, so they can realize what is needed while going into their 2nd and 3rd year and not in their final year of study, or their victory lap or two. It should not be "the norm" that students are taking a 5th year to aquire research experience or an honours degree because they found out about the requirements too late. Some quick advice I can give to any students reading this now:

Get involved! In whatever capacity that means to you! Volunteer in the community, join a society, run for board of directors. Do something that will make you stand out to future employers', graduate schools, or even a honours supervisor.
Get to know your professors. Introduce yourself, go and tell them your interests. If they aren’t the same as yours I can guarantee you, they know someone who might have the same interests. This is how you build relationships with the right people.
For science students. Apply to volunteer in labs. Become a research assistant. The wealth of knowledge you learn there is unmatched.
Become a teacher assistant. You build meaningful relationships this way as well as grasp the literature and academic concepts differently than you would as a student.

This is honestly only the surface level of what should be done as a student interested in pursuing academia and professional programs.

I am offering 1 on 1 academic success coaching to students who are interested in learning these steps and want to obtain meaningful positions within the university. I am also willing to do workshops for students who want to pursue an honours, graduate school, or research within the university environment.

I guarantee you now that my grade 8 science teacher would be shocked to know that I’ve attended close to 20 national and international conference all over the world and that I am able to convey scientific findings to not only academics and scientists but also my community.

Remember, asking for assistance will get you a long way. Go to the people in your community and talk to them about how you can help them grow. Make it a win for them and a win for you. Stay smart.