Hi, it's been awhile.. like almost 2 years since I've graduated from NUS. But I realised I didn't post an FYP reflection / experience post. Not sure if this will still be accurate since it's been awhile but anything goes.
SO! I did my FYP under my prof who was stationed at CeLS, level 3 (that's all the info you're getting on my prof). I was interested in doing a microbio-related project and so I came to know of this prof through talking to my TA during a microbio mod. This prof was her supervisor and she recommended the prof to me so that's a huge green light because... it's not common for people to recommend their own lab unless they really think it's great. So moral of story, talk to your seniors / TAs / contacts. It's important to find out more before committing to a year long project which is bound to be stressful, likely full of failures and more stress.
so what was great about this lab?
1. the supervisor is nice and approachable. feel free to simply knock on the usually opened door and have a quick meeting about your concerns.
2. the lab culture was neutral. what i mean is that they aren't the friendliest people but they are also not intimidating. think of it as a lab full of nice, helpful introverts. Once you've established a friendship, life becomes brilliant.
3. flexibility of time - i can literally come in anytime to do my experiments / stuff and leave. no strict 9am-6pm thing but it means you're the limiting factor for your project - how many experiments you plan to cover in a day / week? your willingness to come in over the weekends / holidays to do your project etc.
4. assigned mentor (this may be a disadvantage if you're assigned someone who isn't a great mentor but mine was 👍). Because the prof will not be so free to entertain you all the time, so with a good mentor, you have someone who know's their stuff that you can consult, learn and seek help from. Like, my mentor comes on weekends to help me do stuff!! what a nice person, really.
2. the lab culture was neutral. what i mean is that they aren't the friendliest people but they are also not intimidating. think of it as a lab full of nice, helpful introverts. Once you've established a friendship, life becomes brilliant.
3. flexibility of time - i can literally come in anytime to do my experiments / stuff and leave. no strict 9am-6pm thing but it means you're the limiting factor for your project - how many experiments you plan to cover in a day / week? your willingness to come in over the weekends / holidays to do your project etc.
4. assigned mentor (this may be a disadvantage if you're assigned someone who isn't a great mentor but mine was 👍). Because the prof will not be so free to entertain you all the time, so with a good mentor, you have someone who know's their stuff that you can consult, learn and seek help from. Like, my mentor comes on weekends to help me do stuff!! what a nice person, really.
Ok, now to the project and the process. I basically got to choose my project between 2 options and I chose one where I could work with animals because it's always a + to have worked with mice. Looking back at my FYP vs UROPS vs current situation, I would say I am very lucky during my FYP - to have all my results in the first attempt and that these results were reproducible. Having people already optimise protocols that actually work for your case is a blessing!!! BLESS THEM PREDECESSORS!
But not every journey will be smooth, some experiments just won't work in your case / your hypothesis may just be wrong / you don't have any great guidance in your lab. But these are things you can't control so here's some advice that is within your control!
1. READ (damn it) - i hate reading so much, but it's impossible to do research / stay in acad without reading reading reading and reading! If you don't read, you won't know what's already out there. Get your foundation right and know what is the point of your research before jumping on board with experiments. Because if your direction and story are not clear, you're simply running experiments without thinking and this is detrimental to your poster presentation and report writing. Reading forms your foundation and knowledge in the field, giving you a clearer idea on what's going on and why YOUR research is IMPORTANT in the field.
2. Write your Literature Review First!!!! - this is the action to take after reading. While the ideas and thoughts are fresh in your head from all that reading, script your introduction draft and put it all into your own words. Paint your research story! even with negative results, you'll have a rough idea on the reason for it! Also, because you may not have sufficient time to do a last minute draft when datelines approach.
3. Logbook - you may find this a hassle but every small detail you do should be recorded so that you can look back at it when your experiment results are weird. You may think you can remember the procedures / the values used etc. but it's always assuring to have something that is 100% accurate there for you to refer back to. MUST OK? MUST!!!
4. Organise your data - even with negative results, you can notice a pattern through multiple failures. By the end of your FYP journey, you'll have so much junk in your files that it'll be difficult to fish out the important ones. Keep your data organised. I put mine in powerpoint folders where they are in "report-ready" format = all labelled / nicely arranged / description added. In the case of my lab, we have lab meetings and update sessions where we have to present and prepare reports so that's also a way of keeping your data organised.
5. Make friends - no more reagent? ask your friend in the other lab to spare some while your lab's orders are being processed. I have to admit, i'm not great at this... so i make friends with people who are HAHAHA so i would ask my friend to help me ask the other lab LOL. Well, it works for me so :)
6. Lastly, MANAGE YOUR STRESS!!! If you have any serious concerns or are too stressed, find someone to share it with. you need to learn how to cope with the stress and this includes relieving stress in healthy ways. Ventilate if you need to / take a break if you're dying / pamper yourself once a month etc. It is ok to give yourself a breather. Staying in the lab won't make your cells grow faster or turn you into a genius overnight.
The greatest takeaway from doing research independently and with time being a very stressful factor is that it allows one to see if they are suited for research. I loved my FYP lab, hence, I am pursuing a PhD in the same lab lol. You may also come to realise that you may like research but not in the current lab / field / style. It's ok to take time to find out where your passion lies. I wouldn't say my heart beats for my phd project but at least it's something i enjoy and can see myself doing forever. If you hate FYP, a PhD will be 100x worse so please consider carefully whether you can commit the next 4-5years of your life living that way. Lastly, learn to enjoy the journey - hard or easy, fun or suffering. At the end of the day, the sense of achievement from churning out your thesis will be the greatest reward of your uni acad life. (at least, that's how i felt). with that, all the best :)
