You made it through the “How to Pick a PhD Program” series! As a bonus, today I’m exploring things to look for in a lab partner, and some red flags, once you’ve gotten into your lab. You can’t always choose your lab and project partner, but should be able to hold them to a standard. You may also want to make yourself a better partner as well. Here’s what’s on my mind!
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[kofi]So, you need a lab partner
Great! A solid lab partner can be an invaluable addition and contributor to a project. Someone that you can rely on to do great work and support you/vice-versa is never a bad person to have on your side. However, a bad lab partner can be catastrophic to your progress. How can we tell which we have? If we’ve found out that we have a “bad” partner, what can we do? These are the ideas I’ll be exploring today.
Commitment and Quality of work
This is an obvious first stop. Your lab partner has to produce quality work. They have to be taking their job as a trainee seriously. A lab partner who is nonchalant about everything research-related is a lab partner you can’t count on to do serious research. Just like in any other career path, lackadaisical employees tend to not get very far. During your PhD, the pressure to perform is already amplified and stress piles up when trying to get meaningful results. A lab partner that doesn’t take you or your project seriously will only add to that anxiety.
Are they trustworthy?
This is so important that it goes in its own section, although it’s similar to the previous one. Your lab partner has to be trustworthy. It’s no good to work with someone when you can’t trust that they’ll take care of their responsibilities. In a class project, if you don’t do your part, something might not get done. I or another teammate might have to put in more work. Annoying. However, in a lab environment, if your partner doesn’t do their work, your cells might die. A project error might set you back days, weeks, or months. They could break a piece of equipment. A million things in the same vein. If I can’t ask my partner to do X on Y day/time and trust that they will, they aren’t my partner anymore.
It CERTAINLY shouldn’t have to be said in 2019, but I’ll say it anyway. DON’T PICK A LAB PARTNER THAT DOES SOME UNETHICAL ISH. Academia is already chock full of irreproducible (or worse, intentionally faked) data and experiments that stem from massive pressure to publish or die. You do NOT want to be on the receiving end of a research integrity investigation.
Are they a real person and not a robot?
Send me your hate mail, I’m ready for it. Depending on the nature of the project, you might be spending a lot of time with your lab partner. If that’s the case, I’d rather be working with someone with a personality, that likes to talk about their interests and life outside of work. Effective lab partners don’t have to be best friends, but they should have some kind of rapport established.
I know that extroversion isn’t everyone’s strong suit. Popular culture would have us believe that the stereotypical PhD student works long, lonely hours into the night with only their data screen as their friend. However, you don’t have to go from total strangers to BFFs with your lab partner soon or ever. You just need to make sure that if you have to be spending a lot of time with them, it’s time you’ll not totally hate.
Do they have a good relationship with your PI?
I’ve said it before in this series and I will say it again. Academia is political. Labs are political. People, myself obviously included, like to categorize and group other people because it’s easier. What I’m getting at is, if your lab partner has a poor/negative relationship with your PI, your own relationship with your PI may suffer if you’re associated with each other. People can say “that’s stupid that never happens”, but it may just never have happened to them. This is particularly relevant if you’re the less tenured/younger student partner of an older student. The older student might be graduating soon, but you still have more time there. As much as you should watch out for your fellow students’ reputations, also watch out for your own.
Will they throw you under the bus?
In the corporate sense, I’m a “bad” PhD student. I’m 1000% more focused and concerned about supporting my fellow students than I am about research progress. I also value strong 1-on-1 feedback rather than making a spectacle. I will almost never make a negative comment about research unless I’ve mentioned it to the person beforehand. Caveat – I don’t play with research integrity. You cheat, you’re gone.
A bad lab partner will make a point of identifying issues in front of your boss. They might introduce doubt about your data or about your research methodology. They might question your commitment to your degree (yes, really). It’s a classic power struggle move to stay in your boss’s good graces, and it’s really stupid.
I think I have a bad lab partner. What do I do?
Best thing to do first and foremost is talk to them openly. I’m the type of person that responds much better to being spoken to like an adult rather than tattled on like a child. If your partner doesn’t respond to a gentle rebuke, by all means go up the ladder. But if there’s something we can discuss and resolve between us and you go up the ladder first thing, there’s no more trust there. Again, the exception to this is research integrity stuff. If a paper gets retracted, that stains everyone’s record, not just the “perpetrator”.
If you feel like you need to go to your PI, do so calmly. You want to present facts and logic, not sound like complainer. Much like sending an email, never go to your PI angry. It might backfire. Be specific about what you’re looking for. It may not be possible to separate you or your partner from the current project, but it’s reasonable to ask not to be paired again.
I think I *am* a bad lab partner. What do I do?
Number one solution is to ask for feedback. The hallmark of someone with great emotional maturity is the ability to ask for and receive feedback. See what’s actionable. How can you be a better partner to your labmates?
That’s a wrap!
There are a thousand other things to consider in a lab partner, but these should give a good primer. Catch the other posts in this series at the links below! A HUGE thank you to PhD Diaries for helping me on these posts, and to Academic Chatter for helping to promote them. These discussions are SO important. The time spent in your PhD can be some of the most formative of your entire life. Invest in the planning on the front end, make a great choice, and never look back!
Sean
Catch up on the other posts in the “What to Look for in a PhD” Series below!
Overview: How to Pick a PhD Program
1) What to Look for in a PhD University
2) What to Look for in a PhD Department
3) What to Look (Out) for in a PhD Advisor
4) What to Look for in a Lab Partner (this post)
Hi! My name is Sean, and I’m the creator of the Authentically Average blog. I write about my experiences as a husband, PhD candidate, cook, travel buddy, Catholic, and all-around average human being. If you’re loving this post or are intrigued by my writing and want to read more, follow along with my adventures here!
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