It’s time to open the listener mailbag to answer your question about the human side of science, and life in the lab! This week: the importance of lunch, blending art with science, and the dream of a lab-based sitcom.
We didn’t have to dig very deep into to the mailbag this week because we heard from an undergraduate listener Monika. She asked a series of questions that covered so much ground, we devote the entire episode to her!
Her first question is about disordered eating, and how lab schedules might interfere with getting three square meals each day. She writes:
For the past year, I’ve been working in a lab with a grad student advisor, and was working there over the summer over 40 hours a week. However, in that entire time, I don’t think I’ve ever seen my advisor eat a meal, and I found that a lot of the time when I asked to take meal breaks it was seen with a sense of inferiority or “weakness” for taking time away from work. I definitely understand that food is not allowed inside of a lot of lab settings for safety reasons, but it was a bit alarming for me to see how little people in this kind of research slip into some unsettling habits like replacing meals with coffee or just skipping meals entirely. I feel like the grad student trope are just so busy that they don’t have time to consider proper nutrition, but as someone who has struggled with disordered eating and eating disorders, this is something I can’t compensate for, if that makes any sense. What are your thoughts about this?
It can definitely be alarming to see students or faculty ‘working through lunch’ because they’re too busy to stop. Long term, that habit is harmful to your mental and physical health, and no job is worth sacrificing those things.
We do our best to reassure Monika that skipping lunch is not pervasive in research labs. In fact, Dan took extra long lunches everyday just to get out of the lab! More seriously, though, you may not see your lab mates eating for a variety of reasons, but that doesn’t mean they’re not finding time to grab a bite.
Next up, we talk scholarships and fellowships:
What are your thoughts about the big research scholarships during undergrad like Goldwater, or postgrad like Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, etc.? Are they necessary for getting into grad school? How well would they distinguish an applicant (or not)?
We recently spoke with
Elizabeth Somsen about her experience with the Fulbright Scholarship. She studied abroad in Turkey after graduating from college and before entering a PhD program. She’s written a
helpful guide to Postbac experiences which is a great place to start your research.
To answer the question more directly, having these experiences on your CV is a wonderful booster, but it’s neither necessary, nor sufficient. Applicants will be judged mostly on their research experience and letters of recommendation.
If you have NO research experience, a postbac is not enough to secure your position. And if you have lots of quality research under your belt, a postbac looks great but is certainly not required.
Next, we discuss the intersection of art and science:
I am hoping to double major in Film/Media along with a STEM major, as I really love art and science, and want to find a way to do both. I’ve recently been accepted into a study abroad program where I’ll be taking classes at a nationally-ranked film school and doing an entir...
