A very inspiring article--How to Deal With a Failed Experiment# Biology - 生物学
E*t
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How to Deal With a Failed Experiment
by Troy Hibbard
Scientific success is often defined by how well your experiments progress
and the results you produce. However, scientific research is driven by a
curiosity about the unknown, and you cannot always be prepared for the
unknown.
Inevitably there will come a time when your experiments fail. In this
article I give you some of the best ways to deal with failed experiments and
a reminder that “failures” may actually have some value hidden within.
Pause and rewind
When dealing with a failed experiment, one of the best things you can do is
take a break. You might be tempted to continue repeating the experiment, but
there is no point jumping back into an experiment when you have not given
yourself time to assess the situation; doing so will only waste time and
precious samples.
You are going to need time to resolve the issues with your experiment. This
can be taxing on both the body and mind. So before you attempt to understand
where things went wrong, consider recharging your body, and clearing your
mind. Grab a cup of coffee or a sandwich, relax, and let your prefrontal
cortex work away quietly on sorting out the next move.
Assessing the fundamentals
Once body and mind are recharged, it is time to focus on finding where the
experiment went wrong. Was it due to poor technique, faulty equipment, or
perhaps an expired reagent? The only way to know for sure is to repeat the
experiment while taking note of each component.
At this point, it may not hurt to have a second pair of eyes looking over
your shoulder as well. Asking for assistance from a colleague is a nice way
of gaining a fresh perspective from an un-biased resource.
Is it the technique or the question?
If the experiment is proving to be tricky, and continues to fail despite
your greatest efforts, then perhaps it is time for a new approach. You may
find yourself very stressed, and doubting your skills. However, you should
find solace in knowing that you are actually progressing; the problem is
likely not technical.
Logic dictates that if you are not finding the correct answer, then perhaps
you are asking the wrong question. It is quite rare for only one hypothesis
to exist for any given problem. This is, yet again, an opportunity for you
to pick the brains of your colleagues. Even within the same lab, the wealth
of knowledge and experience can vary greatly allowing you to save hours of
subsequent research time with only a few minutes of questions.
Leave the failures in the lab
When all is said and done, there are still times when the problems just
cannot be solved despite the time, effort, and resources. This is when a
scientist needs to focus less on recovering the experiment, and more on
recovering themself. The physical days will come to an end, but there is
always that mental side which has a nasty habit of following you home.
Ideally, the best escape is whatever method allows you to forget the problem
by the time you reach the welcome mat at home. This is easier said than
done, but you must always remember that your experiment is neither you, nor
a representation of you.
We are only human after all
The goal of science is to illuminate the dark corners of the world, and
though scientists are at the forefront of this journey, we are still humans
in awe of the unknown. Hence, failed experiments will always arise at the
worst of times, and no one is immune. So, we must take our failures
collectively with our successes. Like two sides of the same coin, their
combined value only adds to our knowledge of the unknown, and should not be
thought of as negative. After all, we would not know which paths are best
for advancement if all paths were not ventured.
by Troy Hibbard
Scientific success is often defined by how well your experiments progress
and the results you produce. However, scientific research is driven by a
curiosity about the unknown, and you cannot always be prepared for the
unknown.
Inevitably there will come a time when your experiments fail. In this
article I give you some of the best ways to deal with failed experiments and
a reminder that “failures” may actually have some value hidden within.
Pause and rewind
When dealing with a failed experiment, one of the best things you can do is
take a break. You might be tempted to continue repeating the experiment, but
there is no point jumping back into an experiment when you have not given
yourself time to assess the situation; doing so will only waste time and
precious samples.
You are going to need time to resolve the issues with your experiment. This
can be taxing on both the body and mind. So before you attempt to understand
where things went wrong, consider recharging your body, and clearing your
mind. Grab a cup of coffee or a sandwich, relax, and let your prefrontal
cortex work away quietly on sorting out the next move.
Assessing the fundamentals
Once body and mind are recharged, it is time to focus on finding where the
experiment went wrong. Was it due to poor technique, faulty equipment, or
perhaps an expired reagent? The only way to know for sure is to repeat the
experiment while taking note of each component.
At this point, it may not hurt to have a second pair of eyes looking over
your shoulder as well. Asking for assistance from a colleague is a nice way
of gaining a fresh perspective from an un-biased resource.
Is it the technique or the question?
If the experiment is proving to be tricky, and continues to fail despite
your greatest efforts, then perhaps it is time for a new approach. You may
find yourself very stressed, and doubting your skills. However, you should
find solace in knowing that you are actually progressing; the problem is
likely not technical.
Logic dictates that if you are not finding the correct answer, then perhaps
you are asking the wrong question. It is quite rare for only one hypothesis
to exist for any given problem. This is, yet again, an opportunity for you
to pick the brains of your colleagues. Even within the same lab, the wealth
of knowledge and experience can vary greatly allowing you to save hours of
subsequent research time with only a few minutes of questions.
Leave the failures in the lab
When all is said and done, there are still times when the problems just
cannot be solved despite the time, effort, and resources. This is when a
scientist needs to focus less on recovering the experiment, and more on
recovering themself. The physical days will come to an end, but there is
always that mental side which has a nasty habit of following you home.
Ideally, the best escape is whatever method allows you to forget the problem
by the time you reach the welcome mat at home. This is easier said than
done, but you must always remember that your experiment is neither you, nor
a representation of you.
We are only human after all
The goal of science is to illuminate the dark corners of the world, and
though scientists are at the forefront of this journey, we are still humans
in awe of the unknown. Hence, failed experiments will always arise at the
worst of times, and no one is immune. So, we must take our failures
collectively with our successes. Like two sides of the same coin, their
combined value only adds to our knowledge of the unknown, and should not be
thought of as negative. After all, we would not know which paths are best
for advancement if all paths were not ventured.
