• Question: How do you stay motivated when an experiment is unsuccessful or you can't understand the results?

    Asked by Laoise Gallagher to Rose on 15 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Rose Simnett

      Rose Simnett answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      That is a very good question! It is very hard sometimes when you’re working really hard and things are not going to plan but nothing is impossible to understand. If a reaction is unsuccessful, you start from the beginning and look at what chemicals you put it and what else might have happened. It’s important that you learn from experiments that are unsuccessful, then you can use the information to develop a reaction that will work.
      It’s also a really great feeling when you finally get something to work, especially when it’s something that has never been done before 🙂

Comments

  • Photo: Thomas

    Thomas commented on :

    Hi Laoise, this happens quite a bit at times, so it’s all about breaking the experiment down and troubleshooting it. I’ve had some experiments which couldn’t get off the ground because of contamination – the reaction would start without adding the second reagent, so I’d usually have to hunt down the source of contamination and make a fresh solution. Definitely thought me to make sure I keep very squeaky clean glassware, especially when working with enzymes, which are very sensitive to chemicals!

    If it’s data that I can’t understand I’ll usually take a break from it and do something else – sometimes all it needs is a fresh pair of eyes. Especially if it involves a lot of data processing beforehand, which can sometimes be very boring!

    In general, motivation can be recuperated if you take a break from what you’re doing, especially if it’s been hogging most of the day. Sometimes it’s all about getting a blast of fresh air by going for a walk, or having a banana and mulling it over for a bit, and then it’s a case of “Once more into the breach dear friends!”.