• Question: When in the lab have you made a mistake and how did you resolve it?

    Asked by Chloe...Doris_Domino=^.^= to Livia, Laura, Kristi, Georgina, Chris on 7 Nov 2017. This question was also asked by Elizabeth_Gertrude :).
    • Photo: Kristi Sawyer

      Kristi Sawyer answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      All the time! If you make a mistake, most of the time it is possible to do it again. Lab work can be very complex at times so it is natural that some mistakes will be made, but science as a career is far more forgiving than at school. We are not being marked or assessed on what we do, so people understand if things take a little while longer than expected due to mistakes or things not working as planned.

    • Photo: Livia Carvalho

      Livia Carvalho answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      There are several times we can make mistake and therefore everything has a record we can go back to check. There is also a check by other people, specially when you are junior.
      I have made several mistakes in the past, and sometimes you have to start from scratch and do it all over again. The important thing is to write down every step of the way, so you can trace it back, and try again!

    • Photo: Laura Ginesi

      Laura Ginesi answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      Once I left a notebook of results on a train. I had to start from scratch and repeat almost six months’ worth of experiments.

      At first I was absolutely devastated, but one of the things you learn when you work in a lab is that mistakes happen and that it’s important to repeat experiments. It takes time to make sure that your results are accurate and valid. maybe today we can back things up on computes but you still have to make sure that you are measuring what you think you are measuring.

      Sometimes experiments just don’t work. Then you have to try to figure out why – and try again!

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