CoffeeTime Science: That Last Experiment Before Leaving the Lab…

My phone is vibrating in my pocket. No doubt Katja and Narges asking if it’s coffee time yet. I can’t answer, I’m wearing gloves and am kneeling on the floor in front of a -80 freezer, trying to identify and log samples whilst also trying to avoid frostbite by rubbing my painfully cold hands together. Freezer space is a sought-after commodity in all labs, and periodically, when new members request their fair share of space, someone has to go through the freezers and figure out what the samples are, and who they belong to in the process of trying to clear up some space.

Two hours later, I have coffee with Katja and Narges, and they sympathize with me as I recount my ordeal.

“Some of the samples might as well have been labeled in hieroglyphics, and a worrying amount of them had no labels at all” I complain “I even found some that were from the last millennium!”

…Narges is impressed “Wow, how anyone thinks those are still going to be useful is beyond me”. Katja joins in “We need people to be as organized as Count von Count^*. He threw out or distributed everything he didn’t need before he left, and kept an organized log of the samples he wants us to keep until his paper is out!” Yes, wouldn’t it be amazing if this were the rule rather than the exception. “Maybe there should be some sort of exit protocol for everyone leaving a lab” I suggest.

1) Throw out everything that is out of date and no longer usable;

2) Distribute useful things to others in the lab;

3) Label everything clearly;

4) Keep a log of samples with instructions of how long to keep them for,

5) Make sure your data and protocols are backed up, and that your PI and others continuing the project can access them.

“You know that’s not going to happen, at least not in the majority of cases” Narges interrupts my fantasy “Most people will be doing huge, last-minute experiments up to the moment they leave for the airport”. Narges is not exaggerating, this has happened more than once before, and inevitably means that samples, protocols, lab books and reagents are left in a state of general disorganization, leading to the kind of -80 freezer scenario described above.

“Of course, the best-case-scenario is when the person leaving follows steps 1-5 of my proposed exit protocol AND if the person taking over the project has had some overlap with their predecessor and had time to learn the techniques and been given an overview of the project and where all the samples and reagents are” I proclaim. Katja and Narges look at me as if I’m crazy. “You’re a hopeless optimist” they conclude “And evidently way too organized”. I smile. Better not to tell them about my color-coded sample and reagent logs…

^*Known for his counting and organizational skills.

About me: My name is Christine, and I am currently working as a research specialist at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After my undergraduate studies in Oxford, I moved to London for my PhD and first postdoc. After 7 years in this magnificent city, I was ready for an adventure and decided to go to Boston for 2 years for a second postdoc. As love and science made me swap rainy London for alternately deep-frozen or tropical Boston, 2 years turned into 5 (and counting), and I decided to deviate from the traditional academic trajectory to work as a staff scientist (the rather fancy title of my position is research specialist). Most days, I sit with post-docs and other staff scientists over lunch or coffee, and discussion topics range from the inane to career goals and options, our research, new techniques and technology and the like. I would like to share some of those topics with you in this blog. Want to join in? Grab yourself a cup of your favorite caffeinated beverage, read along, and leave comments. You can read my other blog posts here.