This week, I made my professional debut into the world of research science! The Society for Neuroscience (SFN) is the largest professional neuroscience organization. Every year, thousands of research scientists from around the world come together at the SFN conference to share their latest research findings and learn about advancements in the field.
It all started junior year. During an honors option meeting with my pharmacology professor, I mentioned I had been working in the Neural Engineering and Neuroprostheses lab; my graduate student mentor had just finished up at Penn State, so I wasn’t sure what project I would be working on next. Coincidently, my pharmacology professor said his lab at the Center for Developmental and Health Genetics was just laying out plans to start a collaboration with my current lab. After several meetings, myself and another undergrad decided we would work on different aspects of the new project.
Being the bridge between two different labs in two different departments– two different colleges, in fact– proved to have a new set of challenges. My work became far more independent, and I was responsible for developing methods and protocols, as well as meeting regularly with both research advisers to discuss the projects future directions. It took me the LONGEST time to get even the simplest things to work! But by May, I had completed enough research to submit an abstract (aka “summary”) to the SFN committee.
In July, I heard back from SFN: our abstract had been accepted into the conference. At that time, I was working on a separate project at MIT, so I couldn’t resume the Penn State project until September. When I returned to State College, we were somewhat panicked to discover the machine we relied on for this project was broken and needed to be serviced. By the time it was repaired, October had rolled around. Crunch time!! I had less than two months to learn the new techniques and complete the entire second phase of the project. As is usually the case with research, something that should have been straightfoward was wrong…. and we had to spend another few weeks troubleshooting the whole process from start to finish. I was just starting to reallllly panick when, bingo, we found it and fixed the problem. Now it was crunch time x 10.
After several long days and sleepless nights, I finished gathering the results and worked with my lab team to analyze the data. I created a 3′ x 5′ poster of the research to explain the background, methods, results, and future implications of our work. Then, my research adviser and I traveled to Washington, DC.
Attending the SFN conference in DC was definitely one of the highlights of my undergraduate career. Image, 31,000 people, from all over the country and all over the world, in one place to discuss something we’re all excited about! There were thousands and thousands of research posters on display. The poster sessions were twice a day, for four hours, Saturday through Wednesday. It wouldn’t be humanly possible to get to all of them, so you can create an itinery/gameplan by searching for specific authors, topics, etc. The conference also consisted of forums, minisymposiums, and other informational sessions.
I was really nervous to even visit other posters, because I was afraid I wouldn’t have anything useful to say or wouldn’t be able to follow. Then, I was both surprised and proud to discover I knew enough to approach almost any poster that matched my background/interests, and follow along and ask educated questions! I was even able to give advice to people working in fields similar to my own. It was sort of amazing, like everything I had been working towards these past four years culminated in this one experience. I had really learned stuff in my classes, and more importantly, I could apply it to real world situations.
I was even MORE nervous to have other people come visit my poster. I had a million thoughts going through my head: what if they told me my research was crap? My data couldn’t possibly be real? What if they asked me all sorts of questions I couldn’t answer? Worst of all, what if NOBODY stopped to see what I had been working on? After the first hour, my anxiety melted away.
I was amazed to see that people had actually looked up my abstract, and thought it was interesting enough to come to the poster. I had a pretty consistent flow of people too, which was exciting. Best of all, I was able to field questions and engage in scientific discourse with professionals in the field. I was totally shocked by how much other scientists wanted to discuss future directions and ways to make this work better. After the fact, my adviser told me one particular group of people who had stopped by (from Yale, University of Utah, and University of Bath) were THE premier scientists of this field, and making contacts with them would definitely prove useful for the future of this project. (I’m really glad I didn’t know they were a big deal at the time– that way, I didn’t have any reason to be nervous in front of them.) It was an incredible environment, and really helped me understand the how essential collaboration and communication are in the sciences. (Here’s a photo of me with my poster, and me presenting my research to collegues from Stanford and the National University of Ireland!)
It was also like a mini reunion. One of my Penn State professors stopped by my poster, and I had the chance to see posters presented by other Penn State undergrad/grad students I know. I also attended a poster presented by my research lab members at Georgia State University (summer ‘07); it was great to catch up, and check out the status of the project I was working on last year. I also went to posters and went out to dinner with my research lab from MIT (summer ‘08). Later, they invited me to an MIT social. I met another undergrad who is applying to neuroscience grad programs, and she is actually an MIT student who is working in one of my top choice labs for graduate studies. Also, my roommate for the weekend was an undergrad from Stanford, which is another program I am applying to. I just can’t explain how awesome it is to get to meet these people.
The experience really made me appreciate my adviser; he has been absolutely incredible. Lookin back, I am able to appreciate how he provided me with challenges and gave me space to work independently, yet he was always there to help me out when I needed it. He also came to SFN, and stayed with me at the poster until I was comfortable enough to go through the presentation and answer questions on my own. Good advisers are key to successful undergrad research experiences!!
I am SO happy I went to SFN. Having the opporunity to present my research and get feedback from other scientists in my field was an invaluable experience. More importantly, it helped build my confidence. I’m not looking forward to leaving Happy Valley– who ever is?– but now, I truly do believe I am capable of entering an advanced degree program and becoming a neuroscientist.
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