3 steps to begin experiments…aka…I am lost in this lab!

 All the students in the first few days of research are faced with the dilemma of the right time and way to begin experimentation.


There are as many ways and thought processes to do so as there are people. I will share my learnings here.

The problem is that the literature review tends to become so vast that it is difficult to decide what the exact problem is.

1. The best way is to NOT WAIT for the literature review to get over. Begin with the experiments simultaneously. Gain experience on as many new techniques as possible.

2. Start with that research paper which will most likely form the basis of your work. Attempt to reproduce the experiments in the paper. Try to see what other experiments can corroborate those results.

3. Select the correct research papers to continue the literature review.

P.S. All the experiments should have a reason for doing them. You should be able to answer the question

‘Why should I do this experiment? What will I learn?’



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