It is my second day in the lab today, and I have not lifted a single pipette or touch any tubes!
All I have done was to read journals and get acquainted with the environment and people. It feels different from what I am used to, for various reasons. Here there are several post-docs in the laboratory, whereas there were hardly any back in Singapore. Perhaps its true that there are too few post-docs in Singapore, and hence the push for more graduate students. But I wonder how many PhD candidates would continue with research? Most of the time I hear of people going into academia instead.
There are also people from all over the world - China, South Korean, Japan, Sweden, India and just two amercians out of 12 people. It seems like most Americans prefer other jobs like pharmacist (which should bring home bigger and tastier bacon); one of them told me as a matter of fact that the pay for a Research Technologist is way too little to his liking.
The lab is spacious and strangely enough, the people do not wear lab coat, as they feel it "gets in the way". Wow, its kinda scary to me, and I will still request for one for safety sake. I am seated at a desk that comes with a view of the city from the sixth floor, along with a Mac computer on the table. Something to distract me from my journals for now! I shall take some photos soon to post here!
