• Question: What is the success rate of your experiments?

    Asked by Megan ♛ to Anne, Arthur, Rose, Ruhina, Thomas on 15 Jun 2015. This question was also asked by Luke, TheLaw, AnEiffelTowerSalesman, Molly.
    • Photo: Anne Canning

      Anne Canning answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      Hi Megan,

      It really depends on what you mean by success, as sometimes finding out what doesn’t work is just as important as finding out what does work. I have completed one year working on my current project. Often with research projects there has been someone who worked in the lab before you on something very similar which helps a lot. In my case, I work for a new research group so everything I have done is new in this lab, so there were quite a few problems at first. I’ve spent a lot of time optimizing experiments ie. making them work the best they can.

      The first time I try something it often doesn’t work, as with most things it takes practice, and I’ve had to learn a lot of new practical techniques during my first year. I’m hoping I’ve learnt and practiced enough that the next 2 years will lead to some very interesting and exciting results!

    • Photo: Rose Simnett

      Rose Simnett answered on 18 Jun 2015:

      Hey, I would say that it is very low but that is because you’re trying to do something that has never been done before. It takes a long time and a lot of experience and knowledge to be able to get something to work well. Often when you first get a reaction to work, the yield is low and then you do optimisation to impove the reaction conditions.

    • Photo: Ruhina Miller

      Ruhina Miller answered on 18 Jun 2015:

      I agree/have had the same experience as Anne and Rose – so far I’ve spent a lot of time learning new techniques and skills. It’s sometimes difficult to know whether or not an experiment was successful because you performed it correctly as it’s a technique or procedure you’re unfamiliar with or whether it needs optimising for your system. Often we look at new procedures or experiments entirely so ultimately the success rate is low, but the challenge or research is to improve it and make it work!

    • Photo: Thomas Farrugia

      Thomas Farrugia answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      Hoi all – I’d reckon that most of my experiments work – the ones that don’t are usually down to something like contamination issues (enzymes are very sensitive and will pick up exceptionally small amounts of chemicals), or due to not planning my experiments out properly.

      I’d also factor in the learning curve – the first time I did my “setting up” experiments it took me ages to get them going, but fast forward 1.5 years and I can breeze through them to get to the actual meaty experiments.

      I also keep in mind something my supervisor once told me: “Experiments always work, but sometimes not in the ways we expect”. And those experiments can be the most exciting since you’re provided with a different result, and possibility of an exciting insight, which at times can lead to big discoveries or growths of fields.

    • Photo: Arthur Wilkinson

      Arthur Wilkinson answered on 23 Jun 2015:

      I agree with Anne. We generally find out someting useful from every experiemnt (even if it’s – don’t do it again!).

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