1. When you don't know what you're doing, do it neatly and sterile. 2. Experiments must be reproduceable, they should fail the same way each time. 3. First draw your curves, then plot your data. 4. If your data are skewed due to inaccuracy, there must be a problem with the equipment. 5. A record of data is essential, it shows you were working. 6. Prefer your colleages equipment above yours, that way you don't break or contaminate your own labstuff. 7. To do an experiment really well, write down your results in advance. 8. If you can't get the answer in the usual manner, start at the answer and derive the question. 9. If that doesn't work, start at both ends and try to find a common middle. 10. If you don't like doing a particular experiment, put your undergraduate student on that! 11. Do not believe in miracles---rely on them. 12. Team work is essential. It allows you to blame someone else. 13. Always put your name on everything, especially when it is not yours. 14. Any delicate and expensive piece of glassware will break before any use can be made of it. (Law of Spontaneous Fission) 15. If you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you have tried. 16. Never replicate a successful experiment, just copy-paste the previous data. 17. An undergraduate student is the perfect excuse for all failures! 18. Never fall asleep in the lab, unless you are looking through a microscope (no one will notice). 19. Never cough or sneeze on your own sterile lab bench, but use your colleage's bench for that. 20. A couple of months in the laboratory can often save a couple of hours in the library. bron: http://aardbeiwormpje.spaces.live.com/ (aardbeiworpje bij god!) -- ================================================================== Kenny Billiau Web Developer Tel:+32 (0)9 331 36 95 fax:+32 (0)9 3313809 VIB Department of Plant Systems Biology, Ghent University Technologiepark 927, 9052 Gent, BELGIUM kenny.billiau@psb.ugent.be http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be ==================================================================