Research Pro-Tip #1: Write things down!

This is the first research pro-tip for the TAURUS blog! We hope to continue these into the future at random points throughout the summer, and maybe even during the school year too.  The first one is brought to you by TAURUS Director, Caitlin Casey.

Some pages in a research notebook of mine from my undergrad years!

The first tip I have for our TAURUS Scholars as they really dig into their research projects is to WRITE. THINGS. DOWN.  Every time you have a meeting with your supervisor and they’re explaining how to do something, *take notes*.  I know some of y’all have awesome memories, but I promise something will get lost through the cracks, and as you age, your ability to remember things *rapidly* diminishes while the level of complexity of the things you need to remember *rapidly* increases.  So, it’s good to start the habit early.

To speak from the experience of a research supervisor and someone who regularly talks to other professors/research supervisors, I can say that writing things down reflects well on you: it sends the message that you value your supervisor's time and will make every effort to absorb as much of what they say in any interaction you have.  So it's not just about how much you can or can't remember from a conversation!

Research lab books are a fantastic tool.  While I, too, love gadgets, there’s often nothing better than pen and paper.  I still have my research lab notebook from my undergrad days, and I do, actually, occasionally look back on it!  Why? I used it to work out lots of fundamental math that I sometimes forget on a day to day basis, but I know exactly where to look back to find the calculation written out as it makes sense to me.

Also, there will be some point during this summer where you hit a road block and need to re-do some of your work; that’s totally normal and expected in the research process! But it is *way* easier and more efficient for you to go back and re-do things when you’ve written every step of your analysis down, even if it’s really quick scribbles only you would understand.

While those quick scribbles are totally a valid form of note-taking and should be included in your lab books (nothing’s too informal to go in there!), you should, at least for 10 minutes once a week, pause to write down a version of all the analysis you’ve done that week, just so you have a bit more of a lasting record.  Think: are you going to remember what the random scribbles mean 7 weeks from now?  Probably not so… do yourself a favor.

Last comment about writing things down: not only does it make it easier and more efficient to do analysis, but it also makes it much easier to write up formally after you’ve done the analysis since your calculations are well documented.  When it eventually comes time for a referee report, and in the event you need to rework a calculation with revised assumptions, there your notebook will be to save you from the headache of digging up old, uncommented code from months ago.

In short, write things down. It's never too late to start! :)