Spending more time in the lab during a summer experience brings opportunities to do more than move a project ahead faster or learn techniques too complicated for the regular term. More hours in the lab also means more in-depth conversations that go beyond the topics typically discussed with labmates and mentors during the semester.
During your summer experience, you’ll make deeper personal and professional connections with your labmates and learn more about their lives beyond the lab. You’ll likely have more spontaneous conversations about long-term career goals (yours and theirs), and about non-lab adventures (yours and theirs). Intensive summer research experiences are, in part, why the friendships formed in a lab often continue well beyond a research or college experience.
As you form these stronger connections with your labmates, you'll learn more about yourself as well.
Want more tips for thriving during your summer research experience? Check out 10 Things to Expect From Your Summer Undergrad Research Experience and On why it’s so important to 5 Survival Tips for Summer Research