Using Available Resources
If you’re going to make breakthroughs in your lab, you’ll need to optimize such that there is no operational “fat”, as it were, dragging your efforts down. Science has become competitive today; especially in medical, chemical, and technological industries. This kind of science has direct application, and parses between that which is merely theoretical, and that which actually has some value to society.
The thing is, any lab will have costs. You’re hoping for a breakthrough which will justify those expenses, but that breakthrough may never come—it may not even exist. Consider the E. Coli experiment which followed E. Coli development for 50,000+ generations in order to learn about evolutionary processes.
It turned out to be a dead-end, actually providing data which countermanded traditional theories. Not only did the experiment fail, it actually revealed the opposite of what scientists expected to find. Their hypothesis was fundamentally flawed, and all this 40-year experiment revealed was that they had approached the problem from a completely erroneous angle.
This experiment ultimately ended up undervaluing the initial hypothesis, ultimately making it a forty-year waste. However: the lab, and those in the lab who conducted the experiment, did not waste resources. E. Coli growth wasn’t the only experimentation going on in that laboratory, after all! More useful and tangible study were brought to bear. The lab, and those involved, had other projects they worked on as well.
Diversification Of Laboratory Projects
Your laboratory needs to diversify that which is being studied. It’s like that old saying about fishing—cast your bread on the water; you don’t know if the left or right hand will prosper. In this analogy, each “hand” has a fishing line. Which line will get a bite first? It’s hard to know! So diversification of laboratory exploits is key to wise lab investment.
Additionally key is the exploitation of modern technological solutions. Reducing time losses through utility of modern technology solutions, like RFID tagging for lab animals, can free up resources allowing for more successful experimentation and discovery. When you’ve got more resources, you can do things right, rather than just tread water doing what you can.
While on the topic of reducing time in experimentation protocols, it makes sense to look at technology which additionally helps labs organize. Studylog can help you reduce operational complication in data management; according to the site. Studylog is used by the world’s leading academic, government, biotech, and pharmaceutical labs in dozens of countries to run and manage animal research studies.
Working With The Right People
Another consideration for any lab involves partners and investors. Where the money comes from will have a lot to do with your freedom in terms of operational ability. But those with an interest in a given lab may or may not be “on the level”, as it were. You can’t expect a liar to tell you they lie. You need a way of checking up on them.
You can find basic corporation registration information at SecStates.com.
Better Operations
When you diversify the projects of your laboratory, optimize operations in terms of technology, and ensure that whoever you work with is properly vetted, your lab has a much greater propensity for long-term success over time. Last but not least, you should ensure that you hire the right people—and this, too, is tricky. You can’t hire the people that are the most popular—well, you can; but popularity is no meter of ability.
Look for the honest ones who will tell the truth in terms of research results even if it doesn’t serve their intention. Science must be self-aware; it must be able to throw out hypotheses when these turn out to be incorrect, and go a new direction. The right professional scientists can make this happen, but hose hired for political reasons will only end up, at best, making your lab tread water in the long run.