What are the expectations for undergraduates in research?

nanotechnology
Tue, 10 Dec 2013 04:18:25 +0000

I constantly feel like I am under-achieving in my research, but I don’t really have a sense of context for what the normal expectations are for undergraduates research. (In my case, in neuroscience.) Basically everyone else in the labs I have worked in are graduate students or post docs, so I don’t have a frame of reference. My PI seems consistently impressed by what I have done, but I feel like I am not being as productive as I could be or managing my time well.

In general, though, what is expected of undergraduates in a research setting? How much grunt work (data collection, programming) vs. independent thought? What is generally expected in terms of “productivity” (useful results). How do the expectations compare to what is expected of PhD students?