LET GO AND START OVER.

If we really knew what the answers were, we wouldn't have to do research.  But in order to attempt to answer a question, a researcher has to have information.  That brings frustrations of its own.

At the end of my third year as a Ph.D. student, I had nothing to show for it. No publications. No data to analyze. No conference presentations. Despite years of long hours and hard work, I had no publishable results. I lost my confidence, my sleep and—most painfully—the joy in doing science. I started thinking that my next and only logical step was to quit my program.

That wasn't for lack of an interesting question.  "I had been offered a project investigating the causes of Alzheimer’s disease, one of the most devastating neurodegenerative illnesses of our time."  The researcher did perform useful work in identifying a dead end.  Unfortunately, sometimes the most promising of projects, which understanding Alzheimer's is, turn into a research dead end, and you don't get a Minimal Publishable Unit for null results.

There were other biomarker projects to investigate, and this student's second attempt was more successful.

Not only was the new project promising and technically feasible, but I had the chance to get exposed to new methodologies and scientific processes, including handling research ethics submissions, navigating material transfer agreements and contributing to big grant applications. My energy levels were restored, as was my faith in my supervisor.

About two years into the new project, I have now presented at three international conferences and published my second research paper in a well-respected journal, as well as other commentaries, reviews and opinion pieces, on both gliomas and, surprisingly, Alzheimer’s disease. I have made international friends and collaborators who keep fueling my passion for top-notch science.

That prior work?  Bygones are forever bygones.  Second time through, though, the cultural capital this student developed in the first project might have helped with the submissions, agreements, and applications.