Questions to Ask at a Lab Interview
Questions to ask at a lab interview, for candidates at any science interview where the work is in a laboratory: a technician, research assistant, postdoc or industry scientist job, or a rotation or PhD position you are meeting a PI about. They are grouped by the work, funding and papers, mentoring, lab life, your future and closing. The guide sorts out which questions to ask the PI during the interview and which to keep for lab members, who often give the truer answer.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The work
Which projects are running right now, and which one would I be working on?
Why ask it
Lab websites tend to trail the real work, and some of the projects they list are finished or shelved. The project that is short a person is the one you will be offered, so hear about it now instead of preparing for the wrong topic.
What does a typical week look like for someone in this position?
Why ask it
You are listening for proportions: hours at the bench, at a screen, in meetings and on shared chores. If the interviewer cannot say, ask them to walk you through last week for whoever holds the position now. A week spent mostly on other people's sample prep suits some roles and not others, and this is the moment to learn which one you are being offered.
What would my first six months look like?
Why ask it
A specific answer describes training, a starter project and a checkpoint. A vague one may mean nobody has planned it yet, so ask who you would go to in week one and what you would be doing by the end of the first month.
What do you most need from the person you take on?
Why ask it
The reply names the gap in the lab: a pair of hands for one technique, someone who can code, or a person to carry a project that has stalled. It also gives you the terms to answer in for the rest of the interview. If the need is a long way from what you came to learn, say so before either side commits.
Where do you want the lab's research to be in five years?
Why ask it
A PI has usually had to write this down for a grant, so the answer should come easily. Listen for whether the project you were just offered sits inside that future or belongs to a line that is winding down. With a lab manager or postdoc across the table, ask which direction is getting the new people instead.
Is the project I would join just starting, midway, or close to being written up?
Why ask it
Joining at the start brings choices and a long wait for results. Joining near the end brings a quicker paper, a smaller share of the credit and somebody else's decisions already built in. Ask what is left to do and who has been doing it until now.
Is this a new position, or would I be taking over from someone?
Why ask it
If someone held it before, ask where they went and whether your time would overlap with theirs, because a week beside the person who ran the assay saves a lot of guessing. A new position usually means new money or a new direction, and then it is fair to ask what made the lab decide it needed one.
Which techniques would I use most, and which would I be learning from scratch?
Why ask it
Be straight about what you have done with your own hands and what you have only read about. A lab that plans to teach a method can say how long people usually take to get reliable at it, and a lab that needs it on day one will tell you so. Both are easier to hear now than in week two.
Would I be working on one project or supporting several people?
Why ask it
Technician and assistant posts in particular can mean one bench and five bosses. If the role serves several people, ask who settles it when two of them want the same afternoon. With no named person, that negotiation lands on you every week.
Who handles ordering, autoclaving, waste and the other communal jobs, and what share would be mine?
Why ask it
Every lab runs on these jobs and somebody does them. A schedule on the wall or a lab manager is the tidy answer. 'Everyone pitches in' can mean the newest person does, so ask roughly how many hours a week it comes to.
Which equipment does the lab have itself, and what would I need to book at a shared facility?
Why ask it
Shared instruments, core facilities and animal or clinical access all come with queues and costs. Ask about the typical wait for the technique central to your project, since a two-month turnaround changes what a year of work can contain.
What is not working in the project at the moment?
Why ask it
Every live project has a step that will not behave: a noisy assay, a mouse line that breeds badly, a model that will not converge. A candid reply shows you the problem you would inherit and whether your skills touch it. If a lab that is hiring says everything is going well, ask gently a second time.
Which result from the lab in the past year pleased you most?
Why ask it
People like answering this, which makes it useful when the conversation has gone stiff. Notice whether the credit goes to a named student or technician or stays with the PI. The result they pick also shows which line of work has their attention this year.
Who relies on the results this lab produces, and how fast do they expect them?
Why ask it
In a hospital, testing or company lab the answer is a clinician, a customer or another team, and their deadline sets the pace of your day. In an academic group it is usually the PI and the next paper. Ask what happens when a result is late, because that shows how much pressure travels down to the bench.
Does the lab work to a quality standard or accreditation, and how much of the day goes on records?
Why ask it
Accredited and regulated labs run on written procedures, signed records and audits, and which rules apply depends on the field and the country, so ask which ones this lab answers to. Some people find that order steadying and others find it slow. Asking to see a completed record shows you the real workload.
Funding and papers
Where does funding for this project come from, and how long is it secured?
Why ask it
The end date of the grant is, in effect, the length of your position, and it is rarely mentioned unless you ask. Find out when the current award ends and what is under review, because a project funded for eighteen months is a different commitment from one funded for four years.
What happens to my project if that grant is not renewed?
Why ask it
The honest answers are a bridge from other funds, a switch to a different project, or help finding another position. A PI who has been through a gap before can tell you what they did last time. Not having thought about it is an answer too, and one to weigh if the award ends during your time.
Is the position fixed-term, and what would renewing it depend on?
Why ask it
Contracts tied to a grant often run a year at a time. Ask when the renewal conversation normally happens and who makes the call, the PI or the department. Notice periods and contract rules differ by employer and country, so ask how it works at this one.
How is the pay or stipend for this position set, and who can tell me the figure?
Why ask it
In many universities the number comes off a published scale or a funder's stipend table and the PI cannot move it, so the thing to check is the grade or year you would be placed on. In industry and private labs it is more often open to negotiation. Being passed to HR or a graduate office is normal: take down the name.
How is authorship decided here?
Why ask it
Ask for the rule and then for the last time it was applied. Labs with a clear convention will describe how first author was decided on a recent paper. If what you hear is a general philosophy, ask a lab member later how the last author list was settled.
How do you decide when a project is ready to publish?
Why ask it
The answer shows how long the lab is willing to wait. Some PIs send out steady incremental papers, and others hold everything for one large submission that can take years longer. Neither is wrong, but only one of them fits a fixed-term position.
Would the work I do in this role put me on papers?
Why ask it
Ask it outright if you are joining as a technician, assistant or undergraduate, where practice varies most. Some labs list everyone who produced data, and others thank support staff in the acknowledgements. The firmest evidence is what the last person in the role ended up on.
Do people from the lab get sent to conferences, and who covers the cost?
Why ask it
One meeting a year, once you have something to present, paid from the grant, is a common arrangement. Find out whether you would pay up front and claim it back, which is a real obstacle on a student stipend. If nobody junior has travelled lately, ask what stopped them.
Would you expect me to apply for my own funding at some point?
Why ask it
Fellowships and small grants strengthen a CV and free up the lab's money, so many PIs encourage them. The practical follow-up is who from this lab has won one and whether the PI read their drafts. Being told to apply with no help on offer is an expectation without a plan.
In a company or hospital lab, how is the team's budget decided, and has its headcount gone up or down recently?
Why ask it
A science job with no grant behind it depends on a budget round, and the person interviewing you usually knows how the last one went. Hiring to replace someone who left reads differently from hiring because the team is growing. If the team was cut recently, ask what was dropped and whether this role picks up the remainder.
Who owns what I produce here, and what would I be free to publish, present or discuss outside?
Why ask it
Company and contract labs often keep results confidential, and universities have their own rules on inventions. The terms sit in the contract and differ by employer and country, so ask to read that part before you sign. If publishing matters for your next move, ask for an example of work that did go out.
Mentoring
How would you describe the way you mentor people at my level?
Why ask it
Self-descriptions run flattering, so ask for the evidence underneath: what they did when a trainee was stuck for a month, and who noticed first. 'Hands-off' suits someone who arrives with experience and a project. In a first research post it can mean being left alone at the point you needed a push.
How independent are people expected to be at my stage?
Why ask it
Expectations run from carrying out a plan someone else wrote to designing your own experiments within a couple of months. Ask what the last person at your stage was deciding for themselves by the end of their first year. A capable person can look like a poor fit simply because the two sides pictured different amounts of freedom.
How often would we meet one on one, and what happens when you are traveling?
Why ask it
Almost every PI says their door is open. The useful figures are how many meetings happened last month and whether they sit on the calendar or have to be requested, since having to chase a meeting is hardest on the quietest people. For a PI who is away a lot, ask whether the meeting moves to a call or simply lapses.
Who trains me at the bench, day to day?
Why ask it
Practical training is often handed to a postdoc or senior student, and that person can shape your first year more than the PI does. Ask for their name, then find a way to talk to them before you accept.
What does feedback look like here: a yearly review, comments in lab meeting, or a word at the bench?
Why ask it
Many labs have no formal appraisal, so feedback arrives sideways or not at all. Ask about the last time the interviewer told someone their work needed to change, and how they went about it. With no mechanism at all, the first sign of a problem can be a contract that is not renewed.
How will you judge whether I am doing well by the end of the first year?
Why ask it
The reply hands you the yardstick before you are measured against it: a working assay, a clean dataset, a draft, a qualifying exam passed. Write it down and bring it to your first review. If the PI and the person who would train you give different answers, ask which one counts.
What happens when an experiment does not work for months?
Why ask it
Long stretches of failed experiments are ordinary in research, and interviews rarely mention them. Listen for whether the answer includes help with troubleshooting, a point at which someone decides to stop, and a way to talk about failure without it being treated as a flaw in the person.
If I make a mistake that costs samples or money, what happens next?
Why ask it
Sooner or later everyone drops the plate, thaws the wrong box or overwrites a file. In a healthy lab you report it at once, the group works out what can be saved, and the protocol gains a line. If the interviewer's story is mostly about whose fault it was, expect people there to hide errors.
How quickly do drafts, abstracts and applications come back from you?
Why ask it
Put the same question to a lab member, who will know the true figure in weeks. A slow reader is survivable if you know in advance and set your deadlines around it. A draft that disappears with no date attached is the version you cannot plan for.
Is there any chance the lab moves, or you are away for a long spell, during my time here?
Why ask it
Labs relocate, PIs take sabbaticals, and some retire. None of that is a reason to walk away, but each changes who supervises you and where you would be living. If it has happened before, ask what became of the people in the group at the time.
Lab life
How big is the lab, and who is in it at the moment?
Why ask it
The mix decides who you learn from. A group made up entirely of first-years has energy and nobody to ask, while one with a long-serving technician or senior postdoc has a memory. Size counts as well: the more people there are, the more ways the PI's time is divided.
What is the lab culture like: do people work together or mostly on their own?
Why ask it
'Collaborative' and 'friendly' are what every lab says, so ask for something you could see, such as who helped whom last week and whether reagents and scripts get shared without a fuss. Then walk through the lab and check that it looks like the description.
How do lab meetings run, and when would I give my first one?
Why ask it
Some groups use the meeting to pick apart unfinished data in a helpful way, and others expect polished slides and silence. Ask what happened at the most recent one. Being put on the schedule in your first couple of months is good news, because it means someone looks at your work early.
What do the working hours look like in practice?
Why ask it
Ask what time the lab empties on an ordinary Wednesday and who is in at weekends. Culture on this is set by example rather than policy, and a PI who describes flexibility while every member is present at nine at night is describing an aspiration.
Does the work ever need someone in at nights or weekends, for time points, animals or cultures?
Why ask it
This is biology's timetable more than the lab's culture: cells need feeding, animals need checking, and a time course does not care that it is Sunday. Ask whether the duty rotates and whether the time is given back. For a paid staff post, ask how out-of-hours work is counted, since that varies by employer.
Do people here actually take their vacation?
Why ask it
Best put to lab members, since from a candidate to a PI it can sound pointed. Ask when each of them was last away for a full week and whether anyone messaged them about work. Leave allowances are set by the employer or program, so what you are checking is whether the allowance gets used.
How do disagreements about data get settled?
Why ask it
Ask for a real example. The good version involves repeating something, adding a control, or a lab meeting where the result was picked apart. The concerning version is that disagreements do not happen, which usually means they happen and are not voiced.
How are protocols, notebooks and data kept, and could I pick up where someone left off?
Why ask it
If the moment allows, ask to see a shared protocol or a page of someone's notebook. Written, dated methods mean you can be trained in weeks. When the method lives in the head of a student who has left, you spend your first months rediscovering it.
What safety training would I get before I start, and who is responsible for it?
Why ask it
The reply should be dull and specific: an induction, sign-offs for particular hazards, a named safety officer. Ask about whatever is central to the work, whether that is animals, human samples, radiation or strong acids. A shrug on this subject deserves more weight than a shrug on any other.
Who does the lab collaborate with, and would I work with them directly?
Why ask it
Collaborators are where borrowed equipment, second opinions and later jobs come from. One named person you would actually email is better than a list of well-known institutions. A lab that keeps to itself can still do good work, but everything you learn will come from inside it.
What do you like most about working in this lab?
Why ask it
It works on anyone in the building, PI included, and it is the easiest question here to answer, so use it when time is short or the mood is formal. Notice whether the reply is about the people, the science or the freedom. A long pause from someone who has been there for years is worth noticing too.
What surprised you most after you joined this lab?
Why ask it
One for a student, postdoc or technician, with the PI out of earshot. Surprises are the distance between the interview and the job, which is the thing you came to measure. Pleasant ones count too, so ask for one of each.
Your future
Where have the people who left in the last few years gone?
Why ask it
Destinations show what time in this lab is worth elsewhere: faculty posts, industry jobs, further study, or no clear answer. Ask how many people that covers, since a lot of departures in a short time is a signal of its own. A PI who can list them has usually kept in touch.
What help do people get from you when they apply for the next job or fellowship?
Why ask it
Concretely: letters sent on time, introductions to people the PI knows, and time set aside to write. Ask how the last person who left found their position and what part the PI played. You will be asking this person for references for years, so it matters how willingly they are given.
Which skills do people usually leave this lab with?
Why ask it
A concrete list, such as a technique, a programming language or experience writing a paper, is something you can weigh against another offer. Hold it up against what you want next, whether a graduate place, an industry job or a lab of your own. Methods that nobody outside the group works with are worth less than they feel while you are learning them.
Would I be able to learn techniques outside the lab, through courses or time in another group?
Why ask it
Collaborations, courses and time in another group build the skills that make you employable later, and they cost the PI productivity now. Ask who last went and who paid. The answer tells you whether your training is treated as an investment or as an interruption.
How long do people at my level usually stay, and what decides when they are done?
Why ask it
For a student this is time to degree, and one lab's real figure can differ from the one the department advertises. For staff it is how long the post has kept people before. Either way, ask what the finishing line actually is: a set of papers, a committee's say-so, or the money running out.
Could this position turn into something longer, such as a thesis project, a permanent post or a doctorate in the lab?
Why ask it
Suited to a rotation, an internship or a first contract, where both sides are quietly treating it as a trial. Ask whether anyone has made that jump from where you would be sitting. If there is no route, you can still say yes, knowing the position has an end date.
How do you support people who want a career outside academia?
Why ask it
Plenty of people who train in a lab go on to work somewhere other than a university, and PIs differ a great deal in how they take that. Ask where recent members who left research are now and whether the PI still hears from them. Worded this way, it does not require you to announce your own plans.
Can a scientist be promoted here and stay at the bench, or does moving up mean managing people?
Why ask it
Some organizations keep a technical ladder with senior scientist grades, and in others the only step up is running a team. Ask what the most senior person still doing experiments is called and how long it took them to get there. In a university group, the matching thing to ask is whether staff scientist posts exist at all.
Closing
What would you change about how the lab runs?
Why ask it
A PI who names something specific has thought about running a lab as a skill of its own. If the only answers are 'nothing' or a complaint about funding bodies, the lab's problems are being seen as someone else's, and those are slow to get fixed.
What kind of person does badly here?
Why ask it
Easier to answer honestly than its opposite, and far more informative. The description usually maps onto the lab's real demands: needs frequent direction, dislikes ambiguity, will not ask for help. Decide whether any of it describes you before you smile and nod.
Is there a gap in my experience you would want me to close before starting?
Why ask it
It brings out the reservation while you can still answer it: no animal work, thin statistics, little time at the bench. It also turns a doubt into a task, which is easier for an interviewer to say out loud. Treat what you hear as information and do not argue with it.
Can I see the lab and the bench or desk I would use before I decide?
Why ask it
A tour is where you check the answers you were given. Look for booking sheets on the equipment, labels on the freezer boxes and whether anyone looks up when you come in. If the interview is remote, ask a lab member to carry a phone around the room.
May I have some time with lab members on their own, and with someone who has left?
Why ask it
Most PIs say yes at once and offer names. The request is ordinary, so you do not need to explain it. Reluctance, or an offer of only the newest student, is worth weighing alongside everything else you heard.
If I join, what would you want me to have done before the first day?
Why ask it
The answer separates a lab that has thought about onboarding from one that has not. It also gives you a short reading list of current work, which is more use than anything on the website. If forms, health checks or training courses have to be finished before you can work in the lab, this is when you find out.
When will you decide, and is there anything else you need from me first?
Why ask it
Lab hiring can be quick, or it can wait on a grant decision, a committee or a rotation schedule, and nobody says which unless asked. Leave with a date and the name of the person who will write to you. If references or transcripts are still wanted, send them the same day.
Getting the most out of the visit
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Match the questions to the kind of lab interview
A rotation, thesis lab or PhD position
Mentoring and Your future matter most, because you are choosing a supervisor for years. Lead with the project, how often you would meet and how long people take to finish. The stipend is often set by the program or the funder and not by the PI, so ask who to take that question to.
A technician or research assistant job
Spend your time on The work and Lab life: whether the position is new, how many people you would support, who sets priorities, the communal jobs, out-of-hours cover and whether your name goes on papers. Contract length and renewal belong in the interview too, since both often hang on the grant.
A science interview at a company, hospital or testing lab
Swap the grant questions for the ones on the team's budget and headcount, on who relies on the results and on quality standards, and swap authorship for who owns the work and what can be published. The questions on training, safety, written procedures, out-of-hours work and mistakes carry over as they are.
A panel of lab members
When the people interviewing you are students, postdocs or the lab manager, ask what they know first-hand: the week, the training, the hours, what they like about the lab and what surprised them. Keep funding and the five-year direction for the PI.
Choose a handful, not the whole list
There is rarely time for more than five or six questions. Take one from each group that could change your decision, and keep the rest for the visit, a second conversation or a follow-up email.
Ask the PI and the lab different things
Ask the PI during the interview about direction and structure
Funding, how projects are chosen, authorship, when work gets published, how your first year would be judged and what happens after this position. Only the PI can answer these, and asking them shows you have thought about the research as well as the job.
To lab members, ask about lived experience
Hours, how often meetings really happen, how mistakes are handled, how long drafts take to come back, whether people take their vacation. Ask when the PI is not present, and ask more than one person so you can compare.
Ask the same question twice, in different rooms
Meeting frequency and working hours are the two where the PI's account and the lab's are most likely to differ. A large gap need not rule the lab out, but it tells you what you would be signing up for.
What to notice on the tour
- Whether the space is looked after: booking sheets on shared equipment, labelled reagents, clear fume hoods and freezers with an inventory.
- Whether people talk to each other, or whether everyone sits with headphones on and does not look up.
- Whether the PI is in the building, and whether members seem at ease when the PI walks past.
- Whether there is somewhere to eat and whether anyone uses it. A shared lunch is often where problems get solved.
- Whether safety rules are followed when nobody is checking: lab coats and eye protection worn, food kept out of the lab, waste in the right bins.
- Who answers when you ask a technical question. If it is always the same person, ask how long they plan to stay.
Decide afterwards, not in the room
- Write down what you heard the same evening. Visits blur, and details about funding dates and authorship are the first to go.
- Compare what the PI said with what members said, and list the gaps instead of explaining them away.
- Contact one person who has left the lab. Their names are usually on recent papers, and they can often speak more freely than anyone still in it.
- Ask for anything you were promised in writing, particularly the project, the funding period and the start date.
- Check the timing of any offer. If you are pressed to answer within a few days, before your other interviews, ask for the time you need and see how the request is received.