This is a bit of a complicated topic that will be easily modified for different researchers. However, there are some basic things to look out for when having volunteer research assistants work in an undergraduate laboratory.

• The position is voluntary, so there is no financial compensation involved;
• Researchers may sometimes arrive to a laboratory with absolutely no participants to run (if participants fail to show up on several occasions);
• Diffusions of responsibility can occur if two or more researchers are on the same project (e.g., one researcher fails to show up consistently, and the other(s) are left to pick up slack);
• Researchers are not learning from what they are doing and are just going through the motions of hooking up participants, running them through procedures, and going home.

In no way should this be happening in the SPRQL ;), but in any case here are some things to continually monitor and maintain while keeping a motivated undergraduate laboratory:

• Bi-weekly or weekly (if possible) to discuss topics related to the research in the laboratory (without allowing researchers to guess hypotheses if they are meant to be blind);
• Regularly being available by e-mail for brief questions from the researchers about important decisions, advice, and guidance on their academic paths (e.g., the grad school application process, focusing research ideas for theses, etc.);
• The perennial and inherent belief that any person that becomes an undergraduate researcher in the lab has the potential to continue moving upwards into higher education if they remain motivated and persevering. This is something that has made the lab a safe, welcoming, and non-competitive environment and it allows the researchers to continue their motivations to their goals past research in this lab;
• Once or twice a year making time to get together in an informal non-lab setting so that everyone gets to know each other outside of the academic environment.

Again, this will vary student-to-student, and generally this is something that can be gauged fairly early or can become adjusted throughout the undergrad’s experience in the lab.