r/labrats is a subreddit with 714k members. The most common kinds of discussions are advice requests and pain & anger, and the community frequently discusses lab, struggling, looking for a, hard time, and research, and they frequently recommend/review hand cream, coding language, and ballpoint pen.
Welcome to r/LabRats! A space for scientists, researchers, and lab workers to share experiment fails, lab wins, and PI woes. Do you need advice, a place to vent, or just some lab-life humor? Want to share your big successes, your awesome protocols, and tricks of the trade? Join your fellow labrats. We also have a discord server!
Popular Themes in r/labrats
#1
Advice Requests
: "Help - think someone might be sabotaging me"
11 posts
#2
Pain & Anger
: "i once had an undergrad come to me for help with a western and quickly realized that his superstar postdoc mentor had been purposefully told him their protein of interest was 50kda heavier than it was by datasheet. what's your most morally corrupt lab/research experience?"
10 posts
#3
Solution Requests
: "Which electronic lab notebook are you using?"
1 post
#4
Money Talk
: "Labrats: money is no object what are you buying first?"
1 post
#5
Opportunities
: "From post-doc to academia or eject myself to industry? Interviews are underway. Need to make up my mind."
1 post
#6
Self-Promotion
: "I made a free GraphPad Prism alternative that works directly inside Excel (no R installation or coding needed)"
1 post
#7
News
: "NIH staffing shortage could slash number of new grants issued this year. Some units at the US funding giant are so understaffed, they are focusing on mandated grant renewals rather than new awards."
1 post
Popular Topics in r/labrats
#1
Lab
: "Lab rats!"
77 posts
#2
Struggling
32 posts
#3
Looking For A
28 posts
#4
Hard Time
21 posts
#5
Research
: "I'm just not going to give my PI anything at all until it's done"
19 posts
#6
Frustrating
17 posts
#7
Hate
13 posts
#8
Advice
: "Advice for newbies (or maybe not): #1"
10 posts
#9
Software
9 posts
#10
Phd
: "Incoming l Phd student feeling unprepared - how do I build confidence?"
8 posts
Products Discussed in r/labrats
Hand Cream
30 reviews
#1
Aveeno
4.2★ from 5 reviews
#2
Vaseline
4.3★ from 3 reviews
#3
O'Keeffe's
4.5★ from 2 reviews
Coding Language
10 reviews
#1
Python
4.5★ from 8 reviews
#2
R
4.0★ from 2 reviews
Ballpoint Pen
9 reviews
#1
Zebra
4.3★ from 3 reviews
#2
Pilot
4.7★ from 3 reviews
#3
Cross
5.0★ from 1 review
Member Growth in r/labrats
Yearly
+43k members(6.4%)
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About
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Last updated: June 4, 2026