“If you can't get a project to work,” a fellow postdoc stated, “you're no good.” Her comment, expressed during an informal discussion with senior management, was undisputed. I pondered how many failed projects are permitted before a budding scientist is dismissed as “no good”.

During the past two years, three of my projects have ended prematurely thanks to negative results and reagent problems. My objective now is to discover the role of a new protein. But more than a year later, it seems that my original hypothesis is wrong, and I am left questioning my choice of projects.

On Singapore's Biopolis campus where I work, fields with great potential for therapy and profit are strongly encouraged. A senior scientist's sole question about my work underscored this emphasis: “Is it big?” he asked, alluding to its chances of being published in a high-impact-factor journal. Considering that the direction of my project remains unclear, let alone its long-term prospects, well-meaning investigators have questioned whether I should stick with it. Indeed, how do I know when to cut my losses?

One senior scientist told me that a successful project comes from “sheer luck”. I'm not usually superstitious, but I welcomed this Chinese New Year by switching on all the lights in my apartment to summon the God of Fortune.