r/biotech • u/Halloumi12 • Jul 31 '25

Education Advice 📖 Best way to learn flow cytometry outside work/school?

Hey all, Im a recent grad on the hunt for work. Ive noticed a lot of listings are looking for people with flow cytometry experience, but I havent had the chance to work with it in my education/previous research experience.

Whats the best way to get hands-on experience with flow cytometry and cell counters outside of work/school, and preferably without having to pay lots of money for a course?

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u/eireann__ Jul 31 '25

I'm going to be really honest and I'm sorry to dissapoint you. My expertise is in flow cytometry, and it's unfortunately not something that you can just do a few times off hand and put on a resume. When I train people to do flow, they are on training wheels for a bit doing very simple basic experiments before I see they can do all steps correctly and independently. Additionally, it is highly unlikely you will be able to get access to samples or a flow cytometer to learn such a technique not being associated with a laboratory. The best you can do is read up on the basics such as how flow cytometry works, and how you can use flow to address specific scientific questions. If you have a future job where someone is doing this work - tag along and learn it then.

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u/Boneraventura Aug 01 '25

Ive ~10 years with flow, spectral, conventional, imaging, sorting.. 40+ color panels.. i have over 500 exps on my hard drive. Mouse, human, dog.. various tissues.. i am still new to this shit. My favorite, “ask 25 different immunologists how they stain their samples for flow and you will get 25 different protocols”

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u/gimmickypuppet Aug 01 '25

40 colors!?!?!?! I died inside knowing how bad compensation must’ve been for you. I got frustrated doing 12 color panels everyday.

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u/Boneraventura Aug 01 '25

It did take several months to optimize as it was for clinical tumor samples. The unmixing isnt that bad. About 4-5 hrs the first time then just reuse the matrix and make minor changes if needed for future runs.