Slang for a rotation student - a first year graduate student who rotates through a variety of labs before choosing the lab in which they
will perform their thesis research. They are often abused, given scut
work and mundane tasks that no one else wants to do. Combination of the words "rotation" and "moron". Similar to the compound word "touron".
There are also different kinds of rotons:
(1) The Fragile Roton ("I hope they like me - I
will bring food one day or buy them
coffee")
(2) The Overachiever ("Yes I
will get a publication out of my rotation
work.")
(3) The Bulldozer ("Move out of my way and I
will show how science is done.")
(4) MuddFudd a.k.a MD/PhD ("Don't worry, I
will always have medical school as my backup plan.")
(5) The Mute (...............sigh...........)
(6) The Kiss-ass ("Yes I agree you are so smart! What else can I do for you today?")
(7) Dr. Crick (His ego is so big and name drops like there is no tomorrow)
(8) Pigpen (leaves a dirt trail everywhere they go and you end up cleaning up after them)
(9) The Serial Killer (is super clean and organized and extremely accurate. Discovers things in your
work you weren't aware existed. You worry he
may kill you one day because you are so dirty and disorganized.)
(10) The Socialite (Always talking and shooting the shit. Entertaining but hard to motivate to do
work.)
(11) The Mule (Works their tail off and you feel guilty for giving them more
work. But you do it anyway.)
