A well designed experiment will produce publishable results regardless of the specific outcome. As long as your error bars are small enough to learn something n

A well designed experiment will produce publishable results regardless of the specific outcome. As long as your error bars are small enough to learn something new it's a success. Not publishing unfavored but valid results is not normal, and myself and my colleagues would tend to place that in the territory of academic dishonesty. It's also counterproductive career-wise. The most important grad school decision by far is choosing an advisor. The overall culture of the university and academia in general have a very small effect on things relative to the culture of the group you join.