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Common Lab Member Expectations

Mission Statement

Welcome to the Meyer Lab! The Meyer lab has three central goals:

What you can expect from me

What I expect from you

Nuts and Bolts

Hours and Vacation

I do not believe in tracking hours. Instead, I am interested in seeing that you are productive. However, if I sense that this is being taken advantage of, the situation will be addressed. You will quickly recognize that biology is not a 9–5 proposition; night and weekend hours come with the territory. However, to maintain your productivity, happiness, and well-being, I believe it is important to take time off. I ask that you discuss with me before a planned absence, so we can determine if it is an appropriate time for a vacation and if there are obligations during that period, we have ample time to prepare. I expect you to satisfactorily complete necessary research duties before your planned departure.

Meetings

Come prepared to discuss/present your recent research and next steps. A written agenda including what you have done and what you propose to do in the next week should be sent to me by 3 pm the day before the meeting. You must bring your lab notebook to each meeting. Group meetings will rotate between various formats: research updates, research presentations, and journal clubs. Attendance is mandatory and active participation is essential!

Annual Evaluations

Each year we will have an evaluation. This will help us to determine things that are going well or are areas for improvement. I will tell you if I am satisfied with your progress and help identify steps you can take to fix any concerns. This is also an opportunity for you to communicate to me what I can do to help you succeed. Tell me if you feel that you need more guidance, more independence, to meet more often, etc.

Authorship

One of the most important tasks in science is disseminating your research through publications and presentations; therefore, authorship on these items is an important indicator to the outside world of your role. Authorship implies a significant contribution to a paper such as intellectual ideas that change the research or experimental contributions (just following instructions and not actively participating in the experimental design/interpretation will be acknowledged, but likely would not result in an authorship). The order of authors varies by specific field. In general, for bioengineering, the first author is the student/post-doc who took the lead and wrote the paper, the last author is the PI, and the authors in between are in order of decreasing contribution. Failure to complete papers before leaving the lab may result in a junior member doing so as the first author in your place.

Other Guidelines

Other Tips

Adapted from documents by Pam Kreeger.