Expectations of lab members (adapted from the Avasthi Lab)
What to expect from me:
You can expect me to find and create opportunities for you that will help you achieve your career goals.
You can expect me to push you out of your comfort zone to prepare you for your next job (e.g. public speaking, networking).
You can expect me to meet with you weekly to discuss your work and exchange ideas.
You can expect me to help you get your first paper quickly by designing a focused project.
You can expect me to help you interpret experimental results, help you decide on next steps and help you prioritize those next steps.
You can expect me to help you prepare grants/papers and edit drafts of written work (we start writing by making figures first).
You can expect me to go over your career development plan with you at least once per year to see if you are on track for your goals.
You can expect me to send you to one or two conferences per year (e.g. Biology of Genomes, ASHG, or any good scientific conference).
What I expect from you:
I expect you to conduct yourself with the utmost scientific integrity. Never manipulate data or plagiarize written work (even if its your own previous work).
I expect you to keep sustainable and reproducible code (especially for large data analysis projects).
I expect you to read papers, at least 5 papers a week. You can choose which ones, it really helps you develop new ideas and interests.
I expect you to attend all lab meetings. I expect you to tell me in advance if you cannot attend.
I expect students and postdocs to identify funding opportunities and apply for all relevant/eligible external funding (including travel grants). Let me know of all submissions you have planned for the next 12 months.
I expect you to be present in the lab between 10am-5pm for at least 4 days/week. The remainder of your work time can be whenever you wish and flexibility in schedule is a perk of the job. For a rule of thumb, I think 30 hours of focused work per week is enough.
I expect you to treat all of lab members with respect, regardless of their career stage. Each person is an important contributor to our team that we can learn from.