Lab expectations

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I believe that four principles are essential to success in science, and I encourage all students to practice these principles when they’re in the Steen Lab. I have also established some specific rules and expectations that are in line with those principles.

Principles

Be creative

  • Read the literature: papers that you’re assigned to read, and papers that you find on your own.
  • Discuss ideas whenever possible: with your lab mates, with Drew, with other students and faculty inside and outside of our department.
  • Write. A scientist is, at the end of the day, a writer. Writing is important at all stages of a project, from generating ideas and planning experiments to communicating final results.

Take care of yourself

  • Get enough sleep. Even fairly moderate sleep loss has similar cognitive effects to being too drunk to drive.
  • Do what you need to take care of your body, mind, and soul. Eat well, get some exercise, have a social life outside of lab.
  • Put safety first.
  • Ask for help from your labmates, Drew, and the scientific community at large.

Take care of your lab-mates

  • Help your labmates. Science is a team sport, and when your team succeeds, you succeed.
  • Practice anti-bigotry. Racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry are common in science, just as they are in the broader society. To remain neutral is to perpetuate that bigotry.
  • Create an approachable environment. Carry yourself in such a way that your lab-mates will be eager to talk with you about science and anything else important.

Take responsibility for your career

  • Take charge of the literature. Find the papers that are important for your project and read them on your own.
  • Take charge of writing papers. The way to get papers published is to write them.
  • Advocate for yourself within the lab, with Drew, and in the broader scientific community.
  • Put in the time in lab and in front of your computer. We don’t punch a clock in this lab, but we also don’t finish projects without putting in the hours.

Rules and Expectations

Safety

  • Take all relevant safety training. At minimum all lab members should complete the general lab safety course or lab safety for undergraduate students, as appropriate.
  • Review the lab safety manual.
  • Be pro-active about safety issues.

The practice of science

  • Record all your work in a lab notebook. We will provide you with one. Lab notebook pages should be formatted as described here link to come.
  • Store all data on the lab Google Drive site (or marie as appropriate). If possible, you should install the Drive File Stream app on your computer, so the lab drive will appear on your hard drive.
  • Use high-quality passwords for your UTK account and your marie account. A password manager such as LastPass is helpful in this regard.

Time in lab and time away

  • We don’t punch a clock in the lab. However, lab members are expected to be available:
    • Graduate students and more senior personnel: generally during working hours (9-5 Monday - Friday, more or less).
    • Undergraduates: about 10 hours a week at minimum, on a schedule agreed with Drew.
  • Lab meetings: We will hold weekly, scheduled lab meetings. All lab members are expected to attend, unless a classtime conflict prevents this.
  • One-on-one meetings: Each student will meet regularly with Drew. For most students, this meeting will happen weekly, although it may be more or less often depending on a student’s specific needs.
  • Ad hoc meetings: Derw has an open-door policy, including when working from home. Please be quick to “stop by” virtually or in person with questions or exciting observations.

Resources

Being creative

  • More TK

Taking care of yourself

Taking care of others

Taking charge of your career