2. Expectations of lab group members

2. Expectations of lab group members#

What can you expect from joining the group?#

Our group comprises many researchers at different career stages, from undergraduate students to established researchers. As a member of the group, you can expect to work in a diverse and inclusive environment and gain the opportunity to pursue different projects, collaborations, and tasks.

All group members are encouraged to contribute to the scholarly discussions at all stages. We particularly encourage more junior colleagues to present or speak out during the weekly meetings.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusivity#

As a group, we acknowledge that academia and science continue to suffer from a lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Science does not operate in a bubble, nor is it apolitical. Scientific issues are societal issues, and societal issues, such as racism, gender bias, and personal safety, are issues that affect the scientific enterprise and that the community must address. This statement was adapted from this precedent (with permission). It was approved by all laboratory members, and we will revisit it regularly.

We welcome, support, and advocate for community members from diverse backgrounds including those from different socioeconomic backgrounds, races and ethnicities, gender identities and sexualities, religions, disabilities, familial obligations, and other personal identities.

To do so, we specifically work toward:

Strong relationships:#

We will ensure that each junior group member has a direct mentoring relationship with a more senior colleague
We will share opportunities with group members regardless of their status or seniority to enhance professional development (see next section)
We engage in open conversations with people from all levels
We acknowledge that we will all make mistakes. We will learn from our mistakes and take action to correct ourselves.

An inclusive environment:#

We encourage and support non-academic career choices, for example, science policy, writing, industry, non-science careers, etc.
We discuss societal and ethical issues that affect our group members and others in the community
When safe, we point out problematic behaviour
We are accountable to and for each other
We are receptive to constructive criticism
We do our best to use non gendered language
We strive to read and present works from excluded/marginalized scientists wherever possible
We devote lab meeting(s) and group discussions to discussing diversity and inclusion issues whenever appropriate

A healthy environment:#

We will not equate self-worth to scientific success
We encourage members to set boundaries on their work hours—an academic career is a marathon, not a sprint
We do not expect that people respond to email chains/discord messages on the weekend, even if any are going around
We recognize each person’s right to personal privacy

Safety, Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Policy#

It is important that everyone in the group receives fair treatment and feels safe. If you feel that anyone is acting unfairly on inappropriately towards you or anyone on your research team, you should approach a senior group member.

These discussions will be treated confidentially, although in certain instances (e.g., if the matter relates to sexual harassment or if there is a risk of self-harm), the person you speak to may be required to report this through appropriate channels. The University also has a mechanism for raising concerns confidentially.

Our commitment to creating opportunities#

We will suggest opportunities to you that we consider appropriate to your career stage and support you in these. Examples include contributing to manuscripts in preparation, reviewing manuscripts and grants, and giving talks. You should not feel under any pressure to accept all of these, but pursue what you feel is suitable for your own development.

We also encourage all our members to take initiative and seek out any opportunities they may find beneficial for their personal and professional development. You can find more resources on this in the section on “Links to additional resources and training”

Most importantly, enjoy your participation in the group!

A note on authorship#

While it is commonly accepted that researchers who have contributed substantially to the development of a paper should have authorship of the paper, it can be tricky to determine what constitutes a substantial contribution. One way to do so is using the CRediT taxonomy.

If you are writing your dissertation (broadly defined as being any research project, from a third-year project through a Master’s thesis) under the supervision of a group member, there is every possibility that your work may be publishable. Even if it not publishable on its own, then in conjunction with other experiments conducted by group members. In virtually all cases (i.e., with rare exceptions), you will be entitled to authorship on the resultant publication. However, you will not be the only author: Your supervisor(s) will also be (a) co-author in virtually all cases (again with rare exceptions).

The important thing to note about authorship from the outset is that both you and your supervisor share in the “intellectual property” that arises out of your dissertation. The order of authorship is determined on an individual basis for each project and cannot be fully anticipated. It is, however, expected that papers arising out of PhD projects will have the student as first (though not necessarily sole) author.

The most typical pattern in the past has been that a dissertation formed the first in a series of experiments (many conducted by the supervisor long after the student had left) that were ultimately published. In those cases, the student was typically second or third author. However, if a student continued in the lab (e.g., as a PhD student) and contributed to all follow-up work, then they might be first author.

The bottom line at this point is that you need to expect some discussion and negotiation about authorship at some point during your time in the lab or indeed after you have left. Remember also that publication typically takes a long time and many rounds of revision, so you would be expected to stay in contact and follow up with journals and reviewers, possibly for several years after you submitted your dissertation for evaluation.

If you are not involved in any of the writing of the paper, authorship may still be possible, but there will usually be some minimum level contribution required. If you are a research assistant doing data collection for the lab, for example, you may wish to clarify with your immediate supervisor what the expectations would be for authorship.

You may wish to have a look at the following articles on the ethics of authorship:

Fine & Kurdek (1993)

McNutt et al. (2018)

What do we expect of you as part of the lab?#

We expect that all members of the lab will take ownership of their tasks and behave professionally.

In general, this means:

Taking responsibility for the tasks assigned to you;
Adhering to set deadlines (or communicating promptly if you need extensions), and;
Treating all other members of the group with respect.

Taking responsibility includes little things, such as being on time for group meetings, especially if you attend virtually. It also means you should respond to emails and so on in a timely manner (e.g., within the next working day), even if you only acknowledge receipt and promise a more detailed reply for later. If you are unable to respond in a timely manner, please put a “bounce back” or “away from my desk” message on Outlook. If you are planning to be away (e.g., on leave), please arrange this sufficiently far in advance to ensure cover is available for your tasks.

Remember that taking responsibility does not mean doing it all yourself: a big part of ownership is getting help when you need it—right away! If you have a problem, do not panic. Do not delay. Talk to your supervisor or seek help from another member. Talk. Even personal problems, should they adversely affect your performance and participation in lab activities, can be legitimate topics for discussion.

Whatever you do, do not walk away from a problem in frustration—talk to someone instead.

Expectations for members at different career stages#

Members at different career stages will have different responsibilities and expectations associated with those responsibilities. A few (most common) roles are outlined here in brief. If you are uncertain about your role in the lab or what is expected of you, do ask and clarify!

Postdoctoral researchers. Postdocs in the lab are typically responsible for specific projects and the delivery of associated studies. This covers a range of research tasks such as study set-up and co-ordination, data collection, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. They may also take on supervisory roles for PhD, Masters, and undergraduate students.

PhD students. PhD students are typically on three-year or four-year programmes, typically supervised by Stephan Lewandowsky or other members of the team. We expect PhD students to take a high degree of ownership in their PhD, and to develop independence over the course of their PhD, building on their previous experience. This includes shaping the direction of their PhD, developing their initial project ideas based on the results of early studies or experiments.

Undergraduate and MSc students. The lab may have a number of undergraduate and Masters’ project students at any point in time, supervised by one or more lab members at postdoctoral level or above. We expect all students to take ownership of their projects, from conception through to completion. This includes acquiring a thorough understanding of the theoretical and empirical basis for your work. Your supervisors are here to help guide you and provide advice but will not be chasing you to do your readings or submit your drafts.

Research assistants/interns. The lab may at times take on volunteer research assistants, typically undergraduate or MSc students looking to gain research experience. Research assistants will be assigned to a supervisor when volunteering in the lab, and we expect them to stay in regular contact with their supervisor. This means checking emails and communicating when you will be unavailable. Although these roles are voluntary, we do expect that you should commit to any tasks you sign up to do. We also encourage research assistants to take the initiative to suggest tasks they may find useful for their own development.