Lab Expectations

Please note that this does not a substitute for university rules and regulations, and that those policies and any legal requirements supersede anything in this document.

My lab has three central goals:

• To do quality science
• To develop each lab member to become a successful scientist
• To maintain a collegial and intellectually-stimulating environment

As your advisor, I will work to provide the mentorship and training needed to help you develop into an independent scientist. To accomplish this goal, it is important that we establish effective communication and align expectations with each other. This document provides a framework for communicating the culture of my lab, and how you and I will work together to further your scientific productivity and intellectual development. I believe in mentoring each individual in a manner that best meets their needs, and I look forward to having open discussions about these expectations and revisiting them as necessary to enable your successful professional development.

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Research and coursework

My goal as your advisor is to help you to become an independent scientist. I want and expect you to come up with your own research directions, stay apprised of the relevant literature, and for you to develop opinions that you can defend. I will expect you to be critical of your own work and to test thoroughly for accuracy. I expect you to have strong scientific integrity and to maintain the highest level of rigor.

I will provide research support during our weekly meetings and in between via Slack. I thoroughly edit most documents, if I am provided sufficient time. You can always expect that I will push back on your ideas to make sure they stand up for peer review. I ask that you view this as part of a collaborative process and do not take this as an indicator of the quality of your work.

Your classwork should be intellectually stimulating, and I expect you to put in significant effort to learn the material. Beyond the requirements of EPS, you do not need a particular GPA.

Conferences and Networking

I expect you to attend and present (poster or oral) at a minimum of one in-discipline conference in your first two years and at least one conference a year after that. I will help you develop your scientific network during these events, and I expect you to be proactive about reaching out to scholars doing relevant work.

Milestones

I expect that you will meet deadlines in a timely manner for your qualifying exams, committee meetings, dissertation defense, research proposals, and research funding agencies. It is your responsibility to manage these timelines.

Your primary milestones are: 1) First year presentation in the Fall of your second year, 2) Qualifying exam, 3) Annual committee meetings, and 4) your thesis submission and defense. A guideline is that your dissertation should contain at least one published (or accepted) first author publication and two other papers/projects in a mature stage.

Culture

The culture in my group is meant to be one of mutual respect and collaboration. Be respectful, tolerant of, and work collegially with colleagues: respect individual differences in values, backgrounds, personalities, and work styles. I want our group to be free of bullying, discrimination, and harassment. Please bring up any issues you experience, and I especially welcome feedback about anything I am doing that is problematic.

If you have a conflict, please bring it up with me, if you feel it is appropriate. If you feel uncomfortable speaking with me about it, reach out to the Graduate Student Coordinator, Aimee Smith as resource who can provide you information about support available on and off campus. She and I are both mandatory Title IX reporters.

What does success look like?

I want each person in my group to develop into:

• An independent thinker.
• A good colleague.
• An ethical and diligent researcher.
• A creative scientist.

I want you to develop into this person while prioritizing your physical and mental health. Success criteria beyond these will differ from person to person. You will define your goals, and I am open and eager to discuss this with you during our regular mentoring check-ins.