Building your research_group_nifp_2011_rev

ADVANCE RICE©Rice University 2011
Building and Managing Your
Research Group

General Thoughts
 The goal of your research program is to
gain tenure and to establish a strong
reputation
 Do the things that support this goal
 Do NOT do things that interfere with this
goal
 How you set up your research group will
follow you and will help determine your
success
 Worry about results, funding and people!

Research Group Elements
 People
 Undergraduates
 Graduate students
 Postdocs
 Technical support staff
 Space
 Place for people, equipment, materials and
supplies

Motivating Your Group
 Find students who will work hard
 Find ways to avoid or dismiss students
who will not work hard or are disruptive
or dishonest
 Support your students and ensure their
own learning process
 Provide guidance and clear expectations
 Provide feedback on their work and on
their writing

People
 Technical staff
 Have clear job description
 Ask a colleague to help in interviews
 Are technical staff the best use of resources?
 Postdocs
 Does department have prejudice for/against
postdocs? Favor graduate students?
 How difficult is it to recruit postdocs?
 Are there university resources for postdocs?
 International issues? Ability to apply for K99, etc.?

People
 Graduate Students
 What are departmental expectations for
number of graduate students per year?
 Will the graduate students also be
expected to be TAs?
 What are the processes for evaluation and
advancement to candidacy for graduate
students?

People
 Undergraduate research students
 How many can you reasonably manage?
 What are the departmental expectations
for undergraduate research mentoring?
 How do you strike the balance?
 Using graduate students/postdocs as in-lab
mentors for undergraduates can be a very
successful strategy

Keeping Up
 Have “regular” meetings with each member
of your laboratory
 Be aware of what they are doing
 If they need assistance, figure out the best way to
guide them forward
 Have lab members write regular reports that
can form the basis for publications
 Use an outline to plan publication
 Sketch figures/tables
 Easy way to see what they are thinking and
provide feedback

Personnel Management
 Establish a positive “lab culture”
 Have regular lab meetings to discuss
research and look at papers in your area
 Be proactive in addressing personnel
conflicts (or potential conflicts)
 Get help if you need it
 No one wants a caustic/poisonous lab
environment
 Lead by example
 Do you want an “Open Door”?

Lab Meetings
 Many different styles
 Journal club
 Present data
 Rotating schedule or everyone each time
 Don’t just organize it like your mentor did
 Get suggestions from colleagues
 Don’t be afraid to change format, time

Sub-Group Meetings
 Consider “regular” meetings for lab
members working on similar research
 Consolidate protocols, code, etc.
 Share best practices and new information
 May not need to be as frequent as full
group meeting

Create Clear Expectations
 Consider a “compact” document that
outlines your expectations that you
review with students and that they sign
 Include information on backups for
data/computers, books, chemicals, code,
coursework, FAX use, funding, human or
animal subjects (and compliance training),
lab duties, lab safety issues and safety
officer, new member orientation, use of
equipment, website

 Provide clear guidance on
 Lab notebooks
 Literature coverage (shared in lab
meetings)
 Attendance at meetings
 General comportment
 Publications
 Order of authors/responsibilities
 Engagement in manuscript review/grant
review

 Safety issues and procedures
 Security of the lab and its people
 Software and data backup policies
 Travel expectations
 How often/who will fund/who must present
 Vacations
 Progress reports
 Work hours

Developing Expertise
 You’ll want your lab members to learn
 Advanced experimental procedures
 Basic lab skills
 Plan for hierarchy of training
 Rotate basic lab duties
 Assign equipment to individuals
 Refresher training to prevent protocol drift

Recruiting Graduate Students
 Volunteer to serve on the admissions
committee
 Teach classes geared for graduate
students
 Mentor graduate students as they enter
the department

Selecting Graduate Students
 Speak with those interested in your group, by
phone or in person!
 Ask the candidates to do something
meaningful for the lab: report, presentation
 Have them interact with your current
students
 Weigh the risks – no one is perfect
 Follow up with candidate
 Remember they are also evaluating you

Undergraduate Students
 You may be swamped with requests for
research experiences
 Don’t say yes to everyone that asks
 Ask for references and check them!
 Interview the student to check suitability
 What are their skills / your needs?
 Don’t swamp your grad students and
postdocs with mentees
 Aim for diversity

Work Study Students?
 Seriously consider hiring work study
students to help with routine lab duties
 Helps avoid the “your mother does not
work here” lectures
 You pay a fraction of their wages
 Interview a few, hire the most convenient
one – don’t overthink the hire
 May turn into a fabulous research intern!

Practice Saying “NO”
 Generate some boilerplate for polite
rejections
 “No” vs. “not now”
 “Your CV is interesting, but…”
 “Here’s how potential graduate students
apply to our program…”
 Create versions for undergrads, grads, and
postdocs
 Use for email replies or post on your
website

Non-experimental Space
 Be sure that your office is placed in the
relationship you desire with respect to your
group members
 Some like it close
 Some like it far away
 Arrange your office to support your style of
working
 Embrace your independence
 From your mentors/advisors
 Be aware of how your work will be judged in
your department, school, and discipline

Physical Space
 Moving into existing space
 Proximity to colleagues
 Access to department/university equipment
 Proper utilities for equipment
 Electrical, air, vacuum, water
 Hoods
 Chemical, tissue culture
 Air handling
 Vibration issues, flow issues, etc.
 Office space for students/postdocs
 Separate or within lab?

Physical Space
 Renovating space
 Negotiate for a tenure clock extension, if your
delay is >4-6 months
 Same issues apply as for existing space, but you
have some choices!
 Think carefully about what you need for your work
 Electrical, clean power, ventilation, hoods, plumbing,
chilled water, vibration insulation, air flow from the HVAC
system, everything
 Do careful research about what you need
 Contact vendors for equipment specifications and
problems identified at other institutions
 Ask colleagues about problems encountered at your
institution

Physical Space
 Renovating space
 Learn from others about renovations
 Work with the architects/contractor to get
your project within the assigned cost range
 Be actively involved in every state of the
process — follow process regularly
 Ensure that what you need in being taken
into account, especially completion date
 Be prepared for delays
 Write grants or papers, prepare for teaching,
write compliance documents

Physical Space
 Organize how you will move in
 Think about what you will do and in
what order
 Ask for space to work temporarily if
there are things that can get you going
 Take the time to engage your
colleagues and learn more about the
department

Equipment
 Seek possible discounts
 Negotiate with multiple vendors for the
best price
 Allow sufficient lead time for items that
are complex (1-6 months for large
equipment)

Supplies
 Talk with multiple vendors (bulk
discounts from some with large orders)
 Package as much as possible with each
individual vendor for best price
 Consider larger quantities of items that
“keep” and that you know you will need
 Biggest discount you’ll ever get!
 Think about storage strategies

Building your research_group_nifp_2011_rev

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