We have created this document in an attempt to describe the “culture” of the lab. Applying the principles outlined below is the responsibility of all the members of the lab (Mihai included). It is also all of our responsibility to guide those new to the lab towards the code of conduct described below.
It is important to stress that these are not “articles of law”, but aspirational guidelines that we may all fail to meet at times, or that may not apply in all situations. We expect to revisit and refine these guidelines as we and the lab evolve over the years.
- We are ethical scientists
- We strive to improve ourselves
- We respect each other’s opinions and values by
- criticizing ideas/concepts, not people
- using “I” language – focusing on our individual perceptions, responsibilities and actions rather than projecting those onto others
- Honesty/communication
- We acknowledge and address conflict rather than ignoring it
- We think before we speak
- We take turns when talking, and listen before jumping in with questions or opinions
- We support each other by
- training and mentoring new people
- organizing journal clubs and sharing papers of interest
- taking notes when attending conferences and sharing with others when we return
- bouncing ideas off each other
- providing feedback on the presentations and papers of our colleagues
- helping each other with data analyses
- We use facts to guide our decisions
- We work towards the greater good of the group by
- contributing to the maintenance of the lab and Center software
- when feasible, addressing the problem rather than passing the buck
- We make more coffee when the pot is empty
- We clean the sink even if we didn’t make the mess
- We “google” and provide the answer rather than saying “you could google X”.
- We fix things that are broken rather than complaining about them
- We strive for positive interactions with external labs, collaborators, and audiences by
- preparing for meetings and conference calls
- delivering results to collaborators in a timely fashion
- acknowledging lab members during our talks
- providing polished software to our colleagues
- We develop open-source, well-documented software
- we document and test our code before asking others to try it out
- we care about reproducibility
- We respect other people’s time by
- starting and ending meetings on time
- holding appointments and only canceling when absolutely necessary and with as much lead time as possible
- preparing for meetings so the time is spent effectively
- not checking email, reading papers, working on analyses, etc. during meetings
- ending meetings with action items
- using proper email etiquette
- planning our vacations in a way that minimizes impact on lab projects.
- responding promptly to time-sensitive requests
- not imposing our own deadlines onto others
- If asking people to review our papers we do so with plenty of room before the final deadlines
- If asking for letters of recommendation we ask early, not just before the deadline
Mihai Pop 