Academia

Questions tagged [lab-management]

Ask Question

Questions related to the management and organization of academic laboratories.

52 questions
Newest
Active
Bountied
Unanswered
Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
2
votes
0answers
50 views

Joining 2 different research labs as a Ph.D. student

I'm a PhD student and there are two labs that work in very similar fields, but different departments. Both look great, but I'm not sure which will benefit my research more (resources, collaboration, ...
42
votes
10answers
7k views

Should I be honest with postdoc candidate about awful lab working environment?

I work as a postdoc in a lab that is extremely mismanaged. The head of the lab micromanages all the staff, often claims successful work as his own, and rejects new ideas that are not from him. All ...
2
votes
1answer
120 views

Is the adoption of IS0 9000 principles, or even actual ISO certification very common in universities?

I'm not sure if this is on-topic but nothing seemed conclusive that it wasn't in the help center, so let's see what happens. The ISO 9000 family of standards has been adopted by well over a million ...
6
votes
3answers
360 views

When do STEM academics learn how to manage funding?

I'm from the humanities, where research grants etc. are scarce. Also, training to deal with research grants and external funding is nearly non-existent in my field. I'm curious as to how graduate ...
33
votes
8answers
8k views

Should I make my research students' pay contingent on completion of tasks (such as reading/summarizing papers)?

I received a fund that I can use explicitly for paying graduate (master's and doctoral) students for research. These students already receive a stipend from the university, but most advisors who can ...
1
vote
1answer
122 views

What do I do about my lab head misattributing my grant proposal?

The head of my lab and I wrote a grant proposal together. Last year we submitted it with me and them as chief investigators. This year I wasn't allowed to submit grants per the rules of my government ...
-1
votes
2answers
93 views

Tools for creating and managing a Data Dictionary [closed]

I'm looking for tools to create a data dictionary for my project's data. We have a large database of many variables, and I would like to create a data dictionary that describes what each variable ...
5
votes
1answer
235 views

How is the energy bill split in academic departments?

Consider a physics department for example. Does each lab get metered and pay its own bill in the United States, or does the department itself cover overhead? Do energy leaks get noticed and managed? ...
2
votes
0answers
80 views

What's the best way of starting a private lab wiki site? [closed]

My labmates and I were thinking of creating a wiki site for sharing protocols, links to github repos, some metadata and other useful lab related material. Contentwise mostly text, maybe some images, ...
4
votes
1answer
248 views

Lab vs personal brand

I’m moving to a new university and setting up a lab. Unlike some US universities, the consensus is not to use your surname as the name of the lab but have a descriptive name (e.g., “this area” Lab). ...
8
votes
0answers
257 views

Postdoc-led Lab Mutiny: Is this normal? What to do? [closed]

A new postdoc has written an email on behalf of all grad students (CCing us) accusing our professor of being irresponsible, saying we would all stop our experiments. The postdoc has been helping PhD ...
2
votes
0answers
46 views

Collaborative software recommendation for a 4 year research project with several partners and < 10 researchers [closed]

I will be a project manager of research project with 3 university partners, 3 Postdocs and 5 PhD students for 4 years. Currently we use software tools for single researchers in my group like mendeley,...
4
votes
3answers
2k views

Co-supervisor comes to the office to help her students, which distracts me

My co-supervisor (2nd supervisor) comes to the office where I work to help her (main) Ph.D. students. The noise distracts my work. I find it unprecedented. Why not help her students in her own private ...
7
votes
3answers
332 views

Managing lab funds

I am very fortunate to have several sources of research fundings to run my lab. Like many other skills needed for running a lab, I have no background in accounting (?). Different funds come through ...
1
vote
2answers
350 views

Optimal configuration of a research group [closed]

In most of the European Universities I know, research groups are created from the equivalent of Assistant Professors and the Principal Investigator is voted in some sort of election, where there are ...
2
votes
2answers
588 views

Is it normal that my adviser remove my information, pictures, everything from the lab homepage after I suspend my school?

First of all, I studied in Japan. After I complete all graduate courses. There will be 3 years to submit my thesis. During this time, I drop school and work in a company. So my professor removed all ...
1
vote
3answers
255 views

Buy a server or cloud computing for a new lab? [closed]

We are starting a new computer lab and expect to have data that is 50-100 TB of text, images, and maybe videos to process. We will need to run tasks occasionally (10-30% utilization per month), so ...
0
votes
1answer
107 views

Is it rude to ask a professor you do not know and in a different department to borrow equipment?

I am a grad student in new lab and my PI like to pinch pennies a bit. I want to purchase an accessory for use with an already purchased piece of equipment. I have emailed a few vendors about getting ...
47
votes
11answers
11k views

What to do when being responsible for data protection in your lab, yet advice is ignored?

I work in a lab where we conduct research on data acquire from human subjects. As we investigate the effects of different diseases and the related treatments, the data is highly sensitive in regards ...
45
votes
2answers
11k views

Strange Sign on Lab Door

I saw a strange sign on a door to a geophysics lab in a museum in Switzerland. I was really curious about what it means and wanted to know if anyone is familiar with this sign. Here's the full image ...
1
vote
3answers
608 views

Theorists facing tenure track faculty interviews

The faculty interview is based on the context of a department stressing on industry interaction. When asked about how to buy lab equipments and find funding, may a theorist answer the search committee ...
17
votes
3answers
806 views

Is it ethical to put a surveillance camera inside a lab

The Lab leader is putting a surveillance camera inside the lab to protect some precious devices bought recently. The viewpoint of the camera covers most of the lab and shows clearly the lab members ...
5
votes
2answers
336 views

How can I develop leadership skills in graduate school?

I am currently in my second year of a PhD program. I have not yet decided on academia, industry, or entrepreneurship for a career, but in all these cases my success will be strongly influenced by my ...
4
votes
1answer
590 views

Starting a lab wiki

I've recently joined a new lab; an experimental physics group of ~30 people, consisting of postdocs and PhDs and a few PI's. All of these people are using/sharing/rotating between a number of setups, ...
2
votes
1answer
625 views

Should grad students also serve as lab managers?

I'm a 3rd year PhD student in a robotics lab. My advisor recently moved universities, so our new lab space doesn't have a large stockpile of supplies and equipment. As the person who does the most ...
0
votes
1answer
109 views

ask PI for more acknowledgement of good work / affirmation

Setting: PhD student (5th year) at a US research university. Non-native English speaker. We have a great boss, however sometimes it seems that good things are not being highlighted enough. For ...
10
votes
2answers
3k views

What should I do about a professor who got in my face and yelled at me?

I'm a lab assistant at my university and one day some of my coworkers who are underclassmen asked me about my experience with a professor I had taken a couple classes with. I told them that every ...
3
votes
1answer
249 views

As a part time volunteer, how can I ask my advisor to let me work independently, so that I can have a chance at first authorship?

TL;DR As a part time volunteer, what is the best way of communicating to my professor that I would like to be able to work independently on a project of my own to work towards a first authorship paper,...
1
vote
1answer
204 views

Is it acceptable to use a microscope in the office and not in the laboratory? [closed]

I often see microscopes inside the office rooms of professors as well as other teaching members. They may not use them on daily basis but once in a while, or sometimes heavily used by a few of them. ...
2
votes
0answers
145 views

An organizational chart to ensure central management of laboratories in a college

I was asked the other day to suggest how different labs in our college should be centrally managed, or what organizational chart would be suitable, to make all these labs abide by input from the ...
1
vote
0answers
48 views

What is the UK equivalent of a PC 2 laboratory?

In New Zealand and Australia we use the term 'physical containment' (PC) to describe structures and procedures designed to prevent the release of viable organisms into the environment. As far as I am ...
6
votes
2answers
897 views

What are the disadvantages of having postdocs or visitor in the lab?

I have seen professors clearly stating that they do not accept visitor students or postdocs. So, what are the disadvantages of having such positions?
8
votes
1answer
373 views

What are the time demands on a PhD student who is helping set up a lab?

I am mulling over pros and cons of different advisers and a quirk I have found with some of the newer professors is the issue of lab start up activities. I have seen some anecdotes online about it ...
3
votes
1answer
438 views

How to restore trust in a toxic lab environment?

A friend of mine started working in a biology research lab where several research groups share space and lab equipment. Recently the environment has become quite toxic as the people started to ...
1
vote
1answer
199 views

First time being in an applied math lab - what are some tips to overcome shyness?

This will be my first semester in an applied math lab. After spending a couple of years taking all theoretical math courses, essentially working in isolation the entire time, and finishing a thesis, ...
4
votes
2answers
262 views

Asking my advisor about our lab’s funding situation

It seems like funding in the lab in which I am working is getting tight. Since I usually end up spending a fair amount of said funding to buy supplies for the lab and my coworkers, it’d be nice to ...
15
votes
1answer
3k views

What's a good strategy for coming up with a lab name?

I'm going to be starting a research lab as a junior faculty, what is a good strategy for coming up with a lab name? How important is a lab name in differentiating yourself in the field or ...
29
votes
3answers
5k views

Is offering to use personal funds for research a good idea?

I'm at an engineering department at a public US university, and I'm somewhat new to writing proposals. The call I'm submitting to wants know if the project budget is higher than the amount of the ...
3
votes
0answers
39 views

Online Slot Management and recruitement tool for lab studies [closed]

In Human-Computer Interaction and Psychology (and others) lab studies are performed quite often. Although searching quite a bit, I did not find a tool/piece of software or application to provide a ...
4
votes
5answers
672 views

Is there any guide or organisation solution for increasing utilization of laboratory and lab equipment?

We obtained a report for the last academic year. A shocking revelation was that the capacity utilization* of lab equipment, laboratories, instruments and machines is only 37%. Everyone seems to be ...
11
votes
2answers
185 views

What incentives can a faculty member offer to a potential lab manager?

As a new junior faculty member in life sciences, I would like to recruit a PhD lab manager/technician. The duties would include some basic administration (such as ordering reagents) but mostly ...
7
votes
5answers
342 views

How to organize repository of common research papers for lab members?

The Problem I am a graduate student in a research lab with several other students, and as such we're all pursuing research and dissertation topics that are at least generally related in nature. We ...
25
votes
10answers
6k views

How to cope with lab noise?

I have searched a lot and I am surprised that this topic hasn't been discussed yet. I am an M.Sc. Student in Computer Science. Our lab is actually a dry lab in which we need to do a lot of reading of ...
12
votes
1answer
255 views

Is it reasonable to purchase a professionally designed logo/brand for a research group?

I have seen a few research groups that have a "stylized" look, including a logo/slide template that is used by the PI and his/her students. [My particular research area is adjacent to computer ...
8
votes
1answer
239 views

How do junior professors build up a team of lab personnel?

In the field of computer science how does a junior professor recruit graduate and undergraduate research assistants to initially build up a lab at a university? How long would this normally take? In ...
7
votes
2answers
339 views

Tips for supervising interns

My advisor will be taking on a number of summer interns, some of whom have been assigned to my projects. The interns are a mix of sophomore and junior undergrads with varied levels of research ...
3
votes
4answers
1k views

Good data entry and management systems [closed]

I am a PhD student and am thinking ahead to when I start up a psychology lab---what are some of the best data entry and management systems? To avoid the "it depends" answer, below I list what I'm ...
9
votes
1answer
791 views

What are the flaws of working in a research center department led by young principal investigators?

In few months I will join a new research center department of an excellent university in Northern America. My field is computer science and bioinformatics. This new department has mainly hired young ...
10
votes
2answers
2k views

In a research group, is it better to have few post-docs and many PhD students, or viceversa? [closed]

I work in computer science, and am wondering what is the right balance between PhD students and postdoctoral fellows in a lab. In the previous research group I was, there were one principal ...
11
votes
4answers
629 views

Monitoring students in the lab

My professor recently had a problem, and he asked me for my help to solve it, and of course I ask for yours. He was made the School of Engineering Dean, an while it sounds important it takes most of ...

1
2