Category: Lab Management

This is a summary of https://www.scientifica.uk.com/neurowire/increase-your-lab-efficiency-for-better-more-economical-results

1. Human resources
   • Everyone needs to know the scope of their roles and have the education and experience to carry them out without too much additional learning.
2. Equipment optimization
   • Equipment should always be maintained as instructed by the manufacturer and kept in a clean, fully working condition.
3. Write everything down (in detail) – but not on paper!
   • If something works particularly well, write it down. You will be able to use this information to carry out the same task more efficiently in the future.
   • If something doesn’t work, write it down. You will be able to use this information to ensure you don’t create the same problem in the future.
4. Get advice from peers
   • Utilize ResearchGate
5. Workspace organization

This is a summary of https://www.scientifica.uk.com/neurowire/lab-management-advice-for-when-you-start-a-new-lab

• Remember, your people are not you
  • Students are not Ph.D.’s.
• The right number of people
  • It may be best to start with two students.
  • After Ph.D. students are trained, recruit a few more.
• Work at the bench
  • Seating in your office writing grants, reading papers, and doing administrative tasks is the typical mistake during the first year.
  • It is crucial that you are in the lab, train people, and set the standard.
• Teach by example
  • You need to convey motivation and commitment.
  • You need to encourage the people in your lab and show them the beauty of what they do.
• Embrace different cultures and different people
• Listen and communicate
  • You need to talk to the members of your lab.
  • Let them know that they can talk to you about anything that’s on their mind, whenever they need to.
  • Be open and approachable, listen to the point of view of others and give them your opinion, advice, and feedback too.
• Be supportive and coach your people
• Provide feedback in regular meetings
  • Discuss their workload, the progress of their work, new ideas, concerns they may have and so on.
  • Let them know how crucial they are to the lab, tell them what they do well and give constructive feedback on what could be improved.
• Recognize the difference between time-urgent and important

This is a summary of the article at https://www.scientifica.uk.com/neurowire/lab-management-10-tips-for-motivating-your-research-group

Managing a research lab requires balancing experiments with followings.

• Grant applications
• Reading papers
• Admin tasks
• Managing people

Here are ten tips.

1. Find out what motivates the members of your lab
2. Help them develop their skills
3. Avoid micromanaging
4. Communicate and ask for opinions
5. Set clear goals – CLEAR
   • Collaborative
   • Limited – the scope and duration of goals should have clear limits.
   • Emotional
   • Appreciable – break down large goals into smaller ones to make them more achievable and less daunting.
   • Refinable – goals can be modified when situations change or if results don’t go as planned.
6. Celebrate success and say thank you
7. Give constructive feedback
8. Help them achieve a work-life balance
   • Offer flexible working hours
   • Have a work-life balance yourself
   • Don’t contact your lab about work outside of working hours unless it is an emergency
   • Ask your lab what would help them increase their work-life balance
   • Don’t expect long hours all the time
   • Encourage staff to take a holiday
   • Focus on productivity, rather than hours
   • Regularly review workloads
   • Support parents
9. Don’t punish mistakes
10. Have regular one-to-ones
    • What do you like most about what you do?
    • When do you feel most productive?
    • Who do you admire the most in the lab or institute? Why?
    • What skills do you want to develop?
    • How can I better support you?