Guiding Philosophies for Running a Lab

I think that an underappreciated factor in succeeding as a principal investigator is getting the lab’s internal culture right. For my lab, the goal is an environment that is highly collaborative, e.g., with open sharing and recombination of raw ideas into better ideas. We havemanaged to maintain a highly collegial, drama-free environment over these past 7 years, but as the lab has gotten bigger, the interpersonal dynamics is something that one needs to be vigilant about. I truly love coming to work every day—in large part because of the amazing people—and I aspire for everyone else in the lab to feel the same way. Although I am always happy to step in with ideas of my own, I encourage my trainees to develop the confidence to initiate and pursue their own ideas as well, provided that they are within the broad scope of the lab. I really do view my role as an advisor—providing ample resources, a solid environment, and as much advice as you want on experimental details, as well as the big picture—but at the end of the day, you have to let the trainees make most of the calls and to learn to accept responsibility (as well as to get credit) for those decisions, or otherwise they aren’t learning how to function as independent scientists. As for a personal philosophy: early to bed, early to rise. Get it done today. Don’t complain—this life is a privilege. Unencumbered Pursuits