Handbook

The purpose of this handbook is to create a respectful, collaborative, and productive research environment for current and prospective members. These guidelines are intended to describe the expectations and culture of our lab and are subject to applicable university policies.

Core rules

1. Be respectful to members of our lab, other labs, and the public. Scientific research is a collaborative process, and meaningful collaboration is impossible without mutual respect. Disrespectful behavior toward others will not be tolerated.

2. Be present and engaged. I strongly believe that creativity benefits from flexibility in working hours and environment. At the same time, being physically present in the lab is important for spontaneous discussion, collaboration, and building a healthy research environment. Core lab members, including graduate students and postdocs, are expected to spend at least three days a week, for most of the workday, in the lab. Undergraduate students may have different arrangements depending on their schedules and research commitments. Reasonable exceptions can be made for classes, travel, health, or other circumstances.

3. Respect the shared workspace. The lab is meant to provide an efficient and comfortable place to do high-quality research. Please keep the main room reasonably quiet. Brief research discussions are of course welcome, but longer conversations, phone calls, or meetings should take place outside the main room whenever possible.

4. Communicate clearly and in advance. Planned vacations, travel, extended absences, or major changes in your schedule should be communicated in advance whenever possible. Unexpected circumstances happen, but timely communication helps everyone plan and work effectively.

5. Honor your research commitments. Lab members are encouraged to pursue opportunities that support their academic and professional development. However, outside activities should not interfere with commitments already made to the lab, including thesis research, ongoing projects, meetings, and collaborative responsibilities. If your availability or priorities change substantially, please discuss this with me in advance.

Research practices

1. Aim for high-quality and ambitious research. Our goal is not simply to complete projects, but to ask questions that are interesting, important, and capable of advancing the field. I encourage you to think beyond what is immediately feasible or publishable. Pursue questions that genuinely excite you and that you believe are important to the field. Ambitious research will not always work, and failed approaches are a normal part of the process. What matters is that we ask important questions and approach them with rigor.

2. Take ownership of your research. In our lab, each member is expected to take ownership of their research project: to think about what questions are worth asking, decide what the next steps should be, and actively move the project forward. My role is to provide guidance, feedback, and support, while helping you develop the independence needed to become a better scientist. If you are stuck, ask for help.

3. Come prepared for meetings. Regular meetings are a time to discuss progress, problems, and new ideas. Please come prepared to explain what you have done, what you have learned, what remains unclear, and what you think the next steps should be. Meetings should be discussions rather than reports to me.

4. Keep your research reproducible and accessible. Code, data, analyses, and other research materials should be organized and documented so that you and others can understand and reproduce your work later. Important research materials should not exist only on a personal computer. Please use appropriate lab repositories, shared storage, and backups.

5. Document your work as you go. Keep sufficient records of your analyses, decisions, assumptions, and failed attempts. Research often takes unexpected turns, and a clear record of what you tried and why is valuable both for yourself and for your collaborators.

6. Share your work with the lab. Research improves through discussion. Be willing to present unfinished ideas, preliminary results, and problems to other lab members, and contribute constructively when others share theirs.

Vacations and sick days

1. Take time off if you are sick. Many of us work on infectious disease dynamics, and I do not think we need to contribute another data point to the already abundant outbreak data sets. Please stay home if you are sick and let me know. You do not need permission to take a sick day.

2. Take vacations. Taking time off is important for doing good research over the long term. Graduate students and postdocs have 15 days of vacation each year. Sick days and research-related travel do not count toward these 15 days. Please let me know in advance whenever possible so that we can plan ahead.

Lab equipment

1. Lab equipment belongs to the lab. While our research does not rely heavily on specialized equipment, computers and other electronic devices are essential research tools. Equipment purchased with lab or research funds belongs to the lab and should be treated accordingly.

2. Take care of equipment assigned to you. If you are assigned a laptop, monitor, or other equipment, you are responsible for using it appropriately and keeping it in good condition. Please let me know promptly if something is lost, damaged, or stops working.

3. Return lab equipment when your appointment or project ends. Equipment assigned to individual members remains part of the lab and must be returned before leaving the lab.