Welcome to the lab

There is a lot to learn when starting work in a new research group or laboratory — from everyday laboratory logistics to specialized scientific techniques. Making new hires feel comfortable and getting them working efficiently benefits everyone involved. In the non-academic world, acquainting new employees with company policies and equipment is known as onboarding, and is widely used in industry to improve job performance and satisfaction.

A crucial part of this process is the ‘onboarding package’ given to new staff. This package typically outlines the company’s culture and expectations, explaining tasks such as scheduling and using annual leave. However, most academic labs do not have a formal process for introducing new members to their group, which can sometimes result in mismatched expectations and unnecessary confusion that leads to inefficiency.

This article discusses the documents and information that should be included in an onboarding package. By implementing a program tailored to their lab, group leaders and principal investigators (hereafter referred to as PIs) can integrate new members (which can include graduate students, undergraduates, and staff) more effectively, allowing employees to hit the ground running as soon as they join the lab (Goldstein and Avasthi, 2021).

‘First-day’ checklist

Providing new members with a list of essential items they should receive or have access to can accelerate adjustment to the lab. Such a checklist may include the following:

• How to access the physical lab space (i.e., obtaining keycard access or keys)

• Information about lab-related rooms (such as the cell culture room or vivarium), core facilities, and shared equipment

• Link(s) to university-provided email services

• Contact information for department administrators and facility managers

• Email listservs and Slack channels

• Emergency phone numbers (lab manager, PI, senior graduate student, etc.)

• Links to transportation options/services

• Locations of university-designated community rooms or kitchens

• Department payroll information and pertinent links

• A dedicated computer along with lab-provided office supplies and electronics

Examples of onboarding documents.

Here we provide a list of example documents that can be used to help build an onboarding package for new lab members. All resources are shared with permission.

1. A ‘First-day’ checklist outlining the essential items a new employee should receive and have access to when they arrive in the lab (compiled by the authors). Readers are invited to use and share this template.

2. A timeline and milestone document provided by the Sammons Lab (State University of New York at Albany) listing the key events PhD students are expected to complete each year.

3. An example of an ‘Individual Development Plan’ for graduate students provided by the Bioscience Department at Stanford University.

4. A lab philosophy shared over Twitter by Dr. Iain Cheeseman (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), outlining his general approach to science.

5. A detailed lab philosophy document created by Dr. Moin Syed (University of Minnesota) outlining how he manages graduate students and certain aspects of the research process, such as funding and publishing.

6. Focused combination of lab policies, philosophy, and best practices published on lab website by Dr. Prachee Avasthi.

While we have provided a basic checklist for new lab members, it is important to note that universities or individual departments may also offer ‘orientation checklists’ for new employees and students. It can be beneficial to supplement the onboarding package with material provided by the university; however, we suggest not relying on this information entirely as it will not be specific to the lab environment and may lack important details.

A general timeline

We recommend including the typical milestones and timelines expected for incoming lab members within the onboarding package; this can help ensure that the expectations of the new lab member are aligned with those of the PIs. Timelines should include the frequency of ‘check-in’ meetings between the PI and the new lab member. These meetings are crucial to define and evaluate an employee’s short- and long-term goals, improving workflow optimization.

Agreed-upon timelines are particularly useful for PhD students who must achieve specific milestones before the university awards their diploma. PhD timelines can include department-specific requirements, such as coursework and teaching responsibilities, and goals specific to the research project (see example in Box 1). To increase productivity, PIs can construct a similar timeline for other lab members, such as postdocs and technicians. However, the milestones included in the timeline will need to be tailored to each individual based on their project, lab role, and contract length.

A lab philosophy

Working hours

Division of labor

Conclusion