Starting or running a lab?
SAFE Labs ("Starting Aware Fair & Equitable Labs") is a handbook of concrete commitments for group leaders who want a fair, well-run lab: how you set expectations on working hours, decide authorship, run meetings, give feedback, support people when they join and when they leave, and more. Every commitment comes with examples from real lab manuals, so you never start from a blank page.
Labs around the world
These are the labs behind the examples in the handbook, and the labs that have signed up as SAFE Labs.
Pick a country to see its labs, listed as:
- 83 SAFE Labs: labs that have signed up to implement the initiative
- 109 Additional Contributors who provided examples for the handbook
How it works
- Start with a few commitments. Read through the handbook and pick the ones that fit your lab. You don’t need all of them, and you can add more over time.
- Write them up. The handbook generator can turn your choices into a draft lab handbook, and every commitment links to wording other labs already use.
- Make them public. Put what you have on your lab website and list your lab as a SAFE Lab. A few public policies and a plan to keep going is enough.
Why it matters
We surveyed more than 200 researchers from different countries and career stages. They rated every commitment as important, yet few labs had them in place, and more than 95% of the group leaders who took part said they would consider adopting them. The full analysis is in our eLife article.
Get involved
Join the mailing list for news on workshops and handbook updates:
If you are an organisation interested in supporting future SAFE Labs workshops, get in touch with one of the organisers.
Where SAFE Labs came from
SAFE Labs was started in 2024 by four new group leaders with a strong commitment to creating more positive lab environments. The first workshop took place in Cortona (Tuscany, Italy) in 2024 with 13 group leaders from institutions across 8 countries. We identified common, and divergent, problems faced by new group leaders trying to build successful, equitable and fair labs, discussed themes such as team management and supporting EDI, and agreed actionable commitments for each. Those commitments became the SAFE Labs Handbook.
The second workshop took place in Barcelona (Spain) in 2025, organised by a new cohort of group leaders. 14 attendees from 6 European countries identified new critical commitments for the handbook. We hope to continue through new workshops and a growing list of SAFE Labs.