SAFE Labs

CNIDevoLab_2025: Core skills such as team/time management, feedback, writing, and presentations are crucial to a scientific career. Many of these are addressed during daily interactions. For instance, the PIs provide feedback on writing tasks, giving presentations is practiced during team-wide meetings, and lab members can attend courses on management, writing and communication.

We currently do not have a specific annual meeting in place, as we find more profitable a personalised mentoring (this might change in the future if deemed useful).

OttLab_2025: Progress on core skills are discussed annually. Each lab member and the PI discuss and agree on a plan to promote core skills tailored to each lab member’s individual and career needs such as support from lab members or additional training (e.g., winter/summer schools). The PI supports making use of external training promoting the project.

ReinhardLab_2025: Core skills such as team/time management, feedback, writing, and presentations are crucial to a scientific career. Many of these are addressed during daily interactions. For instance, the PI commits to giving extensive and comprehensive feedback on writing tasks, giving presentations is practiced during regular lab meetings and specifically when a public presentation is coming up, and lab members are encouraged to attend courses on management, writing and communication. We currently do not have an annual meeting that focuses on these skills in place. If this format is deemed useful by the lab members, it’ll be implemented in the future.

CoenLab_2025: People Researchers often focus on scientific progress and neglect the development of core skills, including team management, giving/receiving feedback, writing, presentations, etc. An annual meeting for lab members, including the group leader, to discuss their efforts toward improving these skills not only normalizes the process but also alerts other lab members to potential opportunities.

To this end, we have an annual meeting focused on Core Skills each year—typically in September/October when the academic calendar is beginning, providing potential opportunities to improve core skills. The precise nature of this meeting will vary. Usually, Pip will present on a particular topic for ~20-30 minutes, and then other lab members will speak about core skills opportunities they have developed in the past year, or are hoping to develop in the coming year. For more specifics of the agenda and process, please look at the corresponding entry in the Lab Meetings Database.

AeryJonesLab_2026: Seek out technical and career development training opportunities as fits your needs. Everyone can benefit from courses, workshops, books, and lectures, regardless of career stage. If there is a topic you’d like me to teach, please request it as a workshop topic for our third Monday lab meeting slot. I encourage you to make use of the lab library. I support all career paths and encourage you to explore multiple career options and seek training towards your identified goal. However, be selective about choosing training that most effectively suits your needs. Your time is finite, and research should be your main focus.