SAFE Labs

EvendenLab_2026:

If you see something inappropriate happening, a gentle reminder about the Code of Conduct is a productive response:

• Everybody makes mistakes, acknowledge them
• Try to respond in a constructive way
• First try to resolve the issue with the person you have an issue with
• • If not working or not comfortable, find a mediator to assist (conflict resolution)

McKinneyLab_2026:

Respect everybody’s time. Be punctual and show up prepared for lab work/office work/meetings

• Ensure you keep both your workspace and communal spaces (lab, offices) clean and organized
• Keep the environment positive as much as possible
• Accept responsibility for mistakes that arise and take action to correct them
• Ask for permission before sharing any words, thoughts, or resources that other lab members have shared or provided through email, slack, conferences, etc.
• Be mindful of personal boundaries of others
• Make sure to coordinate schedules and shared bench space with other lab members before starting work in the lab
• As email or text-based communication can be misinterpreted (due to the lack of facial expression, or voice intonation), please ensure that communications are clearly kind and respectful.
• Respond to professional emails within a reasonable time frame (usually <24 hours) and copy Melissa on all project-related emails
• Have reasonable expectations regarding the completion of a task (lab, data analysis or written work) and establish realistic deadlines together
• Keep the group updated on your progress and the projects that you’re working on
• Ensure all data generated (lab notebooks, data files, r-code, manuscripts) are neat (legible for lab notebooks), organized, and properly backed up

BoumendilLab_2026:

Integrity is at the heart of our work, we expect honesty, transparency and accountability in all research practices and collaborations. All lab members must maintain mutual respect in all interactions. This includes open communication, engaging actively with presentations, fostering collaborations between lab members, respecting other’s viewpoints during discussions. Lab members should feel safe to express their ideas or concerns without fear of negative consequences. We recognize that scientific excellence thrives in a culture of trust and care. In the lab we are all equal regardless of our nationality, gender, race, religion, orientation, potential disabilities. We are all equals regardless of our status, and all lab members are expected to participate in common lab organization tasks.

CNIDevoLab_2025:

As a research team, we are committed to maintaining a professional, inclusive, and supportive working environment where all members can succeed and contribute meaningfully to science. All lab members are expected to act with integrity, accountability, and mutual respect in all scientific and interpersonal interactions, while upholding high standards of rigor, collaboration, and ethical conduct. We foster a lab culture based on the following principles:

• Honesty: Be transparent about your work, including insights gained, difficulties encountered, and any mistakes—errors are part of learning and development.
• Respect: Treat all individuals—colleagues, staff, and visitors—with the same courtesy and dignity.
• Communication: Share progress, ask questions, raise concerns, and don’t hesitate to ask for help or offer it when needed.
• Participation: Actively engage in lab meetings, seminars, scientific and other lab activities. Your presence and insights enrich the group.
• Acknowledgement: Recognize others’ contributions, whether technical help, advice, or feedback.
• Accountability: We ask you to do your best for being on time for scheduled team activities, to document carefully your work and share it with the team.
• Dedication: We expect all members to do the best research they can - to strive for excellence in their experimental work, analysis, writing and science communication. However, balancing work and the rest of your life is important: make time for personal things and take care of your health.

We are committed to fostering a psychologically safe space where everyone feels free to express ideas, ask questions, and voice concerns. Discriminatory or belittling behaviour is not tolerated.

OttLab_2025:

All lab members are expected to maintain a professional attitude of integrity, accountability, and mutual respect in all interactions and endeavours while upholding high standards of scientific rigor and collaboration. Examples include respecting each other’s points of views and contributions to discussions, being timely for meetings, and actively engaging in each other’s presentations. Everyone commits to maintaining an inclusive environment marked by compassionate behaviour and free from offensive conduct, particularly regarding gender, race, sexuality, or disability. Lab members are free to voice their ideas, wishes, or concerns without risking negative consequences ensuring a psychologically safe environment.

ReinhardLab_2025:

What I expect from my lab members:

• HONESTY - I expect everyone to be honest about the insights they gained, about mistakes that happened, and about their plans and intentions as far as they concern their work and the lab. Importantly, making mistakes is part of the learning and skill development process!
• FEEDBACK - Give me feedback – both if you find something I do helpful, but also if I do or say something you think is wrong or not in the best interest of everyone.
• COMMUNICATION - Communicate frequently, clearly and concisely. Tell us about your successes, ask questions, and ask for help to solve problems. HELPFULNESS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT - Help your colleagues – everyone’s success benefits the whole lab. Acknowledge the help you received in your presentations, add people as authors to abstracts and papers if they contributed to your work. Ideas and regular feedback or significant troubleshooting are contributions, too!
• RESPECT - Treat everyone with respect - your colleagues, other labs, technical personnel, cleaning personnel, administration… This refers to how you speak and listen to others, accepting who they are, but also respecting other people’s time and (personal) space.
• DEDICATION - I expect my team to do the best research they can - to strive for excellence in their experimental work, analysis, writing and science communication. However, balancing work and the rest of your life is important. Be dedicated during your work time, but make time for other things that are important to you.
• PARTICIPATION - I expect everyone to be an active member of the lab, institute and science community. I ask my team to actively participate in lab meetings, journal clubs, seminars, conferences…; and to offer us their insights, knowledge and opinion.

More details and what lab members can expect from me are found on our website.

RossiLab_2025:

All lab members are expected to maintain a professional attitude of integrity, accountability, and mutual respect in all interactions and endeavours while upholding high standards of scientific rigor and collaboration. Examples include respecting each other’s points of views and contributions to discussions, arriving on time for meetings (remind Federico of this!), and actively engaging in each other’s presentations. Everyone commits to maintaining an inclusive environment marked by compassionate behaviour and free from offensive conduct, particularly regarding diversity and minorities. Lab members should feel free and safe to voice their ideas, wishes, or concerns without risking negative consequences ensuring a supportive environment and diverse viewpoints.

MariottiLab_2025:

All lab members are expected to uphold integrity, accountability, and mutual respect in all interactions and activities. Members are responsible for maintaining high standards of scientific rigor, collaboration, and collegiality. This includes actively listening to and valuing diverse perspectives, being punctual for meetings, and engaging fully in discussions and presentations. The lab is committed to fostering an inclusive, supportive environment characterized by compassion and free from offensive, discriminatory, or harmful behavior particularly regarding diversity and minorities. Lab members are encouraged to openly share their ideas, preferences, and concerns without fear of negative consequences, ensuring a psychologically safe and respectful space for everyone.

DonaLab_2025:

All lab members are expected to uphold the following core principles:

• Honesty: Scientific integrity is non-negotiable. Be transparent in your work and never compromise on ethical standards. Seek help when needed—asking questions or admitting uncertainty is a strength, not a weakness.
  Lab members can refer to the CNR institutional page on research integrity for official policies and guidance.
• Respect: Every lab member’s opinion matters. While critical thinking is encouraged, feedback should always be constructive and aimed at fostering meaningful dialogue and personal development. Disagreement is welcome, as long as it’s expressed respectfully.
• Engagement: Curiosity, initiative, and commitment are essential. Strive for excellence in your research, and take an active role in lab activities—this includes lab meetings, seminars, and collaborative discussions. The success of the lab depends on the enthusiasm and contributions of its members.

INSIGHTLab_2026:

As a community we welcome everyone, and encourage a friendly and positive environment. This code of conduct outlines our expectations for participants, members, contributors, and leaders within the community, as well as steps to reporting unacceptable behaviour. We are committed to providing a welcoming and inspiring community for all and expect our code of conduct to be honored.

We pledge to make participation in our community a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of age, body size, visible or invisible disability, ethnicity, sex characteristics, gender identity and expression, level of experience, education, social and economic status, nationality, personal appearance, race, religion, neurodiversity, or sexual identity and orientation.

We pledge to act and interact in ways that contribute to an open, welcoming, diverse, inclusive, and healthy community.

UraiLab_2026:

As colleagues and members of academic communities (in our research field, university and department), everyone deserves to be treated fairly and respectfully. Unfortunately, science is not immune to sexism, racism, harassment and general bigotry.

We strive a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere and encourage open and honest intellectual debate, which allows everyone in our local and international communities to do their best work and be respected.

RadzisheuskayaLab_2025:

Our lab culture is founded on mutual respect, accountability, and a commitment to ethical and collaborative science. We expect everyone to contribute to an environment where people feel heard, valued, and supported. This means showing up prepared, engaging thoughtfully with others’ work, and being open to different viewpoints. We do not tolerate discrimination or harmful behaviour of any kind, especially those related to race, gender, disability, or sexuality. Every lab member has a role in shaping a space where it’s safe to speak up, ask questions, and offer feedback. Psychological safety isn’t optional - it’s essential, and we protect it together.

When it comes to how I run the lab, I really try to build a team that runs on self-motivation, curiosity, and a shared drive to do great science. I want people to feel excited about what they are working on and comfortable taking initiative. My general motto is: work hard, work smart, work together. I am here to support, guide, and help clear the path when needed—but I also trust everyone to take ownership of their work and grow into their strengths.

CoenLab_2025:

Lab members must maintain professional integrity, accountability, and mutual respect in all interactions while upholding high scientific standards and fostering collaboration. This includes respecting others’ viewpoints during discussions, arriving on time for meetings, and engaging actively with presentations. Everyone must contribute to an inclusive environment characterized by compassionate behaviour and free from any discriminatory conduct—especially regarding gender, race, sexuality, or disability. Lab members should feel safe to express their ideas, wishes, or concerns without fear of negative consequences, ensuring a supportive environment.

SuperLab_2026:

Everyone in the lab is expected to show integrity, accountability, and respect in all interactions and projects while upholding strong standards of scientific rigor and collaboration. This means things like listening to and valuing each other’s perspectives, being on time for meetings, and staying engaged during presentations. We are all responsible for creating an inclusive, supportive environment—one that is free from discrimination or harmful behavior, especially related to gender, race, sexuality, or disability. Lab members should feel comfortable sharing their ideas, concerns, or feedback without fear of negative consequences. Psychological safety is a shared priority.

We are trying to build a team that runs on self-motivation, curiosity, and a shared drive to do great science. I want people to feel excited about what they are working on and comfortable taking initiative. I am here to support, guide, and help clear the path when needed—but I also trust everyone to take ownership of their work and grow into their strengths.

AeryJonesLab_2026:

• Everyone is an equally valuable member of our team. We respect and support each other’s science and wellbeing. We carry each other through challenges and celebrate each other’s accomplishments. We are curious and enthusiastic about each other’s work. We are all here to learn from one another.
• Transparency is the key to building trust. We share our expectations, our priorities, our work and communication styles, and our goals. We are honest about our challenges and our data, especially when it doesn’t match our hypotheses. We ask for help proactively.
• We assume the best in everyone. We are patient, thoughtful, and understanding. We do our best to work within everyone’s personal work and communication styles. We respect each other’s goals, values, and priorities. We actively listen.
• Everyone contributes to tending the lab ‘garden’. We strive to work collaboratively and mentor others wherever we can. We share our resources and skills to benefit others. We actively contribute to the shared knowledge of the lab. We share our code and data when we publish and release our work as preprints.
• Your time is valuable. There are an infinite number of questions and tasks to pursue and a finite number of hours in your day. I will never ask you to do work that I don’t think would benefit you. I encourage you to say no to me and to other requests when they don’t meet your priorities. We will consider how to use your time in lab as effectively as possible so you have ample time to enjoy your life outside of lab.
• Staying organized to manage your experiments, time, supplies, and resources is critical to great science. We will keep shared resources organized. We will keep our data, records, and samples organized such that our mentees and co-authors can work with us effectively.
• Science goes beyond the bench. We are lifelong learners and will make time for professional development training that meets our needs. We will volunteer for outreach, especially to historically marginalized groups. We will contribute to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts.
• We take caution and consideration with our experiments. We question each element of our experiments to make sure they’re the most appropriate to test our hypotheses. We think critically about the background literature and data the supports our hypotheses. We design the strongest experiment before diving into data collection. We pause to do intermediate analyses before collecting additional data. We seek feedback early, often, and from many viewpoints.
• We value failure as part of learning. I invite everyone to take risks and will commend you even if it fails. We value the process over the product and resilience over results.
• We build bridges, not fences. We bring everyone into science. Our job is not to gatekeep people or their science from progressing. Our job is to see the best in every person and project and raise them up to their highest potential.

AlyLab_2026:

We respect the privacy and comfort of lab members by only taking photos or video recordings of them with their explicit knowledge and consent. This is especially important in situations where a lab member would otherwise not be aware of you taking a photo and therefore cannot object if they do not want you to – e.g., if they are wearing a VR headset or are being scanned. To avoid ambiguity about when a lab member is or is not aware of photos being taken, we ask that everyone obtain consent from lab members before taking photos or videos, and obtain consent again before posting any images on social media. This is done to respect others’ privacy and acknowledge that people have varying degrees of comfort related to being photographed and having photographs shared on social media.

The goal of this is to foster an environment where everyone feels safe to be who they are, take risks, and have fun, without worry or self-consciousness. If someone wants to be photographed doing something fun or silly in lab events, and consents to be photographed, by all means go ahead! Just please respect the privacy of those who do not want that.

ContextualDynamicsLab_2026:

Your rights as a lab member

• You are entitled to a safe work environment free from harassment, abuse, violence, and discrimination in any form.

• You are entitled to be supported and respected by all lab members.

• You are entitled to openly share your scientific ideas and constructive feedback with all lab members.

• You are entitled to appropriate credit (e.g. authorship, acknowledgement, letter of recommendation) for your work and ideas.

Your responsibilities as a lab member

• You agree to contribute to a safe work environment and to refrain from behaviors that harass, abuse, expose to violence, or discriminate.

• You agree to support and respect all lab members, including yourself.

• You agree to openly share your scientific ideas and constructive feedback with other lab members.

• You agree to clearly communicate and document your contributions to each research project (e.g. through GitHub commits and issues, reports, updates on Slack, etc.).

• You agree to establish open lines of communication between yourself and other lab members, and to address concerns or issues promptly and directly with the relevant parties (to the extent that you feel safe doing so).

• You agree to carry out your work with integrity and diligence, adhering to the highest possible standards of scientific excellence.

• You agree to utilize lab resources (including equipment, money, time, etc.) responsibly and sustainably.

• You agree to maintain a clean workspace free from clutter, including both personal spaces (e.g. desks) and shared areas (couch, sink, testing rooms, etc.).

DenmanLab_2026:

Respect must be shown to all others at all times. The lab will not tolerate hurtful or disrespectful speech or behavior of any kind. No member shall feel harassed because of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion (or lack thereof).

Research is an inherently changing process - we are all learning at all times. It is the duty of members of the lab of every level to create and maintain a supportive lab and learning culture. All members are expected encourage and entertain questions from anyone, no matter what prior you bring to the question or the person.

McMahonLab_2026:

Be engaged and contribute to the broader mission of the lab. This includes paying attention, asking questions, and providing feedback during lab meetings; reading other lab members’ writing; assisting with big field/lab projects that require many hands; sharing (meta)data; and sharing expertise.

• Prioritize healthy work habits and pursuits outside of your professional life. This includes setting boundaries, taking time off when you need it, developing strategies to avoid burnout, and maintaining connections with your family / community.
• Be respectful, welcoming, and mindful of our individualities. This includes personal identities, lived experiences, scientific interests, training backgrounds, and outside interests. We will strive to draw upon our diversity to build our community and improve our science.
• Be accountable to others in the group, to yourself, and to your professional network. This includes learning how to manage your time in order to meet deadlines, doing what you say you will do, maintaining organized / reproducible documentation of your work.
• Create, practice, and refine science communication products (papers, presentations, outreach materials) in a space that allows for imperfection and growth.
• Continue to grow, learn, work hard, and be curious. This includes learning how to be an effective scientist/engineer, about each others’ projects, about your discipline(s) and its norms, and about each other.
• Respect the fact that the lab is financed almost exclusively by taxpayer dollars. Spend funds wisely and in a way that would not embarrass Trina if she gets called to testify in front of the US Congress.

McNeilGroup_2026:

Everyone – regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, nationality, religion, ability, or socioeconomic status – is welcomed, valued, and respected within our group. We believe that everyone has something unique to contribute to the group. We will celebrate successes, and at the same time, we will recognize that we are all here to learn and learning involves making mistakes. We aim to separate the mistakes from the people making them and to collectively learn from them.

Respectful dialogue is expected at all times. We feel empowered to speak up when a community member isn’t upholding these core values. We are all here to learn, grow, thrive, and support each other.

TowneGroup_2026:

The following core values and principles underlie the expectations and culture of our group.

• Honesty & integrity.  We strive to be above reproach in all we do. This includes never misrepresenting results, always giving credit to others when it is due, and avoiding posturing (e.g., admitting we don’t know something rather than making something up).

• Supportiveness.  We seek to help others succeed. I want to be abundantly clear: you are not competing with the other group members. This frees us to generously share our ideas and expertise to benefit others’ work.

• Respect.  We treat everyone with respect. It is crucial that the work environment be safe and free from harassment and discrimination.

• Constructive criticism.  The principle of respect does not preclude delivering appropriate scientific criticism.  Indeed, critical analysis is a necessary part of the scientific process. For the one giving criticism, the key is to make it constructive and to target ideas, never the person behind them. For the one receiving criticism, it is important to remember that you are not your work, and vice versa – a criticism of your idea does not constitute a criticism of you as a person.

• Rigor.  We strive to make our science as rigorous as possible. This includes backing up our ideas with careful mathematical analysis whenever possible and avoiding logical jumps or inconsistencies.

• Clarity.  Our goal when communicating ideas and results (i.e., through papers, presentations, group and one-on-one discussions) is NOT to look smart, but rather to communicate as clearly as possible.

• Balance.  There is more to life than work. Although Ph.D. studies are demanding, I hope that you will maintain and nurture other outside interests and relationships.