Lab Life

SAFE Labs Handbook

Our lab manual implements the guidelines outlined in the SAFE Labs Handbook. The idea is to document the lab’s commitments to creating a more positive lab environment. Below are our commitments and expectations in case you decide to join us.

SAFE Labs I commit to publicly document…

… a diversity statement

… the lab code of conduct: emphasise welfare, equity and integrity

… my expectations for working hours, remote working, and vacation

… an overview of the regular meetings in the lab, and my expectations for participation

… my ambitions for the duration and publication outputs for each lab role

… guidelines for completing previous work after joining the lab

… my expectations for when AI use is (and isn’t) appropriate.

… publicly document the visa application process and associated costs

Lab Policy Details

• Diversity
• Code of Conduct
• Working Hours
• lab meetings
• Publication Expectations
• AI
• Visas

• I believe diversity is a valuable resource, and I strive to create a psychologically safe environment where different points of view are welcomed. To foster diversity and inclusion, I hire in accordance with UCL’s Fair Recruitment policy, discuss cultural needs during onboarding, and encourage lab members to mark important cultural events on the lab calendar. I promote diversity in science by selecting journal club papers from varied voices and institutions. Through these policies, I aim to welcome individuals from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, gender, and geographical backgrounds to our group.

• 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.

• I am committed to creating a healthy work environment for all lab members that prioritises mental health and wellbeing. Evolutionary biology research should be an exciting, rewarding, and engaging job. Certainly, it can be challenging, and stressful at times, but it should not be depressing, or life-consuming. Everyone has different approaches to their scientific work, and not all of them will be suited to our lab. Therefore, in the interest of minimising any expectation mismatch, I have tried to provide clear policies on working hours, holiday, an remote working below.

  Working hours

  UCL’s “core” work hours are 10am to 4pm. Lab members should be mindful of these hours when scheduling meetings or training sessions. They should also avoid sending or responding to non-urgent emails and messages outside of work hours. While I understand that work preferences vary, and lab members have flexibility in scheduling their time (except for lab technicians who may have fixed hours). This in-person time ensures regular interaction and allows us to benefit from the expertise and community that comes with working in a research group. While this isn’t required every week–I understand that life commitments aren’t always flexible–it should be the standard practice.

  Remote working

  All full-time lab members should aim to work onsite at least four days a week unless agreed otherwise. Regular onsite presence helps maintain our lab community. That said, I am happy to support intermittent periods of fully-remote working when, for example, travelling/visiting family abroad or writing up a thesis/grant.

  Holiday

  I expect all lab members to take at least UCL’s prescribed 41 days of annual leave. This is a minimum–if experiments require weekend work or you attend weekend conferences, I encourage taking additional time off to compensate.

• Lab meetings

  Lab meetings are held every Tuesday 3:00-4:00pm. Lab members should try to attend in-person, but hybrid meetings are possible. Lab meetings include making plans for the week ahead, reporting on progress for the previous week, and occational journal discussions

  Journal clubs

  Reading the primary literature is an essential part of being a scientist. The lab will participate in occasional journal club discussion groups, and students and postdocs are strongly encouraged to attend. These might be scheduled outside of normal working hours so they aren’t mandatory, but they are highly recommended.

• Every PhD and postdoctoral researcher position in the lab inevitably has its own set of experimental challenges and funding complications. Therefore, it is impossible to predict the outcome of any project, and I cannot make guarantees with respect to timelines or publications. However, my ambition for each role is as follows:

  PhD students in the UK typically graduate ~3-4 years after joining the lab, and it is my aim that each student has at least one first-authored publication by that time.

  Postdoctoral researchers typically join the lab with an initial contract, and the length of that contract depends on both the source of funding and their proposed project. All positions in the university are also subject a twelve-month probationary period. I will be transparent about these restrictions in the initial job advertisement, and in discussions with any applicant. I aim to propose projects (in discussion with the researcher) to maximise the chance of a publication within the initial contract’s timeframe. At least one year before the end of the contract period, I will discuss the next steps with the researcher, which may include the option to stay longer in the lab (with or without applying for their own funding).

  Completing previous work

  It is completely normal for researchers, particularly postdoctoral researchers, to join the lab while still having outstanding work from their previous position, and I support lab members taking time to complete this work. The period during which they will need to continue previous work is understandably hard to predict, but ideally it will not last more than 6 months. If finishing previous work is expected to last longer than this, it may be more sensible to delay the start of their position in the lab if possible. In general, time spent on previous work should not exceed 20% (although this will naturally vary over time).

• AI is an environmental disaster. Using it makes you stupider and makes you learn slower. For this reason, LLMs should be avoided whenever possible. LLMs never be used for writing, drafting, or editing manuscripts. There are some instances where LLMs can be useful for coding (for example, editing figures) but in most cases the code we write and use is not common enough to be “understood” by LLMs. This means vibe coding won’t get you very far. We do use other types of AI in the lab, such as computer vision and CNNs for image segmentation. Think carefully before giving in to the machines!

  “Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them”

• If you do not have the right-to-work in the UK (either as a UK citizen, or through a different scheme) you will likely need a visa to join the lab as a postdoctoral researcher, or similar position. Information about visas can be found on the UCL website here. Visas, such as the skilled worker visa (most common for postdoctoral researchers) come with significant upfront costs. Some of these costs can be covered by UCL. Usually immigrant healthcare surcharges cannot be covered on grants. However, this is not always the case, and does depend on the source of finds being used to hire a lab member. If this information is not clear from a job advertisement, or you are interested in applying for a position via an external grant or fellowship, please raise your concerns with me directly.