Kirchdoerfer Lab Compact
Mission statement
We are striving to be leaders discovering molecular mechanisms of virus entry and RNA synthesis, particularly for coronaviruses. Each member of the Kirchdoerfer lab will work to be creative, productive, and ambitious. We will work to teach lab members to be good scientists, great teachers, and to support the goals of the lab and the goals of individual lab members.
Core values
Accountability, resiliency, creativity, humility, independence, learning, mentorship.
Our shared vision
It is important to reflect on why we are all here and it is important to examine what brings us together especially when things get rough or important decisions need to be made.
Through our thoughts, actions and attitudes, we create a laboratory work environment to creatively ask questions and live on the edge of scientific discovery. Our environment is an incubator for the training and development of outstanding scientists who go on to achieve their goals.
About the laboratory
Our laboratory space is situated on the second floor of Bock Laboratories. We are members of the Institute for Molecular Virology, the Center for Quantitative Cell Imaging and the Biochemistry Department. In addition, we participate in the Biophysics, Cell and Molecular Biology, Cell and Molecular Pathology, and Integrated Program in Biochemistry graduate programs.
We operate as a BSL-2 laboratory and do not handle live highly pathogenic human coronaviruses or do select agent research. In addition to monies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, we are primarily funded by that National Institutes for Health and in particular by the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease.
Robert’s Role as Principle Investigator
Robert is super busy, no surprise. I’ve got so many irons in the fire I rarely know what day of the week it is and consider it a miracle I remember to put on pants in the morning. I am always going to be a bit stressed out with frayed patience. My key role in the lab is to design big picture concepts to become student/postdoc projects, papers and grants. The reason for this is because papers are the lab’s key output and grants keep the lab open. I also have teaching and service responsibilities for Biochemistry/CALS and the larger scientific community as part of my position at the university.
It is also my role to be a mentor to every member of my laboratory as well as to students and postdocs in other labs at UW-Madison and the broader scientific community. Mentoring takes many forms. This can include occasional emails or chats, sitting on student thesis committees all the way to micromanaging wetlab skills. My goal as a mentor is to provide you with the resources and opportunities to achieve your personal and professional goals (note that this can be separate from or even conflicting with my role as a PI/scientist to get a project done).
Things you can count on Robert to do:
- Provide you with a general outline for a project with a scientific question
- Challenge you to think critically and take responsibility for your work
- Provide a safe and inclusive space for all lab members
- Listen and consider
- Be available for regular meetings
- Provide feedback on written and oral communications
- Support your training
- Enforce the lab’s science and safety expectations
Things you should not count on Robert to do:
- Know all of your program/degree requirements
- Design your experiments
- Act as a Google search
- Write your papers or fellowships for you
- Solve all your problems
Expectations for all lab members
Be a good lab citizen. This means leaving equipment and common areas in a condition better than when you found them. A good idea to keep in the back of your mind is that nothing you do right now should have a negative impact on someone else’s experiment or one of your future experiments.
Contribute to your lab mates’ successes. We don’t compete with each other and credit will be given when credit is due. All information about what you are doing in the lab should be openly available to other lab members. If someone asks you for a bit of plasmid or primer and you can spare some, the answer should always be yes. If someone asks for your help or opinion, you should prioritize what you’re doing at the moment and then go help them.
Maintain positive work relationships with lab members. I recognize that not every pair of people are going to be best friends. However, I do expect that no pair of people should be enemies in the lab. I expect lab members to maintain positive (not just neutral) relationships with other lab members. You should not have hesitations about communicating with any member of the lab.
Communicate with Rob. It is completely normal to grumble about your supervisor/PI. However, if you would actually like an issue addressed, that issue needs to be communicated to Rob in a professional manor. I am here to help you succeed as scientists and can only do that if you tell me about ongoing problems. I like science and I am going to want to hear your most recent results and when things are not working, I am going to help you figure out ways to fix them.
Keep a detailed lab notebook. You only get credit for what you write down. If it isn’t in your notebook, you might as well not have done it. All protocols, notes and experimental data (barring large files) should be uploaded and organized into LabArchives, our ELN platform. Keep your notebook organized: it should be easily navigable by someone other than yourself and conform to our lab template. It is expected that your notebook will be updated daily. Sometimes, we get behind in our lab notebooks; I get that. Before you leave for the day on Friday, it is expected that your lab notebook will be completely up to date. Rob will not help you troubleshoot experiments that are not in your notebook.
Show up. We are a group of experimentalists. No one in lab currently has a project that can be accomplished remotely. During normal operations, I expect a minimum of 40 hours a week at lab from all full-time lab members (see below). The exact hours you work are up to you, but I need at least six of those hours to overlap with my own work schedule every day. I am usually in lab 8am-5pm, Mon-Fri.
Maintain productivity. Lab members will work to identify the most important experiments to answer the questions they are pursuing, meet deadlines, and set ambitious goals for papers and grants. This also includes taking breaks to prevent burn out, and working on personal wellness including mental health, physical health, and spiritual health.
Try new things. I expect all lab members to push their comfort zones and not avoid activities that they don’t like because they are hard or they aren’t good at them. Try new things, get better at them.
Expand your horizons. Our lab group is constantly accumulating expertise. Lab members should be reading 4-7 papers in-depth each week and attending at least one seminar. These activities are part of lab work.
Be resilient. Science is hard. Eventually, you are going to fail and if you aren’t failing regularly, then it’s a sign that you aren’t pushing yourself. When things go bad, take a step back, reevaluate and then try again, or try something different, or ask the question in a different way. Don’t let failure hold you back.
Stay home when sick. You should not be coming to lab if you aren’t feeling well. Stay home and get better. Anyone who comes to work sick will be asked to go home. If you have something essential that has to be done that day, ask one of your lab mates to do it for you.
Expectations for postdoctoral fellows
Analytical thinking and independence. While postdoctoral fellows are in lab to receive mentoring and training, postdocs are expected to arrive in lab with significant analytical thinking and problem-solving skills and require less direct supervision than students.
Vacation. Postdocs can and should take vacation. Your progress in lab is dependent on the time you spend in lab, but also on your mental health and well-being. Rob expects postdocs to manage their own vacation time, but postdocs should communicate to Rob any absences in advance. Any time away from lab greater than one week needs to be cleared by Rob in advance. If Rob believes that repeated absences from lab are negatively impacting research productivity, there will be a conversation between the postdoc and Rob about setting priorities for career progression. Repeated abuse of this lax vacation policy may result in termination.
Mentoring. Labs at the University are primarily staffed with graduate students meaning that postdocs will find themselves surrounded by students with less experience. It is expected that postdocs will assist students as needed in designing experiments and analyzing data. It is not expected that postdocs in lab will directly mentor specific graduate students though direct mentoring of undergrads is a possibility.
Independent projects. It is not uncommon for postdocs hoping to transition to independent academic careers to want to develop independent research projects that they can take with them. As a small lab, the first priority for research productivity has to be funded lab projects. Postdocs may spend up to 20% of their time on independent projects, but must still make Rob aware of these activities and enter all of their work in their lab notebooks. Rob should be consulted before these projects are initiated.
Expectations for Graduate students
It is expected that graduate students will progress throughout their time in lab. I do not expect students to be world class scientists when they arrive in lab, but I do expect you to be a world class scientist before you graduate.
Throughout your graduate career, I expect you to be reading 4-7 papers/week, attending one seminar each week during the school year and attending one conference each year.
While a 40-hour work week is required, it is likely that this will not be sufficient for a timely progression through your graduate studies and longer hours will be required as needed by your project.
Graduate students are expected to present at lab meetings. This may take the form of either journal presentations or original research as indicated at the time of scheduling.
Graduate students have the option of being teaching assistants for undergraduate courses on campus. Some graduate programs require this. Our lab does not have a teaching requirement. Students acting as teaching assistants are expected to balance the commitments of their courses with a normal research load and maintain their productivity in the lab.
Graduate students can and should take vacation. With the amount Rob has to do, Rob does not have the capacity to track how many days of vacation you take in a year. As a graduate student you are being judged by the scientific community by how much you get done not the hours you keep. It is expected that students take a reasonable amount of vacation each year. Any time away from lab greater than one week needs to be cleared by Rob in advance. If Rob believes that repeated absences from lab are negatively impacting research productivity, there will be a conversation between the student and Rob about setting priorities for timely degree progression.
Rotation students
Rotation students will be assigned to work with a full-time member of lab on an aspect of an existing project and not expected to design their own projects. Students are expected to work a minimum 40 hour in-person work week during the rotation. Activities during this time include going to class, completing assignments and studying in addition to meeting the wetlab time commitment expectations established with their direct mentor.
Rotation students will be expected to complete necessary lab safety trainings and observe lab specific safety protocols.
During the rotation, students should strive to form positive working relationships with most lab members, not just their direct mentor. They should also make an effort to regularly check in and engage with Rob.
Rotation students should be genuine and honest about their interests in the lab both with Rob and members of the lab.
Rotation students will present a literature topic near the end of their rotation. This topic is to be decided in consultation with Rob before the end of the second week and should be a topic that the student has a strong interest in.
Students with a strong fit for the lab will have established strong positive working relationships with multiple lab members, have engaged with Rob about science and careers, demonstrated a strong enthusiasm for lab projects and shown the potential for developing independence in lab.
Years 1-2
Making the transition from undergraduate to graduate student is the hardest part of graduate school. This isn’t about moving to a new city or taking harder classes though that presents challenges too. This is about learning a new way to think and manage your time. As an undergraduate, learning is like ticking boxes. Information is provided to you; you learn it and you are tested on it. You’re given a course and exam schedule and you can plan your life out for four years. Graduate school and research turn that way of thinking on its head. No one is scheduling your days or walking you through a textbook. Graduate school is a taste of real life and for all purposes is a job. There are no boxes to tick. As students try to adjust to this new reality, there is a long lag in productivity. Close up, this lag looks like a really hard project: Lots of failures, banging your head on the wall or spinning your wheels. When you get a bit further down the road, it’s more evident this was the time it took for students to wrap their heads around their scientific question and start doing the ‘right’ experiments.
I expect that by the end of you second year that you will find your feet as a graduate student. This means knowing your scientific question, designing an experiment and getting it done, all without relying on a lot of input.
I expect first and second year graduate students to develop extra resiliency towards failure, because there’s going to be a lot.
I expect students to come to lab with a self-motivated, optimistic attitude towards their research.
I expect students to learn to say “I don’t know” and then go look up the answer.
I expect students to do amazingly well at their preliminary examinations. Students should be able to demonstrate to their committees that they are thoughtful, creative, and hardworking and that they are on track to graduate by their 5th or 6th year. This will be evidenced by a sound hypothesis, a thorough understanding of the literature and extensive preliminary data demonstrating feasibility of their proposed project.
Required course work should be completed by the end of student’s second year. This course work should include a strong foundation in molecular biology, virology, biophysics and aspects of quantitative biology or computer science.
Conference attendance in the second year should include subject matter that will broaden student’s views of science. While conferences are great, going to a microscopy conference without a sound foundation in microscopy will not benefit the student. Students are expected to develop familiarity with topics before attending relevant conferences. In some cases, a workshop may be a better opportunity for learning.
Years 3-4
It is expected that this will be your most productive time in graduate school. Time in your third and fourth years is expected to be devoted to research at the bench. Several possible first author papers should begin to take shape.
Students are expected to deliver poster or oral presentations at local, national or international conferences.
Students are expected to take on a larger role helping newer lab members.
Years 5+
It is expected that students will produce, at a minimum, one first author paper. This paper is to be fully written before the student’s thesis defense is scheduled.
Students are expected to yearly deliver an oral presentation at a national or international conference.
Students should contribute to grant writing as a way of developing their written communication skills.
Graduate students should be mentoring new graduate students and undergraduate students.
Graduate students should possess keen analytical thinking skills and are able to identify strengths and weaknesses in both their own work and the work of others.
Expectations for Undergraduate researchers
The lab policy is that we do not pay wages to undergraduate researchers. Students should apply for Biochemistry 299 or 699 credit during the academic year. Undergraduate students are expected to write scholarship/fellowship applications for carrying out summer research and should seek help from graduate student mentors and Rob to complete these applications. If a student applies for, but does not receive one of these fellowships, the student may be eligible to be paid over the summer at Rob’s discretion.
Undergraduate students are expected to progress during their time in lab. We appreciate that undergrads enter the lab space without basic lab skills. With training, it is expected that these wetlab skills will develop and improve.
When students start in lab, it is expected that they will be careful and active listeners. This may require taking extensive, detailed notes.
It is not expected that new undergraduate researchers will be able to design their own experiments, but they should be able to follow protocols that they have been shown.
Students are expected to provide the PI and their mentor with a schedule of when they will be in lab each semester and over the summer. The PI and mentor should be notified in advance of changes to this schedule (mid-terms, finals, vacation etc.). Students are expected to be punctual in arriving at lab.
It is expected that undergraduate students will report any and all problems with their experiments or with lab equipment or supplies to a full-time lab member before leaving for the day.
Undergraduates are expected to attend, contribute and present at lab meetings.
More seasoned undergraduates are expected to demonstrate greater independence in the lab including on-the-fly protocol changes and the design of suitable experimental controls.
More advanced undergraduates may be tasked with contributing to drafts of papers and mentoring of other undergraduate researchers.
Expectations for student hourlies
The role of the student hourly is to enhance and support basic laboratory operations. While this may include general cleaning, it is not the role of student hourlies to clean up after other lab members. Reoccurring problems with common bench cleanliness should be reported to your supervisor.
Students are expected to provide the PI/supervisor with a schedule of when they will be in lab each semester and over the summer. The PI and mentor should be notified in advance of changes to this schedule (mid-terms, finals, vacation etc.). Students are expected to be punctual in arriving at lab.
General lab maintenance (see undergraduate checklist) should be taken care of before any project specific tasks (e.g. autoclaving media).
Expectations for Staff
There are many types of staff and expectations for day-to-day activities will vary with particular positions. Staff hours and vacation time expectations are spelled out by employment contracts with the University. All staff will participate in both independent research projects and support of lab activities. Such lab activities may include lab organization and logistics, data management, and student mentoring. Per University policy, all staff will be evaluated every 6-months for job proficiency. This will involve a one-on-one meeting with Rob to discuss project productivity, professionalism and lab contributions and result in a report filed with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Lab absences. The amount of time staff take off from work is governed by their employment contracts. If you plan to be absent for more than half a day, please make Rob aware of the absence in advance.
Regular meetings. All staff will meet with Rob regularly to discuss their activities in lab. Staff are also expected to actively participate and present in lab meetings and activities.
Entry level staff and interns
Training. Entry level staff are expected to need significant training to be proficient in the lab. Training will be provided by other lab members. New staff are expected to take the initiative to seek out the training they require to fulfill their positions.
Turnover. Entry level staff often have a shorter tenure in lab than graduate students, postdocs or expert level staff. It is often the case that entry level staff joined the lab to gain additional lab experience before achieving the next step in their careers (for example, going to grad school). This turnover is anticipated and entry level staff should not feel the need to hide their professional aspirations. Effectively communicating your professional goals to Rob and your lab mates is an important way to further these goals. Moreover, keeping the lab appropriately staffed is easier with more foreknowledge of a departure.
Expert level staff
This includes Ph.D. level staff or staff with specific lab-relevant expertise.
Research. You are expected to take on a high-level research project that will likely take advantage of your existing expertise. Outcomes for this research project will result in the publication of papers that you write and your presentation of data at conferences.
Grants. As an expert, you are expected to contribute to writing grants and may be asked to manage grant activities like assisting in the management of the research team and coordinating with collaborators and communicating outcomes.
Mentoring. You will also be expected to mentor other lab members and support their research projects. Your goal in mentoring is to enable lab members to develop into independent scientists, not to do their work for them. Patience and understanding are far more effective mentoring tools than frustration and application of pressure on students.