This set of lab values and expectations was crafted based on group discussions to reflect the Vander Heiden Lab philosophy. This is a living document that we expect to evolve and grow over time and is intended to set a broad framework for the lab within which we operate. This document highlights our priorities: collegiality, inclusivity, scientific integrity, wellbeing, and clear expectations. As stated within, we recognize that every member of our laboratory is significant and brings an important perspective. Embracing diversity of thought, perspective, and makes our lab stronger. We strive to make sure that everyone is heard and everyone feels included. Respect for ourselves and others is key to maintaining an environment that we want to be part of and can make us proud.
Our goal is to make the lab the best possible environment for doing exciting, creative science. We are all expected to be collegial, approachable, and available. We openly share ideas, data, and results with each other and the community through discussions, publications, and presentations. Everyone in our laboratory should feel welcome and invited to all lab-related events.
This lab is a community and all lab members are expected to do their part to support it. Everyone has a lab job to share in the responsibility of maintaining the lab. No one is above anyone else in the lab, and we all share equally in responsibilities. Lab members are expected to be proactive; if there is a problem (equipment broken, reagent missing, etc.), we address it and do not leave it for the next person to find. We share in support of the lab, but also common reagents and spaces. We are respectful of the space and people around us.
We are expected to be rigorous and thoughtful and have the highest level of integrity in our experiments. We recognize that everyone needs help at many points in their research and we are not be afraid to get help when it is needed. We give appreciation and credit to others for ideas, data, and project support of any kind. When we are outside of the lab in scientific contexts, we recognize that we are representatives of the Vander Heiden lab and treat others with respect.
The Vander Heiden lab strives to create a collegial and collaborative environment where lab members are well supported. Our lab members work to ensure that everyone feels welcome at all lab-related events. We exhibit understanding for different backgrounds and have an attitude of forgiveness for misunderstandings or conflict.
We support each other in our scientific progress. We encourage our lab members to be thoughtful and rigorous when listening to scientific presentations of each other’s work, and respectfully provide constructive criticism and receive feedback with grace and gratitude. Attendance at lab meeting and giving our full attention when listening to presentations is expected. We are all invested in each other’s successes, and we celebrate when any one of us achieves and commiserate when any one falls short.
We support each other in lab day-to-day. Lab members can seek help and learn from any other lab member, regardless of where that member is in their training. This includes learning how to perform a new technique, help with troubleshooting, and feedback on experimental approaches. We are very open to providing help when it is sought and needed.
We share our resources. We often share protocols, reagents, cell lines, and relevant data or papers to help each other’s scientific progress.
We support each other’s scientific development. Our lab holds biweekly Idea Clubs where two members present any scientific ideas where a lab-wide discussion could be helpful for them. We also hold biweekly Journal Clubs where different groups of members present a paper for the entire lab to discuss. We make time in our days to attend these meetings to listen, provide feedback, and contribute to these discussions. Likewise, we often hold practice scientific talks for presenters, and we all aim to attend each other’s presentation
The Vander Heiden Lab is committed to fostering an environment where everyone is included and supported, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, ability, sexuality, political views, or socioeconomic status. In our lab, everybody has something to contribute, and everybody has something to learn.
We value diversity because we all enrich and learn from each other, both intellectually and as people, and we believe this is ultimately reflected in a better work environment.
We strive for inclusion as the bedrock of our lab. This is conducted through lab-wide social events, both formal and informal, and a safe environment for open dialogue where all opinions and perspectives are respectfully considered. We also hold a regular Current Issues Club, in which a small group of lab members lead a discussion with the lab on a topic of their choice. We expect lab members to treat each other with respect, empathy, professionalism, and kindness. Lab members are also expected to abide by MIT’s discrimination policy outlined in the MIT Handbook.
Our community highly values mentorship on multiple levels. Mentorship in our laboratory is not just restricted to Matt providing project guidance, but also includes mentorship within the lab. Learning how to do science well takes a village, and our group is committed to helping each other.
Matt says of his mentorship philosophy, “My guiding management principles are to be available, to be encouraging, and to be flexible providing the support lab members need as individuals to achieve their goals. I set a standard for scientific excellence and rigor, but expect students and postdocs to play an active role in developing their ideas to grow as scientists. My mentorship philosophy is rooted in the idea that if you give trainees the freedom to be creative and explore their ideas, success will follow. Incorporating ideas from all members of the group helps us do the most impactful and innovative work, so I work to foster an environment of open scientific exchange across all members of the laboratory. I recognize the importance of validating young scientists’ ideas to help them build confidence and develop critical thinking skills, therefore, I am mindful to always ask what the researcher thinks before offering my advice.”
Peer-to-peer mentorship in our community is informal, but that does not mean it is not a top priority. Everyone can be a mentor, and everyone can be a mentee. Good lab culture is maintained when lab members are equally willing to help and learn from each other. Our lab is exceptionally good at helping each other through project struggles, and the mentorships that form are organic and are very often mutually beneficial.
Learning how to become a good mentor is important in development as an independent scientist and lab members are encouraged to take advantage of mentoring opportunities. We have a strong track record for having many MIT undergraduates work with lab members through one-on-one mentorship as part of the MIT undergraduate research opportunities program (UROP). Additionally, our lab has been consistently involved with the MIT Biology Summer Research Program (MSRP) every year, where visiting summer students work closely with a lab member to gain research experience. Our lab has also hosted and mentored visiting master’s students and medical students who work closely with lab members to develop their own research projects. The value our lab places on teaching young scientists is reflected in several lab members being recognized for their strong mentorship through the Peter Karches Mentorship Prize.
Our lab cares deeply about scientific rigor and reproducibility of results. We hold each other to an exceptionally high standard when it comes to scientific integrity and always endeavor to do our best in this respect.
Science is an exploratory process; we are not here to prove our favorite hypothesis. Accordingly, we never expect a specific result, but approach science with an open mind. The results are what they are, and we will not accept any data manipulation or purposeful omission. We take the attitude that if we do good science, everything else will follow.
Negative data is often just as important as positive data, and it should be documented and reported. If we ever have any questions about whether or not we are interpreting data correctly, we seek input from our fellow lab members and from Matt.
Lab notebooks are important scientific documents. Someone else should be able to look at a lab notebook and understand the scientific process: what is the question, what is the approach, details of the experiment, raw data, and interpretation of results.
Any form of data manipulation will not be tolerated and will result in immediate action, including the reporting of the violation to the MIT Vice President of Research and/or Provost. MIT has detailed procedures for dealing with academic misconduct, which can be found here.
We believe that mental and physical health should be a number one priority. We strive for a healthy work/life balance with the understanding that this leads to stronger, more creative science. Hours spent in lab do not necessarily scale with productivity, and we are encouraged to go on vacations, visit friends and family, and prioritize our mental and physical health. Additionally, we do not expect constant accessibility outside of working hours.
Many people are dealing with mental illness or struggling with their mental health, which can affect physical health as well. Lab members are expected to support one another and stand against stigmas associated with addressing mental health and self-care.
As a lab, we plan periodic lab outings to build camaraderie and incorporate breaks from lab into our schedules.
There are many resources within MIT for anyone seeking help:
We aim for all intellectual and experimental effort to be fairly reflected in manuscript authorship. This is typically done through informal conversations between the project’s primary contributor(s), collaborating lab members, and Matt. Ultimately, the first author(s) and Matt make decisions surrounding authorship. Importantly, an individual’s position in the lab does not affect one’s ability to be an author, and everyone who makes a meaningful contribution is included as author. We also extend authorship to personnel in core facilities who make significant intellectual contributions.
When preparing a manuscript, lab members should outline authorship early and often, and strive for open communication about how contributions to a project will be reflected with authorship. We also welcome and encourage collaborations with other labs; in our authorship discussions with other labs, we aim to be transparent and fair. We recognize authorship disputes may occur and strive to resolve them in a just manner in alignment with core lab values.
The following are helpful resources that align with how we determine authorship:
MIT’s office of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) has expectations for how we conduct ourselves with respect to occupational safety and safety with chemical, radiation, and biological hazards. Beyond that, our lab makes it a priority to maintain a clean and safe environment.
This is not a laboratory where anyone gets in trouble for making a mistake; everything can be fixed. We expect people to notify others and get help if an accident has occurred.
Lab members are expected to keep their work areas clean and reasonably organized. Someone else should feel comfortable working in that space. In particular, common spaces and shared equipment, such as the tissue culture room, should be kept exceptionally clean. We have a standard set of practices for operating in the tissue culture room, and everyone must be trained by an experienced lab member before working there.
When it comes to working with hazards, we strongly emphasize that any decisions made by one lab member can affect any other lab member too. We appreciate that each lab member may have different sensitivities or vulnerabilities, and we aim to make the working environment safe for everyone.
We have an annual lab clean-up day that everyone in the lab participates in. Each lab member volunteers to take a task from a list of jobs. These days are fun social events among lab members, and it is wonderful to have a sparkling, clutter-free, organized lab!
Broken or alarming equipment must be immediately addressed by the first lab member who comes across it. We do this even if the equipment belongs to neighboring labs.