This practical guide to setting up and managing a lab at a research intensive institution by Bob Goldstein and Prachee Avasthi explores key considerations for researchers transitioning into a principal investigator role. It has many practical suggestions, however, for those who already experienced at managing research groups. It highlights the early decisions that shape the trajectory of a research group, including negotiating resources, designing lab space, recruiting a team, and establishing effective ways of working. Many of these aspects of lab leadership are rarely taught formally, meaning new PIs often learn through experience. The guide helps make these hidden elements of running a lab more visible. For Lab Builders, the resource highlights how decisions about infrastructure, hiring, and working practices can have long-term consequences for productivity and culture. Key insights include: The central message is that building a research group requires both scientific vision and organisational leadership. Early attention to infrastructure, relationships, and culture helps create the conditions for a productive research environment. “Recruitment and people management are central to success. Hire carefully and manage individuals, not generic roles.” Benjamin Lichman, Senior Research Fellow / Senior Lecturer, University of York What will you take forward? One thing to consider: Which …
From over-ambitious projects to clear lab vision: learning patience, focus and the power of hiring the right people.
Benjamin Lichman Role: Senior Research Fellow / Senior LecturerDiscipline: BiochemistryInstitution: University of York Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story In the early stages of running my lab, I wanted to embark on all research projects available to me: new projects for collaborative work and new projects for each new idea that I had. I have diverse interests, and that felt exciting. Over time, however, my group started to feel incoherent and fragmented. There was energy, but not enough shared direction. Through a training session, I was encouraged to give my lab a clear “vision” and “mission”. I explicitly classified projects into subgroups and began to ask whether new work genuinely fitted that vision. I now try not to take on work that cannot sit clearly within those themes. This has helped bring lab members towards a common goal and has clarified what we do to external parties. Patience has also been a key lesson. Be patient with the publications, they will come and the best can take many years to materialise. Methods and experiments that worked before will not necessarily work the …
Review and enhance your recruitment practices
Your recruitment decisions have far-reaching and long-standing consequences for your career and impact – the right decisions can help you to delegate well, expand your research, and develop your ideas. The wrong ones can result in hours or days of performance management, stress, and anxiety for all parties involved. The Recruitment Toolkit created by the Future Leaders Fellows Development Network, is a practical, structured resource for research leaders who are recruiting for the first time or want to improve how they hire team members. This is especially helpful for those new to UK recruitment practices, or those wishing to avoid recruitment fails that they have experienced before. The toolkit: It guides you through every stage of academic/research hiring: The toolkit includes: What will you take forward? One thing to try: If you could apply just one piece of advice from the toolkit, which single aspect of your current recruitment practice would you enhance? A more robust person spec? Use of a different interview approach? An improvement to your induction practice?
Explore tailored research leadership resources
Established researchers express a wide range of leadership and management needs such as recruitment, performance conversations, delegation, effective meetings, coaching and mentoring skills etc. There is an overwhelming amount of advice out there: some relevant to established researchers, some less so. Rather than re-create it all here, we recommend and connect you directly to open access resources that are tailored to research and academic leaders: What will you take forward? One thing to consider: What is one leadership challenge you’re dealing with at the moment? Which single external resource could you engage with this week to move forward?