How we work
Lab Guide
A living handbook of how we run the lab. It's public so prospective members can see how we really work, and every member is welcome to improve it.
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Communication & Culture
Communication
How to reach Christina and each other, plus giving and receiving feedback and resolving conflict.
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Discussion guidelines
How we hold productive, supportive discussions and keep the lab respectful and welcoming.
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Meetings
One-on-ones, lab meetings, and journal club.
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Journal club
A regular space to discuss the meeting point of biology and engineering in flight.
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Mentoring
How we mentor in this lab: shared expectations, honest feedback, and supporting the whole person.
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Working in the Lab
Work expectations
Work hours, flexibility, compensation, and how we manage projects and deadlines.
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Lab safety
Lab safety culture, PPE, required trainings, and facility-specific requirements.
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Animal care & ethics
How we work with animals as research partners, with respect, care, and honesty.
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Time off & vacation
How to request leave, sick days, and notice guidelines. Rest is encouraged.
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Support resources
Confidential support and reporting resources at UC Davis for every lab member.
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Lab operations roles
How we share lightweight ownership of the operational tasks that keep the lab running.
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Travel
Policy for booking and reimbursing travel for official lab purposes.
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Research Workflow
Literature reviews
How to read and organize the literature without getting overwhelmed.
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Research hypotheses
How to write clear, testable hypotheses for your thesis or project.
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Goal setting
Plan at two horizons, a long-term development plan and quarterly SMART goals, and turn them into steps you actually finish.
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Data management
Data hygiene, backups, file naming, and version control expectations.
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Code
Version control, coding style, documentation, and dependency management.
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Data analysis
The statistical methods we use, what is required of every analysis, and where to learn each one.
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Error and uncertainty analysis
How to report with uncertainty.
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Using AI
The lab's rules and guidelines for using generative AI responsibly in research.
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Writing & Dissemination
Before you submit
One pre-flight checklist to run before anything leaves the lab: papers, abstracts, posters, talks, grants, and travel.
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Writing papers
Core principles, the drafting cycle, and a pre-send checklist for manuscripts, preprints, and conference papers.
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Authorship policy
Who earns authorship, how order is decided, and how we agree it up front.
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Figures
The lab's figure standards, a self-diagnosis checklist, and tools and palettes.
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Submitting & publishing
How to submit a journal paper, respond to reviewer comments, and what to do once it's published.
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Posters
Designing a clear, audience-appropriate conference poster: layout grids, declarative titles, legible text, figures, color, and printing.
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Presentations
Designing and delivering a clear, audience-appropriate talk: signal-to-noise, slide design, delivery, timing, practice, and Q&A.
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Logos & branding
The lab logos, the colour palette, where the master files live, and how it all sits within UC Davis branding.
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Peer review
How to peer-review a paper critically, constructively, and ethically.
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Professional Development
Funding applications
How to approach fellowships and grants, what reviewers may look for and how to write a strong proposal.
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Conferences
Eligibility, funding, choosing a conference, and the full approval-to-share-back workflow.
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Professional presence
The profiles that make your work findable and correctly attributed to you, for both academic and industry paths.
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Career planning & job search
Planning your path across academia, industry, or government, and running the job search when it's time.
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Recommendation letters
How to request a recommendation letter from Christina so she can write you a strong one.
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Leaving the lab
The steps to wrap up and hand off your work when you graduate or move on.
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Members can also access the private Notion workspace for internal operations and onboarding material.
38 guides across 5 topic areas, including 3 role start-guides.