Graves Lab procedures and policies, version 2.0 (September 7, 2016)
The rules for the Graves laboratory at Stanford are described in this document. It should be stressed that all interpretation and enforcement of these rules will be done at the discretion of the faculty. Lab members are encouraged to discuss these policies with the faculty.
1. Work hours
a. Postdocs, staff, post-qualifying exam grad students
Lab members are expected to keep working hours of 9am to 6pm, and to be available on campus during these times. Deviations from this schedule are subject to the approval of the faculty. While productivity for researchers is key and some latitude can be given to adjust this schedule, lab members should be on campus to interact with labmates and colleagues and to attend Stanford functions such as seminars as much as possible.
b. Rotating and pre-qualifying exam grad students, undergrad students, other trainees
Grad students will coordinate their lab schedule with the faculty on a quarterly basis. Grad students should attempt to be in the lab as much as their schedule allows in order to interact with their labmates. A target of 20 hours in lab per week is desirable, however this will be evaluated on a student-by-student basis.
2. Dress code
There is no formal rule for work attire. Lab members who work in the clinic during hospital hours must observe the clinical dress code (no blue jeans, shorts, or t-shirts). Lab members working in wet lab environments must obey laboratory safety guidelines (no shorts or open-toed shoes), and must wear lab coats.
3. Work environment
Each lab member will have a desk as their primary workspace. Given space constraints, rotating and temporary lab members will have shared/temporary desks, while postdocs, post-qualifying exam grad students, and other permanent staff will be assigned a private desk space.
a. Laboratory
Lab members will be assigned shared or private space in the Graves lab in CCSR. These are resources that we use under the auspices of the Division of Radiation and Cancer Biology, and they should be treated with the appropriate respect and care so that we may continue to use them. Prior to entering the laboratory, all lab members must complete the Division of Radiation and Cancer Biology onboarding process and all associated classroom and online training modules.
b. Personal interactions
Lab members should interact with each other in a courteous and professional manner. Any personal conflicts or disputes should be brought to the faculty as soon as possible for discussion and mediation. The golden rule should be adopted by everyone: treat others as you would like to be treated.
4. Resources
a. Software
All source code that goes beyond the level of a script and becomes a reusable tool shall be entered into the Radiation Physics repository. All group members will have access to this repository and will be able to post changes to the code, allowing ongoing evolution of our shared software. Sharing of source code with collaborators will be allowed only after approval by the faculty.
b. Hardware
All hardware devices designed by the lab will be stored in locked cabinets in the Radiation Physics area or the small animal imaging facility. Only lab members who have been trained to use this hardware by the appropriate lab members or the faculty will be granted access. Sharing of hardware with collaborators will be done only after approval by the faculty.
c. Animals
Only lab members who have undergone animal training, worked with the current lab animal coordinator, and been added to the lab’s animal protocol will be granted access to the animal facility. All institutional animal policies must be strictly observed, failure to do so will result in immediate cancelation of animal privileges. Sharing of animals with collaborators will be allowed only after approval by the faculty.
d. Irradiators
Only lab members who have undergone radiation safety training, and have worked with the current lab radiation coordinator will be granted access to the preclinical irradiators, including the animal and cell irradiators. All institutional radiation safety policies must be strictly observed, failure to do so will result in immediate cancelation of animal privileges.
e. Small animal imaging facility
Lab members that will be using the small animal imaging facility will be given card key access to this area, after approval by the faculty. Users must obey all safety and cleanliness guidelines of the facility (https://med.stanford.edu/mips/aboutus/facilities/sci3.html). All use of instruments in the facility must be reserved using the online scheduling system (https://sharedfacilities.stanford.edu/account/login). Animal protocol and account numbers needed to reserve time will be given by the faculty after the experiment has been approved.
f. Radiochemistry
Only lab members who have undergone radiation safety training, worked with the current lab radiochemistry coordinator, and been added to the relevant radiation protocols will be granted access to the radiochemistry facility. All institutional radiation safety policies must be strictly observed, failure to do so will result in immediate cancelation of radiochemistry privileges. Sharing of radiochemistry resources with collaborators will be allowed only after approval by the faculty.
g. Cells and genetic constructs
Only lab members who have been onboarded and trained according to the Division of Radiation and Cancer Biology policies will be granted access to the molecular biology resources and lab. Lab safety procedures must be strictly observed, failure to do so will result in immediate cancelation of molecular biology privileges. All engineered cells and genetic constructs will be archived in frozen stocks. These resources will be shared with collaborators only after approval by the faculty.
h. Resource maintenance
All issues noted with shared resources, including imaging systems, irradiators, microscopes, and molecular and cellular biology tools, must be reported IMMEDIATELY to the faculty.
5. Meetings
a. Lab meeting
i. A mandatory lab meeting will be held every other week. The day and time of this meeting will be adjusted on a quarterly basis so as to accommodate the schedule of those lab members with coursework. The format of this meeting will be an initial 10-15 minutes during which issues of general interest to the lab will be discussed in an open forum. After this period, one lab member will present a detailed review of their current project, including background, techniques, and data. The lab meeting presentation schedule will be determined on a quarterly basis. Lab members are expected to present at lab meeting approximately once per quarter.
ii. A mandatory joint lab meeting will be held every week in association with the Giaccia and Rankin laboratories. The format of this meeting will be an initial 10-15 minutes during which issues of general interest to the labs will be discussed in an open forum. After this period, one lab member will present a detailed review of their current project, including background, techniques, and data. The lab meeting presentation schedule will be determined on a quarterly basis. Lab members are expected to present at lab meeting approximately once per year.
b. Journal club
A mandatory lab journal club will be held the same day and time as the group lab meeting, but on alternating weeks. The journal club will be led by a single member of the lab, rotating each time. The schedule for leading journal club will be generated on a quarterly basis. This person will select the paper to be discussed at journal club, create the presentation materials for the journal club meeting, and will lead the discussion. Lab members are expected to lead journal club approximately once per quarter. Papers must be approved by the faculty prior to presentation at journal club, and should be distributed no later than 3 days prior to the journal club. The journal club leader should give a 10-15 minute introduction to the paper, and lead an interactive discussion of its data, conclusions, and significance.
c. Radiation Biology floor meeting
Lab members must attend the Radiation Biology floor meeting seminar, held monthly on Wednesdays from 12:30-1:30pm. Lab members are also required to present at the Radiation Sciences seminar at a frequency of approximately once every two years.
d. Radiation Sciences seminar
Lab members must attend the Radiation Sciences seminar, held monthly on Tuesdays from 4-5pm. Lab members are also required to present at the Radiation Sciences seminar at a frequency of approximately once every two years.
e. Other seminars
Stanford hosts a wide range of seminars that lab members are encouraged to attend per their interests and availability. This includes, but is not limited to, the Cancer Biology seminar series, the MIPS seminar series, the Radiation Physics seminars, Radiology grand rounds, and the RSL and IBIIS seminar series. A complete list can be found at http://med.stanford.edu/seminars/
6. Productivity
a. Postdocs, staff, post-qualifying exam grad students
Lab members will define the scope of their project with the faculty upon joining the group. It is expected that sufficient preliminary work on the project will be accomplished in the first six months to submit an abstract to a national or international meeting. A manuscript on this work should be submitted within the first twelve months of work. After this initial year, a minimum of two abstracts and one manuscript should be generated per year per lab member. It is the responsibility of both the faculty and the lab member to adhere to this schedule. Difficulties in meeting this quota should be identified at regular meetings and addressed in advance. A successful postdoctoral tenure should include at least two first author papers and four first author abstracts.
b. Rotating and pre-qualifying exam grad students, undergrad students
Lab members will define the scope of their project with the faculty upon joining the group. The scope of the work and the publication goals will be defined on a student-by-student basis.
c. Fellowships and grants
While all lab members are fully supported by the lab as per the terms of their contract, lab members at all levels are strongly encouraged to seek out and apply for fellowships, awards, and grants. This is of benefit both to the lab member and the lab in the form of prestige and financial support. Lab members should identify opportunities of interest and discuss submission with the faculty member at the earliest possible time.
7. Manuscripts
Scientific publications are essential to the continued success of the lab. Lab members are strongly encouraged to think of their experiments in terms of “publishable units”, prioritizing their activities so as to generate coherent manuscripts for submission to high profile journals.
a. Preparation
Lab members will write up their manuscripts as appropriate for the target journal. While any word and figure processing software may be used, it is strongly recommended that Microsoft Office be employed so that all collaborators can easily review and edit the documents.
b. Journals
In general, manuscripts should target the highest impact journal in which they may possibly be published, including the Science, Nature, Cell, and Cancer Research family of journals. More specialized journals are suitable for manuscripts targeting a more focused audience. In general, manuscripts should be submitted to journals with an impact factor of at least 2.5.
c. Submission and review
i. Manuscripts will not be submitted to the journal until the faculty has approved submission. Manuscripts submitted without faculty approval are subject to immediate withdrawal and/or retraction from the journal.
ii. Author lists should generally be constructed with the lab member who was primarily responsible for the work as first author, the faculty as senior author, and other parties that were intellectually involved in the work as coauthors. These guidelines will be interpreted for each manuscript, taking into account any inter-lab collaborations.
iii. The lab member will take responsibility for paper and/or electronic delivery of all materials required for submission, as well as for communications during the review and editorial processes.
d. Invited manuscripts and reviews
Many journals solicit submission of research manuscripts and reviews. Lab members that have received and are interested in such solicitations should discuss them with the faculty. While some solicitations are legitimate and of significance, it should be noted that many predatory journals of negligible impact send out large amounts of such solicitations, which should be ignored.
8. Conferences and Travel
Lab members are encouraged to submit their work for presentation at national and international meetings. However, due to financial constraints the laboratory is unable to make any guarantees that it will support travel to meetings. Meeting attendance and travel decisions will therefore be made on a per-meeting basis after discussion between the lab member and the faculty.
a. Abstract submission
i. Submissions to meetings should include a significant amount of new and previously unpublished data.
ii. Abstracts should be given to the faculty for review at least 3 days prior to the submission deadline. Failure to obtain faculty approval for conference submissions may result in withdrawal of the abstract, regardless of how it was received.
iii. Author lists should generally be constructed with the lab member who was primarily responsible for the work as first author, the faculty as senior author, and other parties that were intellectually involved in the work as coauthors. These guidelines will be interpreted for each abstract, taking into account any inter-lab collaborations.
iv. The lab member will take responsibility for paper and/or electronic delivery of all materials required for submission.
v. Approval for travel to meetings must be given in advance by the faculty. Acceptance of an abstract or invitation to a meeting does NOT guarantee that a lab member will be supported to travel to the meeting.
b. Invited presentations
Lab members that have been invited to submit and/or present at a conference should discuss these opportunities with the faculty. While some solicitations are legitimate and of significance, it should be noted that many predatory conferences of negligible impact send out large amounts of such invitations, which should be ignored. As above, invitation to a meeting does NOT guarantee that a lab member will be supported to travel to the meeting.
c. Presentation preparation
Posters and slides for conference presentations should be given to the faculty for review at least 3 days prior to the meeting. Note that both the faculty and the lab member may be traveling during this period, therefore it is strongly recommended that the presentations be given to the faculty for review earlier. Failure to obtain faculty approval for a presentation may result in withdrawal of the presentation.
d. Travel
i. Travel reservations, including airfare, hotel, and meeting registration, will be made by the lab member and must be APPROVED IN ADVANCE by the faculty. The lowest possible rates should be reserved wherever possible. Only coach class airfare will be supported, and lab members should share rooms with another person wherever possible.
ii. Changes to travel plans must be APPROVED IN ADVANCE by the faculty. Purchase of additional or alternate airfare, hotel, or other travel costs should be discussed with the faculty before purchase. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in loss of reimbursement.
iii. Reimbursement for travel costs will be made after the travel is completed. Receipts should be submitted to the administrator as soon as possible after travel in order to be reimbursed in a timely fashion.
9. Collaboration
Collaboration on projects is expected given the type of work done by the lab. Collaborations will be defined with the guidance of the appropriate faculty. Collaborations within and outside the group will be handled according to the same guidelines.
a. Authorship
At the beginning of a collaboration, the collaborators should discuss how publications arising from the work will be handled, and define the author list. This discussion should be summarized in an email to the collaborators that is agreed upon by all. In the case of authorship disputes, this agreement will form the basis of the mediation.
b. Research materials and tools
Laboratory resources will be exchanged with outside groups in collaborations only after the approval of the faculty. This includes software, hardware, animals, cells, and genes.