Building Your Lab
Summary: 2006 presentation in the Rice University NSF Advance Conference entitled “Negotiating the Ideal Faculty Position”. This workshop addressed the issues faced by new faculty while building up a new research laboratory.
Workshop Authors: James McNew (BCB), Qilin Li (CEVE), Corey Wilson (CalTech), Shelly Harvey (Math)
Slide 1: Building Your Lab
- Space
- Equipment
- Personnel
Slide 2: Physical Space
- Moving into existing space
- Lab remodels
- New building space
Slide 3: Existing space
- Is the space adequate for your needs?
- Proximity to colleagues
- Access to Dept/University equipment
- Proper Air/Vacuum/Water for equipment
- Hoods (chemical and tissue culture)
- Air handling and vibration
- Does it have desk space for students and postdocs?
- Is office space separate?
Slide 4: Build or Remodel
- Is the space adequate for your needs?
- Start early
- Do the research
- Set a bottom line
- Be actively involved in the process
Slide 5: Start Early
- It usually takes 6-12 months to build or remodel a lab
- Specify a desired date of completion during the negotiation
- Contact equipment vendors (for specs)
- Consider options for teaching or grant writing efforts until the space is complete
- Identify temporary space for lab work
Slide 6: Do the Research
- Visit state-of-the-art labs
- Site visit
- Meet your project manager
- Location: avoid location-specific problems that affect your research, e.g., vibration, freight elevator availability, etc.
- Infrastructure: air conditioning, ventilation, DI water system, gas lines, etc.
- Ask people who know the lab
- Collect information on equipment
- power requirement
- heat generation
- waste generation
- Other needs for equipment: gases, water, etc.
- Leave space for future expansion
- Predict future equipment needs
Slide 7: Set a Bottom Line
- Make a list of “must” and “must not” and be firm
- Do not expect future improvement
- Take into consideration future research needs
- Consider options for teaching or grant writing efforts until the space is complete
- Identify temporary space for lab work
Slide 8: Be Actively Involved
- Why
- You know your needs the best.
- Good communication avoids mistakes.
- What
- Project schedule and progress
- Specific information on equipment
- Special needs
- How
- Follow the progress
- Communicate with the contractors
Slide 9: Equipment and Supplies
- Equipment purchase
- Be aware of available discount, e.g., “New lab set up” programs at large vendors like Fisher and VWR
- Negotiate with many vendors
- Usually 1-3 months of lead time for major equipment
- Supplies
- Package as much as you can with each major vendor
- Negotiate with many vendors
- Consider larger quantities of items you know you will need
- This is the biggest discount you will ever get on things you buy
- Consider storage of large quantities
Slide 10: Populating your lab
- Technical Staff
- Graduate students vs. postdocs
- How available are students?
- How difficult is it to recruit post-docs?
- Are technicians the best use of limited resources?
- What Dept/University funding mechanisms are available for students or post-docs?
Slide 11: Lab Personnel
- Personnel Management
- Establishing a “lab culture” is very important
- Be proactive in addressing potential personnel conflicts
- No one wants to work in a caustic or poisonous lab environment
- Lead by example
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Last edited by Susan Cates on Jul 31, 2007 1:20 pm GMT-5.