Lab Culture

This document was created jointly by all members of the lab and was last revised June 2024.

1. Guiding Principles and Values

  • Professionalism. We strive to exhibit professionalism always through our communication and actions within the group and when we are representing the group.
  • Mentoring. We value mentoring as an integral part of scientific training. We believe that everyone can contribute regardless of background, and therefore, we share the mentoring load across all team members.
  • Impact. We pursue cutting edge research questions with high scientific integrity and rigor.
  • Collaboration. We collaborate globally with diverse research groups and apply our technical expertise to a variety of systems. We regularly recruit and collaborate with technical experts across the world to ensure we know and practice the latest scientific advances. 
  • Safety. We prioritize safety in our working environment – both physical and mental. We collectively enforce laboratory safety. We encourage prioritization of personal well-being.
  • Diversity. We believe that maintaining a team where diverse persons regardless of background are welcomed, included, and supported fosters creativity and promotes problem solving. We do not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind within our group.
  • Data accessibility. We ensure all our research products are open access, publicly available, and well-documented. 
  • Integrity. We believe that integrity is the foundation of trust in the scientific community and thus we will act with integrity in all actions and aspects of our work. 
  • Technical expertise. We train lab members to be technical experts in diverse subject areas, including high-resolution mass spectrometry-based methods to study microbiomes and symbioses.
  • Teamwork. We practice teamwork in all of our scientific projects and regularly engage with teams inside and outside of our lab. We believe scientific advancement is a team sport and requires teamwork and collaboration. 
  • Growth. We value growth and development as essential components of scientific training. We expect all team members to exhibit a learning mindset and practice personal and professional growth. 

2. Land Acknowledgement

NC State University is a land-grant institution for the people of North Carolina and respectfully acknowledges that the lands within and surrounding present-day Raleigh are the traditional homelands and gathering places of many Indigenous peoples, including eight federally and state-recognized tribes: Coharie, Eastern Band of Cherokee, Haliwa-Saponi, Lumbee, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation, Sappony and Waccamaw Siouan. We share an ongoing responsibility to safeguard these lands and to respect the sovereignty of the tribes and Indigenous nations residing in North Carolina. NC State honors all Indigenous peoples who have been and continue to be an integral part of our university’s history and culture.

3. Lab Expectations

  • Onboarding documents. We maintain extensive onboarding documents to set initial expectations for all lab members and guide them through joining our group.
  • Professional development. We value development outside of technical scientific expertise and engage in development opportunities as a group two to three times each semester. 
  • Training. Each member of the lab is expected to provide training freely and seek training actively. 
  • Responsibilities. Each member of the lab has a specific contract with details of their position and duties. Each team member participates in a yearly review with our PI to evaluate their growth, mentoring needs, and progress. 
  • Safety. Each lab member completes and maintains required safety training and is responsible for observing and enforcing the lab safety standards at all times. 
  • Communication. Our lab expects and highly values clear communication. Communication makes our lab more efficient and improves our science as a whole. Each member is expected to communicate with other lab members and our PI regularly about progress, experiments, incidents, and personal needs. 
  • Conference attendance. Each trainee is expected to attend one subject-area specific conference per year to communicate knowledge and build expertise in their field. All materials are reviewed by our PI and practiced to develop communication skills. 
  • External collaboration. Every lab member is expected to engage in external collaborations by delivering meta-omics datasets to collaborators across the world. The PI will generate and support collaboration projects.
  • Group participation. Our group attends department seminars, cluster meetings, department meetings, and subject-area meetings as appropriate. We have weekly group meetings to share research updates and monthly lab cleanings to ensure the laboratory space is in working order for each member of the lab to use.
  • External representation. Each lab member is expected to represent the group and NC State University appropriately. Each lab member should conduct themselves in a professional manner. 

4. Communication and Feedback

  • Communication. 
    • Each lab member engages in regular communication with PI and group members through different avenues, such as group meetings, monthly reports, and project meetings. 
    • We utilize a variety of communication methods, including email, Slack, OneNote, and Google Calendar. 
    • We prioritize engaging in communication between trainee and PI, as well as mentor and mentees, to ensure all parties are learning and developing appropriately. 
    • We engage in communication regularly, striving for a maximum of 1-2 days for response time while respecting time off. 
  • Feedback. Each lab member will give and receive feedback in a variety of avenues from multiple sources, but all feedback should adhere to the following: 
    • Be specific on giving feedback and be honest to enable growth
    • Speak about your experience and use “I” statements
    • Accept feedback professionally and engage in discussion, not arguments
    • Feedback should be given in a timely manner with respect to setting and developmental stage of trainee. 

5. Mentoring and Professional Development

The Kleiner lab is committed to providing mentorship and professional development opportunities to support undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars. Guided by our core values of collaboration, growth, and inclusivity, we strive to empower every member of our lab community to reach their full potential and excel in their scientific endeavors.

  • Mentoring. To help each member of our lab achieve their potential, we offer mentorship in a variety of ways: 
    • Every member of our lab has the potential to gain experience as a mentor and as such, our PI may delegate mentorship roles to members of the lab to provide opportunities for development and growth 
    • Constructive feedback for project proposals, progress reports, and written documents
    • We strive to help group members achieve their goals by providing opportunities to develop specific skills and treat each other with respect and fairness
    • All mentees are treated equitably and research efforts are supported equitably in our lab 
    • We strive to help group members of a project team learn to develop the timeline, support needed, tasks, objectives, and expectations for projects
  • Professional development. Each member of the lab will write a professional development plan with our PI specific to their career goals and activities. We engage in professional development in some of the following ways: 
    • Organize sessions and facilitated talks ranging from advanced technique workshops to general career planning
    • Develop networks and sponsor networking events for group members throughout fields of interests
    • Generate specific career training goals and personalized advice
    • Encourage lab members to take on leadership roles within the lab and externally, such as within the Graduate Student Association, Plant and Microbial Biology Department, and the University broadly. 

6. Laboratory and Resources 

Laboratory and equipment. The Kleiner Lab occupies laboratory space on the fourth floor of Thomas Hall. Benches within the laboratory space are occupied by 1-2 lab members and are equipped with pipette sets, vacuum, and gas lines as required for microbial work. The lab spaces are Biosafety Level 2 (BSL2) certified. 

The laboratory is equipped with all equipment needed for standard microbiology and molecular biology approaches such as microscopes, centrifuges, incubators, freezers, PCR machines and gel electrophoresis equipment. Additionally, we have all equipment for proteomics sample preparation (bead beaters, sonicators, plate readers, speed vac etc.), for protein purification (FPLC, HPLC etc.), and sensitive assays (photospectrometers, fluorometers, and UV/fluorescence detectors on HPLC etc.).

Office space. The Kleiner Lab group occupies office space on the fourth floor of Thomas Hall. The desks in the office spaces are equipped with desks, chairs, wireless internet, and laptop docking stations. Each full-time employee or graduate student is assigned a desk. 

The office space is also home to the beloved snack table, which is often filled with snacks from all over the world, plenty of caffeine with two coffee makers and tea kettles, and a mini-fridge. These office resources support our research endeavors heavily, along with a microwave, sink, and fridge/freezer in the fourth floor break room. 

Computers. All full time members of the Kleiner Lab have high-performance laptops provided for them to assist in completing their research. 

High-performance computing resources. The Kleiner Lab owns two high-performance standalone computers (12 cores, 96GB memory, 15 TB hard drive space including SSD drives), which are used for proteomic data processing and analyses. The Kleiner Lab also owns two servers (512 and 768 GB of memory, 56 and 128 threads) for tasks that are memory or computationally intensive such as assembly of metagenomes. These servers are available to all team members working with large genomic, metagenomic, metatranscriptomic, and (meta)proteomic datatsets. 

Major equipment. The Kleiner Lab has sole access to all of the necessary equipment housed in the laboratory space. The Kleiner laboratory uses a Thermo Fisher Scientific Exploris 480 high-resolution, accurate mass mass spectrometer and an Thermo Ultimate RSLCnano system for proteomic analyses. The proteomic set up is housed in the METRIC mass spectrometry core at NCSU.

Access to core facilities. The Kleiner Lab has access to several core facilities and other resources that support research. 

Established training procedures in the lab for equipment and proteomics pipeline: watch (watch an experienced person), do (with supervision of an experienced person), teach (teach another, less-experienced person)

Established standard operating procedures (SOPs) to maintain continuity within the lab. SOPs are updated on a regular basis with input from multiple people in the team.

7. Publications and Presentations

We value scientific productivity and activity for all team members in our lab. Trainees specifically have activity expectations based on their position, but generally should be striving for papers and presentations. 

Papers. In our lab, the person who writes the manuscript is the first author. First authorship may be shared with a co-author who plays a major role in experimental design, data collection, or analysis. Our PI is the corresponding author on all published papers, but may share corresponding authorship with the relevant first author trainee. The following contributions may qualify for authorship and should be discussed throughout project development: 

  • Experimental design
  • Data collection
  • Data processing and analysis
  • Graphic design
  • Writing
  • Editing
  • Consulting that majorly contributes to the project

Acknowledgements will be used for anyone who contributes to a project but does not rise to the threshold of authorship.  

Presentations. Trainees will attend and present at conferences, seminars, workshops, and other relevant field activities. Authorship is determined by the same requirements as paper authorship. Additional requirements include the following: 

  • PI and co-authors approval should be obtained at least two weeks before abstract is due
  • Co-authors approval should be obtained at least two weeks before printing posters or submitting slides
  • Our PI receives final draft at least two weeks before final submission is due and has final approval on products

8. Recruitment

We are dedicated to welcoming and serving students, postdocs, and employees of all backgrounds and supporting them in their pursuit of their individual professional goals.  To ensure equality and fairness, most lab members will participate in the recruitment and hiring process of new lab members. At least two members of the lab will participate in the hiring process with our PI, but all members of the lab will get the opportunity to share feedback about prospective members.

For prospective members, we use the following guiding principles: 

  • Postdocs and employees. Employee hiring will follow relevant university guidelines, but will generally include application screening, screening interviews, and formal interviews. Postdocs are generally hired as employees and should contact our PI to express interest. 
  • Graduate students. We welcome graduate students from a variety of graduate programs across NC State. Prospective graduate students will participate in a formal rotation working with lab members. Rotating students are included in group activities and day to day functions such as group meetings and journal clubs. Rotations typically conclude with a final presentation to the lab. 
  • Undergraduate students. Undergraduate student hiring will follow relevant university guidelines, but will generally include resume screening, screening interviews, and formal interviews with our PI. Interested undergraduate students should lookout for job postings or email our PI to express interest. 

9. Team Building and Socializing

Lab retreats. We engage in lab retreats twice a year centered around research presentations, project feedback, and brainstorming. All members of the lab attend these 2-3 day retreats, one of which is local and the other is a destination. During these retreats, we engage in team building activities, such as lab olympics. 

Regular team building. We regularly socialize and build team relationships by spending time together in informal settings such as lunch breaks, family picnics/potlucks, coffee runs, and happy hours. 

Group meeting. We have weekly group meetings with lab updates and informal presentations for lab members to provide research updates, troubleshoot, and develop presentation skills. We regularly host professional development seminars with external facilitators and engage in non-science talks during this time. 

10. Conflicts and Negotiation

  • We understand that conflicts will happen and play a role in scientific progress and professional development. We will embrace conflict and handle it with professionalism and empathy. 
  • We strive for clear communication of expectations and ideas, so as to avoid potential conflict.
  • We are mindful of possible misunderstandings under pressure when resolving complex issues.  
  • We respect and acknowledge that opinions other than our own are valid and valuable. 
  • We avoid attempts to resolve conflict via email or slack. These forms of communication can be tone deaf.
  • We keep conversations professional in moments of conflict, as an opportunity for discussion and negotiation as opposed to venting frustration. 
  • We focus efforts on de-escalating conflict by taking space and practicing empathy towards each other. We focus on action moving forward rather than assigning blame. 
  • We use “I” statements in conflict discussions. 
  • We keep in mind that everyone has their own agendas, goals, milestones, and schedules when we negotiate project tasks, and that negotiation or conflicts should be handled with the goal of finding common ground and seeking understanding.
  • We seek mediation when appropriate. In conflicts between peers, mediation can be sought with a supervisor or relevant peer. In conflicts with the supervisor, mediation is accessible via graduate program director or human resources at NC State. Further information can be found in the onboarding documents.