Lab atmosphere.

●      A welcoming space: Everyone in the lab should be kind, respectful, and supportive of each other.

●      Collective work: In the lab, we never compete with each other, but we try to lift each other up. In broader scientific context this should also apply, but it is sometimes hard to not get carried away by the many competitive elements of scientific careers (grants, positions, etc.).

●      Active engagement: Everyone should participate in the lab’s academic events (lab meeting, interest group meetings, external presentations by lab members) as much as possible (not just attending but being proactive asking questions and commenting).

●      Openness and communicative approach: Respectful communication, including disagreements, requests or doubts, is always welcome. We value sharing each other’s mental states or feelings towards building a better lab atmosphere.

Inclusivity.

●      The lab welcomes members of any social, economic, national, religious or ethnic background. Sexual, political and cultural preferences are irrelevant to science and to this lab. Every member must adopt a tolerant attitude with respect to any identity that may be represented in the group, and avoid referring to others using attributes that are irrelevant to science.

Consideration.

●      Respect: We do not tolerate verbal or non-verbal expressions of disrespect, undermining statements or sabotage of any form. These are completely opposite to the lab culture.

●      Realizing others’ needs: When communicating with a peer, we should always take into account the diversity, and flexibility, of needs that people may have. Importantly, this includes giving others physical and mental space.

Communication.

●      Be straightforward and optimistic: we should always try to solve our issues with our peers by directly, assertively speaking with them. This must always come before assuming a negative ending and, of course, before acting upon such suspicion.

●      Ask the supervisor: If, after attempting to solve an issue/doubt with a peer, it is not solved, you are welcome and encourage to speak to the principal investigator for mediation and help.

●      Encourage others: We should encourage our peers to communicate (while respecting the time and space they may need to do so).

Flexibility.

●      Science is demanding. Like elite athletics, it pushes individuals and teams to their mental, creative, and collaborative limits. The stakes are often high, and progress is rarely linear—what seems achievable today might vanish tomorrow. This reality demands two seemingly contradictory qualities from every researcher, especially principal investigators: the resilience to endure uncertainty and the flexibility to unexpected outcomes that require a change of plans. Rather than resisting this tension, the lab embraces it, making it a cornerstone of our culture and dialogue.

Credit assignment.

●      Normally, authorship on papers is usually obvious. But the grey area is when smaller contributions warrant authorship and disappointment may come. I expect that all authors contribute to the ideas in a project, whether these are scientific or more clinical. For example, to account for such contributions, an author should attend (and speak in) the project meetings from the moment they are brought onto the project. Other example comes when sometimes you ask someone (in or outside of the lab) for help several times and they are interested in the project; then, they can be brought on board as an author. If someone “only” assists with data collection, or with minor pieces of advice about methodology, without a broader intellectual input, then that is usually an acknowledgement in the paper, not authorship.

●      CRediT is a system for recognizing contributions to a paper, and we can always come to it as a guide to discuss authorship. For lab members, some combination of conceptualization, formal analysis, methodology, and writing is usually required to be an author. Last, projects are alive and changes of team members and efforts may vary, so we all need to be aware and open to re-negotiate authorships if things have changed along the way.

Work-life balance.

●      Very important: sleep and rest. As neuroscientists, we know the importance of both, so do rest enough, take breaks during the day, take vacations, manage family responsibilities, have hobbies, and have a social life. Doing science should never be at the expense of everything else. We understand this balance contributes to the quality of both our lives and our research.

●      Work hours are flexible and you are responsible for organizing your time such that your work gets done.  Generally, you are expected to be available for meetings scheduled in regular work hours, but exceptions will be respected. Remote work is possible but we should be daily in the lab to maintain the desired lab atmosphere. Also, certain periods of the project may require longer hours to accommodate ongoing demands or data collection (available scan slots, etc.).

●      You are not expected to work or respond during evenings or weekends; however, right before external deadlines (such as for conferences or grants), exceptions may arise.

●      Our lab highly values being active beyond science. It is important to bridge scientific work to improve the local or broader academic community, to communicate science to the general public and to use science to help shape policy and improve people’s quality of life.