Lab quickstart

The following is a non-comprehensive summary of research within LEMUR.

Why do research

Doing research is a privilege. You get the opportunity to work on challenging unsolved problems, and through your efforts you will learn new skills and differentiate yourself in the job marketplace. I will support you in your efforts with resources, guidance, and career advancement.

Expectations

As a member of my group, I expect the following:

• Commitment:
  • Consistent research progress with regular presence in lab
  • Attendance at group activities (including group meetings, one-on-ones, research parties, journal clubs, lab hackathons, and other events)
  • Timely arrival to events, or adequate advance notice should plans need to change
  • Prompt responses to emails / requests / surveys
• Engagement:
  • Regular updates on research progress (via blog posts) and upcoming plans (via group meeting slides)
  • Attention and participation throughout everyone's slides at group meetings
• Responsibility:
  • Commitment to lab safety
  • Contribution to lab and equipment maintenance including upkeep, organization, and cleanliness
  • Adherence to research ethics including proper citations and use of resources

Specific requirements

• A minimum of 2 terms (6 month) commitment to research within LEMUR
• A Project proposal updated at the start of each term, committed in a git repo, and posted to your personal page
• A minimum of 10 hours per week (for research volunteers during the school term, more as appropriate otherwise!), every week (including midterms!), of active research progress in lab
• At least one public blog post per week, with at least one image / graph / figure describing research progress
• Weekly group meeting slide explaining in detail research plans for the upcoming week
• Fill in the Grad Student Review here and the project proposal and contributions document here

Letters of recommendation

Letters of recommendation are an extremely important part of a your future career success. It is important that you share with me your career goals (industry/academia/entrepreneurship, etc) in our early meetings so that I can help you meet these goals. Part of the reason that you should want to work with me is to gain access to my network of professional connections; for this reason an enthusiastic letter is critical.

When asked to write a letter of recommendation, I may discuss any or all of the following:

• Enthusiasm / motivation / drive
• Engagement and participation in the lab
• Work ethic
• Personality
• Personal and academic growth
• Creativity
• Technical ability