Chapter 1 Why we work

As a lab, we have two equally important goals:

1. to perform high-quality research and
2. to create an environment that accelerates the growth of scientists and improves the practice of science.

Performing high-quality research means that we undertake meaningful problems, investigate them in a rigorous way, and promptly publish our results so that others can easily pick up where we leave off.

Creating an environment that promotes the growth of scientists means that we support the expansion of our own and one another’s research capacities, especially through persistent effort, curiosity, and constructive criticism.

These practices in themselves should improve the way science is done, but we also have broader responsibilities to promote equity, limit unnecessary struggle and wasted resources, and perform research with the public good in mind.

This handbook outlines practices to help us achieve these goals. We’ll always be improving our methods! If you work here, you can help.