GoKawiilLeaving the laboratory to take up a position elsewhere is an exciting milestone for many young scientists. But sorting through years’ worth of samples and data while preparing for your next career stage — and often a move to a different city or even a different country — can be overwhelming.
Here are seven tips to smooth the transition and make future lab members’ lives easier.
Communicate early
Pip Coen, a neuroscientist at University College London, established his lab in 2023. Although he hopes that none of his four PhD students and postdocs leaves any time soon, he already has a plan for when they do.
Coen is one of the founding members of the SAFE Labs initiative, which has compiled a handbook to help scientists to create more-positive lab spaces. It includes a commitment to clearly document and communicate expectations for someone leaving the lab, so that everyone is on the same page.
No matter the reason for the person’s departure, Coen says, “I’d still much rather [they] told me as soon as possible, so we can prepare.”
Pip Coen has helped to compile a handbook on creating more-positive laboratory spaces.Credit: Edward Emberson
For postdocs preparing to launch an independent research career, it’s especially important to know well in advance which ideas, materials and data you can take with you, so that you have time to propose a solid research plan and secure funding before applying for faculty positions, says Walter Chen, a neonatologist at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. Begin this conversation when you start your postdoc, he suggests, and revisit it when submitting your first major paper. Otherwise, there can be “unpleasant surprises” — such as learning that your principal investigator (PI) plans to continue the project you thought you were taking with you.
Document as you go
In the technology world, rigorous and consistent documentation is part of the job. But in academia it can slip through the cracks, with people sometimes feeling that they must choose between staying organized and doing another experiment, says Stefanie Seltmann, who is head of research data management at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin.
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