2024 #newPI series
Surviving and thriving while leading a lab
Every year, thousands of scholars become principal investigators for the first time. For some, the idea of a “PI” may conjure up an image of a professor at a large institution leading a group of dozens of people. In reality, most new PIs are at smaller, liberal arts institutions, community colleges, smaller universities, or outside of academia altogether.
Despite lots of PIs starting each year, I think we do a terrible job of onboarding. At many institutions, new PIs may receive only a 1-2 day orientation (which is usually focused on HR or formal policies). Other institutions may include some degree of formal mentorship of meeting groups. Yet, PIs are often expected to develop themselves as teachers, mentors, project managagers, accountants, grant specialists, and so much more.
I think the lack of training is a huge disservice to new PIs.
With the Fall semester set to begin for many new faculty in North America, I will focus my writing on the #newPI community. I’ll share my thoughts and experience setting up my own lab over the past three years. I will be speaking from my own experiences, but I’ll also highlight the voices of others and pull in data where possible. I hope the posts will be useful for all new lab leaders, including those outside of academia. I am a faculty member, but I have also led groups outside academia and advised small business owners.
Below, I’ve listed possible topics. Please tell me in the comments if you are excited about any of these particular topics or if you have other ones in mind.
How to spend your first 90 days
Stop being a graduate student
Setting up your physical lab
Setting up your digital lab
Building your mentoring network
Tracking output
Being productive, not busy
How do universities actually work?
Saying yes so you can say no
Preparing your first classes
Graduate student recruitment
Your first grants
The #newPI slack community is an absolute must for new lab leaders. There are great resources shared there.
I will also draw inspiration from other sectors. Leading a group is not unique to academia. As I’ve discussed previously, leading is a lab is similar to that of a sports team or start-up company.
Here are some other articles to get you started.
Stay tuned for more! If you have a collegue that might benefit from this series, please share.
Very timely for me!! Would love to get your experience on the 1st 90 days, first grants, and physical and digital lab