Setting up a lab as first-year faculty?

[iliketohelppeople]

I will be starting a TT position at a public university that Carnegie describes as a Bachelors level institution. Potential area for growth with graduate programs in the future.

I found the following good advice for first year faculty - (PhD/PsyD - Challenges of first year as faculty?). I have been teaching in VAP role and definitely agree with a lot re:service and preps/teaching, but have just been doing my own thing with research right now. One thing I have a question about is the actual logistics of getting a lab up and running, especially with undergrads.

My research area doesn't require specialized equipment, but just need software. I got a decent startup package, software, and equipment. What advice might y'all give for the actual logistics and steps of getting started with the lab? As for research, I have a few things submitted, but am in a bit of a lull in terms of research pipeline as I have been really focused on refining teaching. I have a reduced load in Fall to get acclimiated, will get some research funding over the first couple of summers, and negotiated some additional course releases during year two to develop my research program. Any advice would be great; my grad program tended to be more clinically focused and so was my postdoc, so I think I will be doing a whole lot of learning by doing over the next few years.

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[WisNeuro]

You'll be looking for @Ollie123 and @futureapppsy2 for input here.

 

[Ollie123]

You'll be looking for @Ollie123 and @futureapppsy2 for input here.

I'm in the midst of a move myself and my experience is at AMCs and generally more research-intensive settings than it sounds like you will be in, but some random thoughts.
- Any plans you make will be shattered immediately upon arrival as new opportunities arise, but make them anyways. It forces you to be more deliberate in taking on new projects and prioritize. This is one big change I'm planning to make with my upcoming move. I tend to chase shiny objects in my research. Its fun, but less programmatic and wayyyy more stressful.
- Talk to everyone upon your arrival. In your department. Outside your department. Doesn't matter. I'm planning to schedule one hour individual meetings with each faculty member upon my arrival to learn about their projects and talk about mine. I'm explicitly going to be looking for ways to get people involved even if just adding their name to a paper in exchange for some modest conceptual contribution. This can help ingratiate others to you that you may need help with later, it helps you figure out who is and isn't a good collaborator and if you are playing the grants game it usually helps if you have worked together previously.
- There will be a ramp up period, albeit perhaps a shorter one if the research you are doing is not particularly complicated. Think carefully about what you can get done in that time and plan accordingly. It can be a great time to work on things like review papers, public use datasets or secondary data analysis while you get the lab set up, folks trained, etc. for new data collection
- This varies based on research intensity, but with the exception of some fun "side" projects I am almost never planning a one-shot study. I am planning 1-2 studies downstream and designing what I am doing now to get me there. This means thinking ahead to the R01 submission I may want to make next year and allocating my writing, etc. towards making sure I have published pilot data. Sometimes this ties into the bullet point above and making sure I have published with the "right" people and we have proven we can work together. If its a 4-year school the scale may be different but I think the principle is the same - you want to be thinking ahead.

Will add more thoughts as they come to me.

 

[iliketohelppeople]

I'm in the midst of a move myself and my experience is at AMCs and generally more research-intensive settings than it sounds like you will be in, but some random thoughts.
- Any plans you make will be shattered immediately upon arrival as new opportunities arise, but make them anyways. It forces you to be more deliberate in taking on new projects and prioritize. This is one big change I'm planning to make with my upcoming move. I tend to chase shiny objects in my research. Its fun, but less programmatic and wayyyy more stressful.
- Talk to everyone upon your arrival. In your department. Outside your department. Doesn't matter. I'm planning to schedule one hour individual meetings with each faculty member upon my arrival to learn about their projects and talk about mine. I'm explicitly going to be looking for ways to get people involved even if just adding their name to a paper in exchange for some modest conceptual contribution. This can help ingratiate others to you that you may need help with later, it helps you figure out who is and isn't a good collaborator and if you are playing the grants game it usually helps if you have worked together previously.
- There will be a ramp up period, albeit perhaps a shorter one if the research you are doing is not particularly complicated. Think carefully about what you can get done in that time and plan accordingly. It can be a great time to work on things like review papers, public use datasets or secondary data analysis while you get the lab set up, folks trained, etc. for new data collection
- This varies based on research intensity, but with the exception of some fun "side" projects I am almost never planning a one-shot study. I am planning 1-2 studies downstream and designing what I am doing now to get me there. This means thinking ahead to the R01 submission I may want to make next year and allocating my writing, etc. towards making sure I have published pilot data. Sometimes this ties into the bullet point above and making sure I have published with the "right" people and we have proven we can work together. If its a 4-year school the scale may be different but I think the principle is the same - you want to be thinking ahead.

Will add more thoughts as they come to me.

Really good thoughts here! Thanks so much Ollie. Definitely agree with the need to plan ahead but also be flexible. Really like the idea of talking with folks in and outside of the department and neighboring departments, even. Got some big schools and VAs/AMCs within short distance and could build some collaboration outside of the department.

I definitely have access to some secondary data that I could use. I will have to sit down and think how I could use that data effectively.

I think it could be great for me to sit down over the summer and really try to plan out, at least, research wise what I wish to do over the next couple of years and how I can use my capital to get there. The more I think about starting a lab, the more I believe this has quite the entrepreneurial aspect to it, and that is something I would tend to say I lack in.

In terms of startup fund use, I am really planning on trying to use that more during year 2/3 on actual research expenses (e.g., pilot studies) as well as in building some of my own skills (more advanced stats analysis,etc). Any other stuff you would recommend?

I know you have mentioned doing lots of grant funded stuff as you work at AMC/more intensive research settings. External grant funding (especially NIH) is not something I have thought of doing too much (mostly because I figured that I don't have the strongest research history/external grant funding history), but is it possible to get smaller grants to start building a record with NIH or should I just resign myself to looking more at foundation types of funding. I do a bit of work related to diversity issues and community-based work, so some of it, depending on how it is framed, may be fundable.

 

[Ollie123]

Really good thoughts here! Thanks so much Ollie. Definitely agree with the need to plan ahead but also be flexible. Really like the idea of talking with folks in and outside of the department and neighboring departments, even. Got some big schools and VAs/AMCs within short distance and could build some collaboration outside of the department.

I definitely have access to some secondary data that I could use. I will have to sit down and think how I could use that data effectively.

I think it could be great for me to sit down over the summer and really try to plan out, at least, research wise what I wish to do over the next couple of years and how I can use my capital to get there. The more I think about starting a lab, the more I believe this has quite the entrepreneurial aspect to it, and that is something I would tend to say I lack in.

In terms of startup fund use, I am really planning on trying to use that more during year 2/3 on actual research expenses (e.g., pilot studies) as well as in building some of my own skills (more advanced stats analysis,etc). Any other stuff you would recommend?

I know you have mentioned doing lots of grant funded stuff as you work at AMC/more intensive research settings. External grant funding (especially NIH) is not something I have thought of doing too much (mostly because I figured that I don't have the strongest research history/external grant funding history), but is it possible to get smaller grants to start building a record with NIH or should I just resign myself to looking more at foundation types of funding. I do a bit of work related to diversity issues and community-based work, so some of it, depending on how it is framed, may be fundable.

There are many parallels between running a research lab and being an entrepreneur. "Start with why" and "Good to great" are both business books that I think anyone starting a research lab should read.

You don't just leap into NIH funding and it will be extra tough if your institution doesn't even have the infrastructure to really support the application process but its 100% possible to scaffold there off smaller grants. I don't have the stats on it, but I think most people start with internal funding, move to foundation or small NIH (e.g. R03) grants before making the leap to the big ones. A lot depends on the type of work you do too. NIH funding may not be necessary (or realistic) if you do mostly questionnaire-based studies of college drinking behavior without the innovation bells and whistles they normally want to see. Some work that is unbelievably important (at least in my view) but more pragmatic in nature may have better success with foundations than with NIH. The converse is also true. I've had pretty good luck with NIH so far, but terrible luck with one small foundation grant my current institution offered. From who is getting funding it seems they just want someone to do cheap program evaluations versus science. Nothing wrong with that, but it highlights the range of funding opportunities out there. Disparities work is a hot topic and I'm seeing oodles of opportunities in that area right now.

Its tough for me to recommend how to spend your startup without knowing you, your research, your school, how much money it is, etc.. Depending on the size of the startup, I'd be hiring staff to run participants and post-docs to help manage things, but if everything you do is run on MTurk you aren't as resource-constrained as I am. Get the space configured right for your work and if you have a physical lab make sure you have enough computers/furniture for RAs/techs. Save some for conference travel if you don't have other ways to fund that. Buy server space if you need it for big-data storage, data/resource sharing/etc. if that is relevant for your work. Hire a web designer to set up a lab website for "branding" purposes if that is your thing.

 

[iliketohelppeople]

There are many parallels between running a research lab and being an entrepreneur. "Start with why" and "Good to great" are both business books that I think anyone starting a research lab should read.

You don't just leap into NIH funding and it will be extra tough if your institution doesn't even have the infrastructure to really support the application process but its 100% possible to scaffold there off smaller grants. I don't have the stats on it, but I think most people start with internal funding, move to foundation or small NIH (e.g. R03) grants before making the leap to the big ones. A lot depends on the type of work you do too. NIH funding may not be necessary (or realistic) if you do mostly questionnaire-based studies of college drinking behavior without the innovation bells and whistles they normally want to see. Some work that is unbelievably important (at least in my view) but more pragmatic in nature may have better success with foundations than with NIH. The converse is also true. I've had pretty good luck with NIH so far, but terrible luck with one small foundation grant my current institution offered. From who is getting funding it seems they just want someone to do cheap program evaluations versus science. Nothing wrong with that, but it highlights the range of funding opportunities out there. Disparities work is a hot topic and I'm seeing oodles of opportunities in that area right now.

Its tough for me to recommend how to spend your startup without knowing you, your research, your school, how much money it is, etc.. Depending on the size of the startup, I'd be hiring staff to run participants and post-docs to help manage things, but if everything you do is run on MTurk you aren't as resource-constrained as I am. Get the space configured right for your work and if you have a physical lab make sure you have enough computers/furniture for RAs/techs. Save some for conference travel if you don't have other ways to fund that. Buy server space if you need it for big-data storage, data/resource sharing/etc. if that is relevant for your work. Hire a web designer to set up a lab website for "branding" purposes if that is your thing.

Good book recs. Will definitely check it out.

Makes sense about the infrastructure; I will definitely take a look at what my institution is able to do. I was thinking of something small, if anything. I do tend to do more questionnaire-based work, but have been thinking more about longitudinal types of designs with some of the bell and whistle type techniques in populations that folks don't tend to do a lot of work with. I know they have some internal funding mechanisms (very small, but will suffice for my research).

While I don't do stuff on Mturk, some of what I could do is online-questionnaire based, so participants wouldn't be an issue. I will have data storage paid for and got my software, too. I was thinking of using some of the money for some more advanced stats training for myself - some stats workshops - that would up my analytical game and help me get some pubs out of my already collected data.

Thanks for the feedback, Ollie. Really appreciate it. Good luck on your move!