Grad students and postdocs

Graduate students and postdocs are core members of the lab, who drive forward our research project. Each student will typically lead one or more research projects, on which they are expected to be first authors on conference presentations and journal articles. Additionally, graduate students and postdocs might collaborate on research projects with other lab members or other colleagues, and supervise honours and specialization students. Graduate students and postdocs are expected to meet regularly with Krista, at minimum every two weeks.

When you arrive in the lab, your first weeks and months will likely involve co-creating your first project, working very closely with Krista. More about this process is detailed in the project workflow section.

Another ongoing priority is funding. When graduate students and postdocs arrive in the lab, they a a large portion of their funding typically comes from lab grants. However, the lab could not operate at its current size while fully funding all lab members from grants. That's why obtaining external funding is a priority. More information about funding is available here. You will typically apply to funding as one of your first tasks in the lab, or depending on deadlines, even before you arrive in the lab. Not only does funding support the lab's functioning, but funding applications are a great opportunity to flesh out and communicate your ideas.

Graduate students and postdocs are expected to be organized and plan their time carefully. Krista likes each student to develop and discuss with her a term plan and an individual development plan (IDP), and keep them up to date. Barbara Sarnecka provides some helpful templates.