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no formal training in laboratory or program design and organization as this is generally not taught in most training programs. However it is perhaps the most important task for the young surgeon-scientist. Furthermore poor design can destroy the program and career of the investigator and others. It is also difficult to attract talented fellows and researchers to a poorly structured research environment. A few practical hints:

•Decide what values are important for you and your research program (e.g., scientific excellence, discipline, teamwork, competition)

•Develop a 5 year plan with the following questions:

–What are my career goals?

–Do I want to get tenure in 5 years?

–Am I interested in entering a competitive research field?

Mission Impossible: Defining a Laboratory Mission or Vision

Of all the choices that an early stage investigator has to make, deciding what NOT to do may be the most difficult decision.

New investigators usually have boundless energy and ideas without the scars of professional failure to temper their enthusiasm. As a result, a common mistake is to attempt to begin too many projects. A program mission is very important to provide focus for the investigator and the program in general. Like all important projects, creating the program mission should begin with the end result in mind. A program vision – either publicly displayed or stored in a private note book is important to the success of your program. It is critical to formulate this plan before beginning the job search, for the following reasons:

•The vision determines which jobs and institutions that you will seriously consider (e.g., one would not look for a clinical research–intensive position in a university medical center with low clinical output).

•The vision facilitates a better understanding for the material and personnel needs for the job.

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in-house. Scientists are generally willing to give or share equipment when asked.

General lab supplies – tubes, glassware, etc. – will cost about $10,000 a year for each researcher. Other options are to buy generic electronics at electronic chain stores. These usually cost less than the institutional supply companies. If your institutional regulations and policies allow it, you can further save by purchasing equipment like refrigerators and microwaves at appliance stores.

Guide to your shopping list

•Brainstorm

•Come up with a number of ideas that you want to pursue as individual experiments.

•Rank your projects according to experiments that will yield preliminary data more quickly than others.

•Categorize the list.

•Check what equipment is available at your future department.

•Purchasing

•Learn how to order supplies.

•Learn institutional and State regulation regarding purchasing. (What is the approval process? How long does it take? Will it be delivered to the lab or to a central location and picked up by lab personnel?)

•Ask faculty and technicians in your department, and in others, if they have equipment they haven’t used in a long time.

•Seek broken or very old equipment that can be fixed.

•Seek used and refurbished equipment vendors over the Internet.

•Look for the institutional salvage yard for desks, shelves, and file cabinets.

•Identify vendors that have contracts with your institution and ask your colleagues for the vendors that have the best sales representatives. This becomes particularly important when major equipment breaks down. Develop relationships with company representatives. They can be very helpful with discounts and specials. Some companies have a laboratory “start-up” program.

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Seek Help

Take advantage of your current environment to ask colleagues for pointers and advice: Ask how difficult (or easy) it has been for them to settle down into their labs; what were their biggest lab set-up problems? Another good idea is to include your email on departmental group e-mail lists.

People

Next to time, laboratory personnel represent the most important resource that we control. Our goal should be to hire the best personnel (match skill and experience with task complexity) that we can afford. Poor decision-making and lack of discipline when hiring laboratory personnel can truly destroy any chances of success. Furthermore many academic institutions require the employee (you) to provide significant amounts of documentation and due process when trying to terminate their employment. We have found the (HR) Human Resources department to be invaluable during recruitment, termination, and everything in between. Some

HR departments can also create a job description based on your laboratory needs, advertise the job, and prescreen potential candidates. Their expertise is invaluable; however they need to be contacted early during the process. It is strongly recommend that the scientist arrange to have meetings with the HR personnel within a few weeks of settling into his or her new position. During the meeting, discuss local hiring policies and practices. Obtain information about the institutional applicant pool. Examples of questions to ask include:

•What levels of employee are available within the institution?

•How skilled are they?

•Have they worked in large productive laboratories or programs?