Expectations

These points try to give you an idea of my expectations as a supervisor and the flavour of working in the lab so that you know what you are getting yourself in for if you wish to join us!

• We work as a co-operative lab and help each other with particular procedures or practical work. I like to be part of your research, and like other lab members to feel like we are a team working on a variety of interesting and integrated questions, This being said I want you to start thinking independently and develop your own ideas and theories on your research. If you want to be left alone to do "your" project, then this is probably not the lab to do it in! I make a set time every week to meet with you when you are in the lab vicinity: this is not formal, but can help stop any niggling problems turning into a crisis. We also have a regular discussion group which I want to you to take an active interest in. reading papers outside your specific field helps you develop as a researcher and can give you a wider perspective on how your research fits in to a wider context.
  
  
• I expect you to work hard and to be professional and dedicated to your research project. Your project should be your major activity while you are in the lab and not something that you fit in around other commitments. While working hours are somewhat flexible, laboratory and field work will often require your presence outside the usual 9am-5pm. You will need to be highly motivated to succeed in honours or a PhD. We will invest significant time, effort and resources on your behalf and we want you to succeed.
  
• PhD students should be determined from the outset to do work that will be noticed internationally ¬ this is essential for future funding opportunities. We also encourage you to apply for grants to support your research and submit papers as they are completed from your research in internationally recognized journals.
  
  
• Students are always the primary or first authors of any work from their theses, provided you write it up within an agreed time frame. Most of the projects that are done in our lab require significant resources (be they theoretical, analytical, equipment or field-related) and so virtually all papers coming from our lab involve several authors. As a general rule we work on the "2/6 rule" when deciding who should be an author of a paper. If anyone makes a significant contribution to two of the following six steps then a joint authorship is warranted. (The six steps are (i) initial idea; (ii) obtaining funds, (iii) provision of resources, (iv) collecting data, (v) analysing data (vi) writing & publishing the paper).
  
• I expect students to be communicative and co-operative, to interact with members of the lab, other people in the school and to build networks with scientists in Australia and overseas. This will help you obtain a job or a postdoc once you leave the lab.
  
  
• I expect students to present their findings at appropriate scientific meetings and to communicate their findings to the wider community through media outlets as the opportunity arises. Explaining what you do, why you do it, and why it should be funded to a range of people is one of the most important aspects of being a good scientists.

This list has been modified from Bill Foley and his lab at ANU http://www.anu.edu.au/BoZo/BillsLab/student_info.htm