LSB Opportunities

In building an open lab space, the LSB creates tremendous opportunities for innovation and discovery through regular interaction and collaboration. Below, we highlight some of the opportunities we believe LSB will bring to the Biology Department, and provide some suggestions for department / floor / pod level activities that can leverage these new opportunities.

Opportunities provided by LSB

●    Facilitation of interdisciplinary research and the opportunity to bring new techniques to

your research by collaborating with others.

●    A critical mass of people to bounce ideas off of, which will encourage more creative thinking and (thus) exciting science.

●    The opportunity to share ‘best practices’ for the process of science (e.g. mentoring

undergraduates, preparing for field work, sharing protocols).

●    Reduced cost through economies of scale.

●    Open space fosters a culture of respect, of necessity.

●    State of the art teaching facilities.

Suggested activities

●    Creating a Floor or Pod dictionary with critical terms used by each lab, so people can

understand each other better (within pods, floors, and our department more broadly).

●    A pod (or floor) -wide journal club (or book club) that meets once a month, with one trainee from each lab presenting a paper representative of his/her lab’s core research area (or the results of a project).

●    Start a floor wide coffee or happy hour (once a week, once a month or once a quarter).

Roles and Responsibilities

The table below highlights the roles and responsibilities Biology department faculty, staff, postdocs and graduate students play in keeping shared spaces a productive place to work, collaborate, and exchange scientific ideas for all UW Biology Departmental Members!

1. Relative to departmental shared equipment and space.

2. In addition to coordinating Chamber use and allocation, and managing the Shared Equipment and Services Cost Center.

Communication / Management, Access, and Conflict Resolution Policies Information and policies needs to be made available to departmental members making use of shared space and equipment. At the same time, any issues that arise in the use of shared space and equipment need to be communicated to the appropriate departmental members, and eventually resolved. Finally, access to visitors also needs to be coordinated.

Communication / Pod level management  (required policy)

1)  Pod Captains: Each year, pods will assign one faculty member per pod as pod captain, and

this job must be rotated amongst all pod faculty members. Pod captains will communicate

information to pod members from the LSB building manager (e.g. health and safety issues), the Research Committee (open workspace assignments, policy changes), and the Department chair.

2)  Floor / Pod meetings: LSB Pods should have at least two meetings annually; one floor-level meeting with faculty only (to determine desk space assignments, in spring) and the second as an orientation meeting for all pod members (to discuss floor and pod level policies). We definitely recommend meeting more frequently, especially to celebrate accomplishments (e.g. happy hour, general exam / dissertation defense celebrations)!

3)  Access to Policies: Floors / pods need to ensure that all departmental members have access to policies and procedures specific to the floor / pod, and all new floor / pod members are appropriately oriented (especially those not arriving in fall quarter). We recommend a

folder or online repository.

Visitors / Access to LSB (required  policy)

There will be a locked door with keyswipe access to the open workspaces, open lab, and office

bar in LSB. All faculty offices will have phones, open labs will have at least one (possibly two) phones. We require the following procedure to coordinate access to those not in the Biology Department:

1)  A no-knocking policy: This will be indicated on the door. This should also be communicated to anticipated visitors (is to prevent the person whose office is closest to the door from having to coordinate access).

2)  Contacts: A list of faculty labs on that floor will additionally be posted on the door, with open lab phone numbers and potentially the phone numbers of faculty PI’s (if desired).

Conflict resolution (required policy)

When issues or conflicts relevant to shared space and equipment arises, the following

procedure should be followed to communicate the issue and ensure its resolution.

1)  For general issues, departmental members should contact faculty PI’s (if the issue is relevant to that PI’s equipment / space), pod captains (if relevant to the entire pod / floor), the LSB lab manager (for EH&S, chemicals and health /safety), and the Research Committee Chair or Departmental Chair (for anything that cannot be addressed via the channels

above).

2)  For conflicts  between two (or more) departmental members (e.g. a disagreement about equipment use or shared space), the following procedure should be followed:

a)  We recommend first trying to resolve the conflict with respectful discussion between the departmental members involved, as long as that is a safe option.

b)  If that is not possible, or a satisfactory solution is not found, departmental members should seek out faculty PI’s, pod captains, the LSB manager / Cost Center managers, and / or the Research Committee Chair and Departmental Chair to moderate the discussion, de-escalate the conflict,

and ideally find a resolution. We recommend first contacting faculty PI’s and / or pod captains on the floor in question, who can direct information to the LSB manager, Research Committee

Chair, or Departmental Chair depending on the nature of the conflict.

3)  For conflicts and issues  that  do not involve  shared space  and resources (e.g. conflicts between faculty PI’s and trainees), standard departmental and university-wide policies should be followed.

Lab Space and Procedure Room Policies (Floor / Pod level)

In building an open lab space, the LSB creates tremendous opportunities for innovation and discovery through regular interaction and collaboration. The policies below (both required and recommended) were created to ensure a positive, collaborative and safe environment and enhance the likelihood of innovation and collaboration made possible when we share space, resources and equipment. These policies largely apply to the open lab space and procedure rooms (there are separate policies for equipment and supplies, see below).

1)  Procedure Room Use (General Procedure Rooms); required policy

a)  Each procedure room will be labeled with a department-generated label that includes

information on activities inside, primary users, a contact person to consult about possible use of the room (see appendix 2), and any access restrictions (e.g. to prevent contamination of experiments).

b)  All LSB personnel are required to adhere to policies procedure room users have developed, including the designation of specific procedure rooms as unshared, and to communicate non- compliance with requisite personnel (see conflict resolution).

2)  Open Lab Use;  required to have a policy. We would like Floors / Pods to develop a mutually agreed upon policy for the use of the Open Lab Space (benches, fume hoods, cold rooms), and recommend the following guidelines as a starting points:

a)  Personnel should primarily occupy lab benches assigned to their PI or lab benches assigned to multi-use by the pod or accessible to shared use (space permitted) by the PI.

b)  Tools, equipment, and supplies should be returned to their proper storage at the end of the day, and equipment should be shut down.

c)   All should be considerate of the research of others in the following ways:

i)    Any research activities that could have effects on others (either their research – e.g. contamination, or their comfort – e.g. strong smells) should be communicated to personnel in the open lab, ideally prior to the activity occurring.

ii)  Noise: Use headphones for music, and use conference rooms / other rooms (with doors) for phone calls / Skype conversations. Keep your cell phone on vibrate. Speak with others in a low voice. Use the conference rooms or hallways for extended conversations.

3)   Safety,  Training and Accidents  (required policies)

a)  EH&S: As in any UW lab, members of the LSB open labs are responsible for adhering to the

safety guidelines set by UW Environmental Health & Safety. The PI of each group is responsible

for ensuring that all members of that group have carried out all necessary training. General training requirements can be found in the EH&S Lab Safety Training Matrix.

b)  Additional training and documentation (e.g. SOPs and SDSs) should be available for the use of specific instruments or chemicals. We recommend instituting floor- or pod-specific training to ensure that all members of shared spaces are aware of these, as well as any hazards present. Equipment owners are responsible for determining required safety training and communicating this to potential users; PI’s of lab members using shared equipment will be responsible for ensuring that lab members have conducted required training.

c)   Hazards: If you create a hazard (e.g. a spill) you must address it immediately in accordance with relevant training, SOPs, SDSs, etc. Additionally, you must notify your PI, the Pod Captain, neighboring LSB personnel, and the LSB manager. If you see something that looks like a potential hazard, even if it is not wi thin yo ur lab spac e and you di d n’t cr eate  the  hazard  , report it immediately.

d)  All accidents or injuries must be reported immediately to your supervisor, and a report of the incident must also be submitted within 24 hours to EH&S via the UW’s Online Accident Reporting System (OARS).  Additionally, the Pod Captain and LSB lab manager should also be notified to determine if there are any issues involving shared spaces that need to be addressed to prevent similar incidents.

Equipment Policies (Floor / Pod level)

The policies listed here are intended to maximize the efficient use of equipment and supplies in the LSB and to enhance collaboration among labs. Acknowledging that no set of policies will cover all of the issues that may occur over time, this document serves as a set of guiding principles. They can be expanded upon by floors, pods and / or PI’s managing said equipment and supplies. As you formulate a floor- or pod-specific set of guidelines, however, keep in mind that shared equipment creates the opportunity for colleagues to innovate with new methods, and can provide a strong incentive for new collaboration between labs (both within floors / pods as between floors and buildings).

1)   Equipment Use (required policy)

a)  It is required for each piece of equipment to be labelled with a (department-provided) sticker

that includes information on its owner (which could be the department for cost center equipment), the degree of sharing permitted, and a contact person to consult about possible sharing / training (see appendix 3). Stickers will be color-coded for easy identification.

b)  All LSB personnel are required to adhere to policies equipment owners have developed (see 2-3 below, including designation of equipment as non-shared), and to communicate non- compliance of others with requisite personnel (see conflict resolution).

c)   We recommend that each floor and / or pod develop a shareable online spreadsheet that lists all equipment on the floor, shared and non-shared (see appendix 4 for information to include).

2)   Affiliated supplies and scheduling (recommended policy)

a)  We recommend that pods and / or equipment owners develop a clear set of policies regarding

the use of shared supplies required for equipment.

b)  We recommend that each piece of shared equipment has a scheduling/usage log (i.e., for developing service contract cost sharing, and costs associated with replacement).

3)   Training, maintenance,  and failure (recommended  policy)

a)  We recommend that the primary owner and / or contact for shared equipment determine what

level of training is required to use equipment, and which SOPs must be used to use equipment. b)  For shared equipment with a service contract, we recommend that the primary owner decide

how to create an equitable payment schedule among the relevant users.

c)   We also recommend that the primary owner and users have a clear agreement on how to deal with equipment failure and breakage.

LSB Office & Desk Assignment Policy (Department-level)

This policy applies to 1) the assignment of LSB faculty offices to specific faculty, and 2) which UW Biology postdocs, graduate students and staff are assigned desks in open workspaces in LSB. For information on how personnel may be assigned to specific desk locations in the Open Workspace, see Open Workspace Policies.

1)   Faculty Offices*

a)  Who is guaranteed an office in LSB? Every active faculty member assigned space in LSB. FHL

faculty are assigned a shared office.

b)  Who makes assignments? When? Preliminary assignments (pre move-in) are made by the chair (on the floor to which faculty lab space is assigned). Exchanges can be made between LSB faculty as long as both parties are amenable.

c)   How often are assignments re-assessed? Annual evaluation by the chair with advice from the research committee / executive committee, based on retirements / new hires / etc. Requests for changes in location can also be made annually.

d)  What happens to empty offices? Empty offices will be assigned by the chair; some may be made available for signout (like conference rooms).

e)  Sabbaticals: LSB Faculty on sabbatical who leave Seattle for a quarter or more are encouraged

(but not required) to share their office with other faculty desiring space in LSB.

2)   Desks in Open Workspaces (not lab benches)*

a)  Who is assigned a desk in workspaces? The following, in ranked order:

i)    Graduate students and postdocs in labs of LSB PI’s, as long as they are on campus fulltime for at least 2 of the 3 academic quarters. This includes students in different departments and on training grants (as long as they are in the lab of an LSB PI).

ii)  Full time staff in labs of LSB PI’s who need deskspace outside of labspace for work.

iii) Sabbatical (faculty) visitors to LSB PI’s (coming for 1+ quarters).

iv)  Visiting scholars, students and postdocs to PI labs for 1 quarter or less (including rotation students) will not be assigned their own desk, but will share five ‘open’ deskspaces per floor (20 total in LSB).

v)   Undergraduates will not be assigned their own desk, but floors / pods can decide to allocate desks to shared undergraduate use if space is available (see 2c below).

b)  Who makes assignments? When? The research committee chair, with input from the GPC,

determines the number of assigned desks per floor for the following academic year each

spring quarter, based on projected personnel numbers in LSB PI labs (see 2a). PI’s will be given the chance to correct any mistakes in personnel numbers (e.g. graduate students in PI labs but in other departments, matriculated graduate students, incoming postdocs, sabbatical visitors, etc). Personnel who arrive in the middle of the academic year will be assigned desks where available when they arrive, by pods / floors (if there is space on the same floor as their PI) or

by the Research Committee (if they cannot be accommodated on the same floor). Pods (or floors) assign desk locations to personnel assigned to their floor (including the location of the five open deskspaces for visitors), and communicate assignments to postdocs / grads / staff on their floor by late summer.

c)   What if assigned desks exceed the supply within a floor? What if assigned desks are less than the supply (i.e. there are empty desks in shared workspaces)?

i)   If personnel (2ai – 2aiv) cannot be accommodated on the same floor as their PI, they will be assigned to another LSB floor. Desk location assignments will be determined by floors / pods where the personnel are housed (not ‘home’ floors / pods).

ii)  Remaining desk spaces, if any, can be used according to pod / floor wishes (e.g. to shared undergraduate use), but can also remain unassigned (for any visitors to use on a first-come, first-serve basis).

d)  Who is responsible for*...

i)   ...determining the number of personnel guaranteed assigned desks per floor? The

research committee, with input from the graduate program committee and LSB PI’s.

ii)  ...assigning specific desk locations to personnel assigned to that floor? Floors / pods for the floor in question.

iii) ...signing out keys for specific desks? Biology Front office (e.g. Davis).

iv)  ...addressing requests for changes in desk locations by personnel? Floors / pods where requests arise.

v)   ...resolving PI / pod-level conflicts about assignments (number, location, etc)? The

Research Committee & Chair

vi)  ...ensuring that departing personnel empty their desks, or emptying desks if personnel leave before doing so? Floors / pods where non-vacated desks are located.

3)   What about Biology Department faculty, postdoctoral research fellows,  and graduate students not moving to LSB?

a)  Faculty not moving to LSB (Johnson and Hitchcock) will retain their current offices. Requests

for changes can be made to the chair.

b)  The default is that postdocs and graduate students in labs of PI’s NOT moving to LSB will retain their current office locations in Johnson and Hitchcock. Those desiring more interactions and access to LSB during collaborations with PI’s / grads in LSB can make use of unassigned open deskspaces – 20 total in LSB, 5 per floor. These are unassigned, but any Biology personnel may occupy them for a day (first-come, first-serve). Depending on how much these desks get used, we may consider allowing for short-term reservations (e.g. for a quarter or less), at the discretion of the LSB floors and pods.

c)   It is possible for grads / postdocs with an LSB PI to get assigned a desk in LSB by requesting an affiliation with an LSB PI lab (e.g. equivalent to requesting to join the lab for a rotation). The LSB PI can then request a desk for the postdoc / grad in spring (see 2B), which will ensure Biology personnel outside of LSB are seated on the LSB floor where interaction is most likely. Note that this is only possible when there are open desks available in LSB after assigning personnel in LSB labs. As of fall 2018, this is very possible (~ 20-30 unassigned desks in LSB), but we may need to reconsider in the future if space becomes limiting.

d)  Note that departmental policy is that no graduate student or postdoc is assigned more than one desk. There simply isn’t enough space for this, and it leads to inefficient use of space. Any postdoc / graduate student wishing to be assigned a desk in LSB must forfeit any existing desk they are using.

* All assignments are ultimately at the discretion of the chair.

Open Workspace Policies (Floor / Pod / PI-level)

These policies apply to open workspaces, kitchens, breakout spaces, and procedure rooms designated for interactions and discussions by floors / pods in Biology Department space.

1)   Desk Locations within  Open Workspaces  (required and recommended)

a)  Desk Assignments (after assignment of specific personnel; see above).

i)    Pods / floors are required to assign personnel on their floor specific desks on an annual basis (since personnel numbers will change annually). This can be done in a number of ways (e.g. by floor / pod, by individual PI after specific desks have been assigned to the lab). We recommend that floors / pods decide on their desired procedure and communicate this to postdocs, grads and staff on their floor. Most personnel will likely not want to change desk locations annually, so this will be a big job in year 1, but less work in subsequent years.

ii)  We recommend floors / pods / PI’s consider whether they would like to group desks by PI, by type of student (i.e., all grad students from all labs sitting near each other, etc.), randomly, or otherwise.

iii) Note that some desks may be more desirable (e.g. nearness to windows, PI offices, and proximity to meeting areas). Additionally, personnel are likely to vary in their seating

preference. We recommend floors, pods and PI’s consult with their personnel and ideally

accommodate these preferences when possible.

b)  Requests for desk changes (within the same floor): We recommend that floors / Pods / PI’s

decide how, when and whether to entertain these requests (e.g. restricted to annual requests).

c)   Emptying desks: We recommend floors / pods / PI’s have a clear policy about the timing of when desks should be emptied once personnel move on (and who is responsible for cleaning out

desks should departing personnel not have fulfilled their obligations). PI’s are required to ensure desks are emptied if these policies aren’t followed by their personnel.

d)  Unoccupied desks / unassigned desks for visiting personnel: We recommend floors / pods / PI’s

have clear policies on how to deal with materials left in unoccupied / unassigned desks.

2)   Noise  levels & Other Distractions (required and recommended)

a)  Required: Skype calls / phone calls (work related) should not be made in open workspaces

during business hours. Personnel can check out conference rooms (there are 6 in LSB, several additional in HCK and PAA) for work-related Skype and phone calls.

b)  Recommended: We suggest that each Pod / Floor develop guidelines around noise levels on open workspaces and common spaces (e.g. kitchen). The following could be considered.

i)    Designating some breakout rooms & procedure rooms for discussions / brainstorming. ii)  Recommendations / requirements for headphones when listening to music.

3)   Kitchen / Food (required and recommended)

a)  Required: Food can only be eaten in kitchens or at your desk, not in the open lab.

b)  We recommend Floors / Pods impose restrictions on eating fragrant food and leaving uncleaned dishes at desks in open workspaces.

c)   Everyone using the kitchen is required:

i)    To clean up after themselves (microwave, counters, spills)

ii)  To label anything you put in the refrigerator with your name and the date.

d)  Each Floor / Pod is required to clean out the fridge (in the kitchen) at least once a quarter, or as requested by the LSB manager. Floors / pods are responsible for deciding who is responsible for fridge cleanup and how to communicate the timing to users.

4)   Security (recommended)

a)  We recommend that valuables not be left unattended within open workspaces. LSB desks come

with a lockable unit, and laptop cables can be used to secure laptops.

Appendix 1: Required Policies

Below is a summary of all policies Biology personnel are required to follow, including information on who is expected to ensure compliance. See each section above for more details, as well as additional information on recommended policies.

1)   Floor / pod management,  communication & conflict resolution

a)  Assign a pod captain (faculty PI’s in pods)

b)  Have two meetings annually (pod captains)

c)   Ensure access to departmental and floor / pod policies and procedures, including conflict

resolution avenues (faculty PI’s, pod captains)

d)  Institute a no-knocking policy (at the lab door), post a list of contact phone numbers on the lab door (LSB lab manager).

e)  Resolve conflicts / general issues surrounding shared space and equipment, or communicate

them to the appropriate leadership (faculty PI’s, pod captains)

2)   Open Lab space and procedure rooms

a)  Label all procedure rooms with departmentally required information (faculty PI’s using those

procedure rooms)

b)  Devise a floor / pod level policy for use of shared open space, i.e. lab benches, cold rooms, fume

hoods (faculty PI’s, coordinated by pod captains)

c)   Collect floor / pod level SOPs and SDSs, communicate with all floor / pod members (faculty PI’s, coordinated by pod captains)

d)  Follow all University mandated procedures around EH&S, Chemicals, and Safety (all Biology

Department members)

3)   Equipment

a)  Label equipment with departmentally provided stickers (faculty PI’s owning the equipment)

b)  Respect equipment usage policies devised by the owner of said equipment (all Biology

Department members)

4)   Open Workspace Policies

a)  Update the research committee on personnel assigned to open workspaces annually (in spring /

summer), accounting for departures and arrivals (faculty PI’s)

b)  Assign specific desk locations, ensure departed personnel clean out desks (pods / LSB floors) c) Minimize noise and other distractions in open workspaces (all Biology Department members) d)  Quarterly (or as requested) kitchen and fridge cleaning (all Biology Department members)

Appendix 2: Template for Procedure Room Inserts

Procedure rooms have room number signs with customizable inserts (templates that can be printed out on paper and inserted into room signs). We are working on devising a template to help communicate sharing and use of these procedure rooms1. At minimum we will require faculty PI’s using specific rooms to fill in the following information:

·  Name of the room (ideally reflecting activities – e.g. Dissection Room)

·  List of names (or PI labs) of primary users of the room

·  Potential for sharing of the procedure room, and restrictions on sharing (if any)

·  Name(s) of person(s) to contact about Procedure room use, if sharing is possible

·  Any other important information (e.g. do not open door due to light sensitive procedures)

1. University mandated EH&S room signs will additionally be required.

Appendix 3: Equipment Stickers

All equipment should be labeled to ensure easy identification of shared equipment. We are working on devising templates for stickers that the Biology Department will provide. At minimum, these stickers will require faculty PI’s who own equipment to include the following information:

·  Name of the equipment

·  Owner of equipment

·  Potential for sharing of equipment in three categories (may be indicated by color and shape of the sticker): Green / circle = no restrictions to sharing; Orange / square = sharing may be possible with training / restrictions; Red / diamond = no sharing

·  Restrictions on equipment use (e.g. bring own supplies, etc)

·  Whether training is required

·  Name(s) of person(s) to contact about training and / or sharing equipment, if sharing is possible

·  Any other important information