Effective Date: July 2026 · Last reviewed: August 2026

Purpose and Status of This Document

Laboratory member means the Principal Investigator and any other faculty, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, undergraduate researchers, staff (technical and administrative), and visiting scholars and visiting collaborators holding a UF appointment or a UF-approved visiting arrangement. Every policy in this suite uses that definition.

It does not include Soiyou Adventures personnel, who are employed by Soiyou under Kenyan law, or external users under the Equipment Access and Shared Resource Policy. Where a provision reaches those groups it says so expressly, and for Soiyou personnel the corresponding terms sit in the contract between this laboratory and Soiyou.

Mentoring Philosophy

Mentorship improves retention, including for women, first-generation students, and students from historically underrepresented groups. Fewer than half of undergraduate faculty believe their institution considers mentoring in promotion review, and only about a fifth of undergraduate science and engineering majors strongly agree that they had a mentor.1

The Principal Investigator commits to every member: scheduled meetings that are not cancelled by default; feedback on written work; assessment of progress, including when it is not going well; advocacy in the form of letters, introductions, and nominations; support for career paths outside academia without penalty; and mentor training on the PI’s own part, including cultural humility and implicit bias.1,7

Expectations by Role

Postdoctoral researchers

Development is structured against the six National Postdoctoral Association Core Competencies: discipline-specific conceptual knowledge, research skill development, communication skills, professionalism, leadership and management, and responsible conduct of research.6

Postdocs maintain an Individual Development Plan, reviewed annually. UF’s IDP requirement is written for PhD students, so for postdocs this is a lab expectation rather than a university one; the UF Graduate School templates are used.30 Postdocs are expected to develop independent research directions, mentor junior members, and lead manuscripts. The laboratory commits to protected time for independent work, support for fellowship and faculty applications, and discussion of job market conditions. UF’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs coordinates appointment, benefits, visa policy, and professional development, and supports the UF Postdoctoral Association.6,21

Graduate students

Doctoral and master’s students are expected to know their programme’s regulations, which are their responsibility under UF Graduate School rules including supervisory committee requirements and the 3.00 GPA standard.20

UF requires an Individual Development Plan for every PhD student, and has since 2017. It must be revised every year. Use the UF Graduate School templates: there is a Year 1 template and a separate one for Year 2 onwards. We review yours annually together. Master’s students are not covered by the UF requirement but may use the same templates.30

UF points STEM students to myIDP as a supplementary tool. Separately, NIH encourages but does not require IDPs; what NIH requires is that the Research Performance Progress Report describe whether and how they are used, and the plans themselves are not submitted.2,3,4

Undergraduate researchers

Weekly hours, expected duration of involvement, and dissemination goals are set in writing at the start. Duties progress from supporting an existing project to leading one. Responsible conduct of research instruction is completed as required by UF and by the sponsor supporting the work.7

Field team members

Field operations in Kenya are run by Soiyou Adventures, whose staff are employed by that company under Kenyan law rather than by UF. Their credit is governed by the Collaboration and Authorship Policy on the same terms as anyone else, and the conduct expectations in this document govern how we work with them. Conduct and no-retaliation terms for joint field operations sit in the contract between this laboratory and Soiyou. Anyone, UF-affiliated or not, may report conduct concerns to the UF Title IX Office or the UF Compliance Hotline; this laboratory does not limit who may report or to whom.

Meetings and Communication

The laboratory holds a standing lab meeting and a journal club, and the PI holds individual meetings with each member. Cadence is set at the start of each semester and posted. Scheduled meetings are not displaced by travel.

There is no expectation of after-hours or weekend response. Messages sent outside working hours do not carry an implied deadline. During field seasons, coverage and response expectations are set explicitly in the pre-trip meeting described in the Field Safety and Travel Policy. Those expectations include a guaranteed rest day each week and uninterrupted sleep hours. Field seasons are scheduled to fit within your appointment. Appointment FTE, workload limits, and any adjustment to them are set by UF Human Resources and the applicable collective bargaining agreement. If you believe your assigned work exceeds your appointment, raise it with UF HR or your union representative.

Hours, Leave, and Wellbeing

Graduate assistant workload, leave, and benefits are governed by the agreement between the UF Board of Trustees and Graduate Assistants United, as amended, and by UF Human Resources. Appointment FTE and the hours it corresponds to, personal leave, and parental and medical leave are set there. The most recent posted agreement is the 2021 to 2023 contract, which has been amended several times since 2022.25,26 Confirm your current entitlements with UF HR or your GAU representative; this laboratory does not set, interpret, or supplement those terms.

Beyond the contractual floor, standard working hours, weekends, and vacation are respected, and schedule autonomy is preferred over mandated hours.5,24

Working in person

Laboratory work is done in the laboratory. UF directed a full return to in-person work for employees on remote or hybrid arrangements in July 2025, with a deadline of 25 August 2025, and any standing remote or hybrid arrangement requires written approval from the Vice President of Human Resources rather than an informal understanding with the PI.28,29

The laboratory’s own reason is that in-person work supports collaboration, informal review of results before they reach a manuscript, and training of junior members.

Within that, the schedule is worked out with the PI. Part-time students, members who commute from outside Gainesville, and members whose time is split with another appointment set their in-laboratory days at the start of each semester, and an occasional day worked off site by prior arrangement is expected and needs no justification. What the laboratory cannot grant is a standing remote or hybrid arrangement. That is UF HR’s to approve, and whether a given pattern requires their approval is a question for UF HR rather than for this laboratory.

Fieldwork, conferences, teaching, illness, and travel are not working from home. Remote arrangements are approved through UF’s process. Where remote or hybrid work is sought as a disability accommodation, it goes to the UF ADA office, never through the PI’s discretion. See Accommodations below.28

Undergraduate researchers: terms

Undergraduate involvement is arranged through UF’s established mechanisms and stated in writing before starting: hourly employment through UF Human Resources, or research course credit through the department. Whether any unpaid arrangement is permissible is determined by UF HR, not by this laboratory. Whichever applies, a maximum weekly hours figure is agreed at the outset, hours above it are neither expected nor a condition of a letter of recommendation, exam periods and illness reduce hours without penalty, and no undergraduate is asked to incur an unreimbursed cost.

Accommodations

Any member may request an adjustment to laboratory or field work. Requests go through UF’s Disability Resource Center or ADA coordinator rather than being decided informally in the laboratory, and may be raised with the Department Chair rather than the PI. Students route to the Disability Resource Center; employees, including graduate assistants and postdocs, route to the UF ADA office. The Chair is an alternative point of contact, not the decision-maker. This laboratory implements what UF approves and does not decide accommodation requests.

Routes Outside the Laboratory

Several policies route a decision or a contact to the Department Chair because the Principal Investigator cannot fairly decide a matter in which they are a party. The PI names the current Chair in the laboratory onboarding pack. The Chair, the College Dean, the UF Ombuds, and the UF offices named below set their own procedures and timelines. Nothing in this policy alters or delays a deadline set by a UF regulation; confirm applicable deadlines with the office concerned. Harassment matters go to the Title IX Office rather than to the Ombuds, for the reason given below.

Culture and Psychological Safety

Psychological safety is a shared belief that the team is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. It is a measured construct that predicts team learning behaviour and, through it, performance.9

Mistakes and failed experiments are reported early and without penalty; rejection and failure are discussed at lab meeting; and disagreement with the PI is expected and protected.5,8

Members hold named roles in maintaining this culture: onboarding help for new members, skill-sharing sessions, and peer mentoring.8

We follow the Ecological Society of America Code of Ethics, whose provisions on general conduct, professional practice, and publication apply, including the obligations to minimise harm to ecosystems and to engage with local communities.10

Harassment, Discrimination, and Reporting

Organizational climate is the strongest predictor of sexual harassment, and legal-compliance-driven training does not reduce it.11

Fewer than half of surveyed researchers recalled ever encountering a code of conduct at a field site, and fewer than a quarter had worked at a site with a sexual harassment policy. Both figures come from the same survey. The evidence and the resulting controls are set out in the Field Safety and Travel Policy, which requires a signed field code of conduct before every deployment.13

Protected categories. UF Regulation 1.006 prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, creed, colour, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations, genetic information, and veteran status.17

Mandatory reporting. Under UF Policy 5-003, every UF employee who receives information about, observes, or suspects prohibited conduct must promptly report it to the Title IX Office. Read UF Policy 5-003 directly and confirm its scope with the Title IX Office (titleix@ufl.edu, 352-273-1400, report.ufl.edu). This laboratory does not interpret, narrow, or waive that obligation.27

The Ombuds is not a confidential route for harassment. UF’s Ombuds holds communications in confidence except where there is imminent risk of serious harm or in cases involving sexual harassment. The Ombuds is available for supervision disputes, workload, and interpersonal conflict.16,12

Confidential support comes from UF’s designated Confidential Resources, defined in Policy 5-003 as employees whose official responsibilities include providing mental health counselling and who are not obliged to report to the Title IX Coordinator.27

Formal routes, none of which require you to raise the matter with the PI first: the UF Title IX Office (titleix@ufl.edu, 352-273-1400, report.ufl.edu); UF Regulation 1.0063 for academic personnel and staff; UF Regulation 4.012 for student grievances, which carries appeal deadlines; and, for graduate assistants, the grievance article of the collective bargaining agreement.15,18,19,25

Retaliation against anyone who raises a concern, in any of these channels or informally within the laboratory, is itself a violation of this policy.

Research Integrity

UF defines research misconduct as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results, requiring a significant departure from accepted practices and proved by a preponderance of the evidence.22

All faculty, staff, and students must promptly report observed or suspected research misconduct. The named route is the UF Research Integrity Officer or Deputy Research Integrity Officer, at RIO@research.ufl.edu or 352-392-9174; current officeholders are listed on the UF RISC page. An anonymous alternative is the UF Compliance Hotline at 877-556-5356.22,23

Notebook discipline, version control, and data retention are governed by the Data and Code Management Policy.

Authorship and Credit

Authorship is governed by the Collaboration and Authorship Policy and awarded on contribution. Consistent with ESA publication standards: authorship requires substantial contribution; the author list is not changed without the consent of those affected, except through the escalation and reassignment pathway in the Collaboration and Authorship Policy, which requires written notice, a stated period to resume work, and a determination by the Department Chair; all coauthors approve the final manuscript; work is not submitted to more than one journal at a time; and post-submission errors are corrected promptly.10,5

Instrument use in this laboratory is logged through the equipment scheduling application. Those records are one input among several and are never the sole basis for a contribution determination, since they record only bench time on Gainesville instruments and do not record analysis, writing, study design, or fieldwork. They are not used for employment, hours, or performance purposes.

International Collaboration

Members working on the Kenya programme are expected to follow equitable partnership practice: co-developed research agendas, authorship for local intellectual contributions, use of local infrastructure and local sample processing where feasible, local specimen deposition, compliance with local law and permitting, an explicit capacity-building component, and dissemination back to local audiences in open access. These are set out in full in the International Research Partnership Policy.14,10

Onboarding and Departure

New members receive this document, the other laboratory policies, a safety orientation, and an assigned peer contact in their first week. Departing members complete the offboarding checklist in the Data and Code Management Policy, covering data custody, repository transfer, and notebook disposition, and the authorship provisions for departing authors in the Collaboration and Authorship Policy.

Review

This document is reviewed annually with the whole laboratory, and amended by agreement rather than by unilateral revision.

Policy Acknowledgment

Confirm by email, or sign a printed copy if you prefer.

Member Name (print): ___________________________________

Member Signature: ___________________________________
Date: __________________

Member Acknowledgment: All laboratory members, as defined above, must read and acknowledge this document upon joining the laboratory and annually thereafter.

References

  1. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM. Dahlberg ML, Byars-Winston A, editors. The National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2019. DOI: 10.17226/25568.
  2. National Institutes of Health. Revised Policy: Descriptions on the Use of Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers Required in Annual Progress Reports (NOT-OD-14-113). 2014.
  3. National Institutes of Health. NIH Encourages Institutions to Develop Individual Development Plans for Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Researchers (NOT-OD-13-093). 2013.
  4. AAAS and Science Careers. myIDP: Individual Development Plan. Built on the framework proposed by FASEB in 2003.
  5. Maestre FT. Ten simple rules towards healthier research labs. PLOS Computational Biology. 2019;15(4):e1006914.
  6. National Postdoctoral Association. NPA Core Competencies (PDF). September 2022 revision.
  7. Council on Undergraduate Research. Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research (COEUR) 2.0 (PDF). 2nd edition, 2024.
  8. Rillig MC. Ten simple rules for how you can help make your lab a better place as a graduate student or postdoc. PLOS Computational Biology. 2022;18(12):e1010673.
  9. Edmondson A. Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly. 1999;44(2):350-383.
  10. Ecological Society of America. Code of Ethics for the Ecological Society of America (PDF). As amended May 2021.
  11. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Benya FF, Widnall SE, Johnson PA, editors. The National Academies Press, Washington DC, 2018. DOI: 10.17226/24994.
  12. International Ombuds Association. IOA Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. Standards of Practice, 2022 revision.
  13. Clancy KBH, Nelson RG, Rutherford JN, Hinde K. Survey of Academic Field Experiences (SAFE): Trainees Report Harassment and Assault. PLOS ONE. 2014;9(7):e102172.
  14. Haelewaters D, Hofmann TA, Romero-Olivares AL. Ten simple rules for Global North researchers to stop perpetuating helicopter research in the Global South. PLOS Computational Biology. 2021;17(8):e1009277.
  15. University of Florida. Title IX Office. titleix@ufl.edu, 352-273-1400.
  16. University of Florida. Office of the Ombuds. 352-392-1308.
  17. University of Florida. Regulation 1.006: Non-Discrimination/Harassment/Invasion of Privacy Policies. Amended 28 March 2025.
  18. University of Florida. Regulation 1.0063: Affirmative Action; Complaints and Appeal Procedures for Academic Personnel and TEAMS Staff Members. Amended 28 March 2025.
  19. University of Florida. Regulation 4.012: Student Grievance Procedure.
  20. University of Florida Graduate School. Graduate Academic Regulations. 2025-2026 Graduate Catalog.
  21. University of Florida. Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. postdoc-affairs@ufl.edu.
  22. University of Florida. UF Research Integrity Policy (Policy 14-004). Effective 27 August 2020; substantively amended 24 March 2026.
  23. University of Florida Research Integrity, Security and Compliance. Research Misconduct. RIO@research.ufl.edu, 352-392-9174; UF Compliance Hotline 877-556-5356.
  24. Evans TM, Bira L, Beltran Gastelum J, Weiss LT, Vanderford NL. Evidence for a mental health crisis in graduate education. Nature Biotechnology. 2018;36(3):282-284.
  25. University of Florida Human Resources. Agreement Between University of Florida Board of Trustees and Graduate Assistants United / United Faculty of Florida, 2021-2023. See Articles 7.1, 8.2, 8.3 and 22, and the amendments to Articles 8 (11 October 2022), 10 (18 August 2022; 1 September 2023), 17 (27 October 2023) and 12 (MOU, 26 August 2024).
  26. University of Florida Graduate School. Graduate Assistants.
  27. University of Florida. Title IX Policy (Policy 5-003). See Sections 5.5, 5.8 and 6.1.
  28. University of Florida Human Resources. Return to Workplace. Full in-person work required by 25 August 2025 unless an extension or exception is approved in writing by the Vice President of Human Resources; disability accommodation requests route to the UF ADA office.
  29. University of Florida. Full Return to Workplace. Statement of 24 July 2025 directing a full return to in-person work over the following 30 days.
  30. University of Florida Graduate School. Individual Development Plans. Required of all PhD students since 2017 and revised annually; Year 1 and Years 2+ templates provided.