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A Day in Bisson Lab

Our core values at the Bisson lab are:

1. Transparency: We value the free exchange of scientific ideas and open discussions about data and what it represents. Questions about your project, thesis and data are welcome at all times. We believe transparency is essential for both for fruitful collaboration and for scientific advancement.

"For fifteen years or so, before it grew too big with success and outran its problems, the group around Delbruck and Luria formed one of the rare refuges of the twentieth century, a republic of the mind, a glimpse of Athens, a commonwealth of intellect held together by the sublest bonds, by the excitement of understanding, the promise of the subject, the authentic freedom of the style."

Judson (1996)

2. Collaboration: Each lab member retains complete ownership of their work, and, as a researcher, is expected to contribute intellectually to all other projects in the group - either formally during lab meetings or informally while working together. It is important that everyone knows what everyone else is doing, why and how they are doing it, and understanding the intersections between the projects in the lab - outside perspectives help one's own research and growth. We believe that collaboration stems from direct, open and honest communication, which is an essential part of working at the Bisson lab. We see respectful criticism and the conflict of ideas as key for meaningful scientific advance:

"Politeness, Francis Crick said over the BBC at the time he got the Nobel prize, is the poison of all good collaboration in science. The soul of collaboration is perfect candor, rudeness if need be. Its prerequisite is parity of standing in science, for if one figure is too much senior to the other, that's when the serpent politeness creeps in. A good scientist values criticism almost higher than friendship; no, in science criticism is the height and measure of friendship. The collaborator points out the obvious, with due impatience. The collaborator stops the nonsense".

 Clifton and Nelson (1992)

3. Growth: We all share the love for science and all of us -  from the most inexperienced member to the most knowledgeable - are subject to making mistakes at any given moment. At the Bisson lab, we believe that understanding our misconceptions, accepting and taking responsibility for mistakes are an important part of the learning process. 

At the Bisson Lab you are expected to:

  • Avoid assumptions - ask questions. 

  • Collaborate and contribute to your colleagues’ work

  • Be respectful and honest

  • Give (and accept) constructive criticism

  • Be thorough with your data and experiments

  • Keep up-to-date and organized logs of your experiments and protocols

  • Clean up after yourself

  • Be transparent about your mistakes and misconceptions

 

We believe that diversity is an asset in our laboratory.

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