Scientists are taught and trained by a system in which management takes a back seat at best, and is frequently just not invited to the party. The scientific method is taught to us as small children, we are encouraged to produce science projects for the science fair and engage in science outside of the typical laboratory environment. As these young scientists continue to age, they are exposed to more and more knowledge, encouraged to research, read, and explore. When people decide to pursue science as a career, they go to college, pick the field of science they are interested in, and possibly join a lab.
The first laboratory a developing scientist joins has a tremendous influence on what that person thinks of science, sometimes even to whether or not they continue to pursue being a scientist as a career option or if they decide to change course. Once a person is hooked, the track is set with very few routes presented as options. You either progress through your degrees, get a PhD, do post doctoral fellowships, start your own lab and continue the cycle, OR you get degrees, get a PhD, do post doctoral fellowships, and start or join a company. You may also progress through your degrees, maybe get a graduate degree, and work in industrial or academic laboratories the rest of your career; needless to say, this last option is the one I have personally taken, because I learned during my time earning my Masters degree that I never wanted to be a Primary Investigator and get stuck writing grants all day instead of doing science. While my initial impression was close, I have since learned that it can even be worse than stuck writing in an office all day because nowhere on these tracks is dedicated time to learn how to manage people and run a laboratory.
Managing science is an incidental picked up from spending time with mentors. Some people have truly wonderful mentors and teachers with well run laboratories and graduate students can get the chance to start learning about management by working with the laboratories undergrads. It was in a lab like this I personally fell in love with science and knew it wasn’t just something I could do, but a place where I could happily build a career. Then there are laboratories where post docs are scolded for taking two sequential days off, y’know…a weekend.
The laboratory environments you are exposed to shape your perception of of laboratories should be run. The purpose of this blog is to help people fill in the gaps. It is my fervent wish that laboratory management is built into every graduate curriculum, but until and unless that occurs, I’m going to do what I can to help.
-Colleen Stubbs, PMP in the Lab
PMP in the Lab 