Labs that Work for Everyone

Does your research group culture work for everyone on your team? Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Whether you’re a grad student, lab technician, postdoc, or a lab leader, do you feel confident in your ability to contribute to a healthy research culture and to address the problems that arise?

Culture can make or break a research team. When lab culture is strong, collaboration, creativity, and integrity flourish. When lab culture is strained, even the best research can suffer. Addressing these dynamics directly is one of the most powerful steps a lab can take. Labs That Work for Everyone is a structured professional development program designed to help individual researchers and lab groups build healthier, more ethical working environments by focusing on proactive approaches to prevent problems before they arise.

Grounded in real and nuanced lab experiences, the program is built around a fictional case study film and supported by expert-guided reflection activities and structured opportunities for group discussions. You will leave with practical strategies to reduce friction in your work environments, be proactive about your research career, and set yourself up for success.

In the context of a global research enterprise that increasingly depends on collaboration, shared expectations, and trustworthy practices, LTW offers a scalable, field-tested strategy for cultivating ethical lab cultures that support international standards of research integrity.

Build the skills no one ever warned you’d need to work effectively in research teams and lab settings by piloting the program individually or with your lab group. 

Learning Objectives

By participating in this course, you will gain practical tools for real dilemmas: 

• Clarify your values and career goals—and take the first steps in developing an Individual Development Plan (IDP) to support your growth as a researcher and leader.

• Build communication skills to support effective collaboration, including active listening, asking effective questions, and using the “and” stance to navigate challenging conversations.

• Learn how to apply a practical decision-making framework, and develop personal scripts to navigate ethical dilemmas and difficult conversations, so you know what to say, when to say it, and how to make it count.

• Strengthen your support network by mapping your mentors, identifying gaps, and exploring available resources that promote well-being, accountability, and community.

• Recognize how power dynamics shape the research environment and explore strategies for supporting colleagues, including cultural competence, identifying mental health resources, and practicing upstander techniques.