Working hours
You should create a working schedule that is a right fit for you with the understanding that your ideal schedule may evolve over time. Depending on the nature of your appointment, there may be specific minimum number of hours that you are expected to work and you should check with about these in the first meeting. Graduate students are generally expected to work an average of at least 40 hours per week. For M.S., undergrad, and high school students this will vary depending on the project. You are not expected to work on weekends and holidays. Consult with Primal and notify fellow lab members in advance of any planned absences during the week. As a student, you should feel flexible to create a work schedule that work for you while meeting the expectations of your role.
If you prefer to work remotely, this should be discussed and approved by Primal and arranged in accordance with Portland State University Polices on Remote Work. All lab members are expected to attend certain in-person events.
All female researchers are entitled to two days of leave when they are on their periods. You don’t have to take them if you don’t want to, but they are there for you. You don’t have to explain it to anyone else. You can just go and rest at home.
Individual Meetings
Following the first meeting, we will set up a time for regular individual meetings. Together, we’ll decide upon the timing and frequency of these meetings that will involve you, Primal, and any others working on the research project (e.g., PhD students, collaborators etc.). To make these meetings productive, please prepare an agenda in the form of document or slides.
- Past: Key points from our previous meeting.
- Present: Updates on what you have worked on since our last discussion.
- Future: Your plan for upcoming tasks or areas where you need feedback.
Primal will help in problem solving, providing constructive feedback and general support during these meetings.
After the meeting, please share meeting notes with Primal summarizing the main discussion points within a day of the meeting. This helps keep discussions fresh in everyone’s mind. Use this provided template to organize the meeting notes. Primal will review these meetings and may reach out with clarifying questions or additional guidance on the tasks.
Do not cancel meetings with Primal if you feel that you have not made adequate progress on your research; these might be the most critical times to meet with a mentor.
Group Meetings
The schedule and venue for meetings will be determined at the beginning of the quarter and announced in the mailing list. In the beginning of the meeting, Primal will make group announcements followed by a presentation from the students. All the DIPr lab students are expected to present at least once during the quarter. This presentation can be one of the following:
- Research presentation: A detailed talk about your research project covering aspects such as motivation, approach, and evaluation.
- Project workshopping: A brief presentation of the problem that you are working on followed by collaborative brainstorming for the remainder of the meeting.
- Tutorial: A hands-on presentation on a tool or a new approach that could benefit the entire group.
If you are the presenter, send a detailed draft of the presentation to Primal at least 3 days prior to the meeting. Primal will review the presentation and will give you feedback on the presentation outline and indidivual slides.
We will use a shared Google Sheet to organize the presentation. Active participation is encouraged, so please ask questions and engage in discussions. Non-members are welcome to attend to learn about our work and connect with the lab members.
Celebrations 🎉
The first meeting of every month we will celebrate with sweet treats (donuts, cupcakes, etc) to recognize any achievments or life milestones of the lab members. This includes and is not limited to paper acceptance, submissions, rejections (yes, we celebrate those too!), birthdays, and more.
Database Reading Group (DBRG) meetings
The Database Reading Group meets weekly to discuss papers related (broadly speaking) to database technology. Meeting times are decided at the beginning of the quarter. The regular meeting place is room 130 in PSU’s Fourth Avenue Building. The group welcomes anyone, inside or outside of PSU, with an interest in the subject matter. Designated group members will lead the discussion each week. More on individual developing plans can be found in DBRG.
Attendance
In-person attendance is expected for the following.
- Weekly group meetings
- individual meetings with Primal to discuss your research
- Database Reading Group meetings
- Student Research Symposiums
- Outreach events (such as Summer Research Academy, CyberPDX)
Communication
Email and Zulip will be the primary communication mediums. This should be primarily viewed as a medium for asynchronous communication. If you receive a message, you are neither obligated to read nor to respond immediately (and you shouldn’t expect this when you’re sending, too). The expectation is that you will respond to the email within 24-48 hours.
Authorship
Authorship is earned by someone who significantly contributes to the project (e.g., conceives of the project, designs solution, performs simulations or experiments and analyzes results, writes the paper). All authors must read, proof- read, and sign off on the final version of the manuscript before submission. Barring unusual circumstances, the lab policy is that students are first-author on all work for which they are leading.
Code Management
Code and data are important and it is your responsability to make sure that nothing is lost. Have a plan to make sure that your code and data are safe and accessible to other members of the group. We all work on related topics in the group so, we all benefit from utilizing each other code/data (with appropriate acknowledgement and after requesting access to it).
GitHub
The DIPr lab has a dedicated GitHub account for hosting public repositories, including the code we create and our group website (hosted on GitHub Pages). Unless specified otherwise, all files required to reproduce research results will be made publicly available on the DIPr lab’s GitHub repository. For double-blind review cases, public access may occur post-acceptance, but every published paper will link to a public GitHub repository with the corresponding code and data.
Backups
Backing up data is crucial; nothing is more disheartening than losing months of work, simulations, or code updates. Each lab member is responsible for regularly backing up their own work, and Google Drive is our recommended cloud storage solution.
Ethical management of data
If your research involves data related to individuals, it is essential to follow ethical guidelines. Always consult with Primal if you are uncertain about the responsible handling of such data. Ethical standards are particularly important in these situations, so reach out if you need clarification.
Quarterly evaluation form
At the end of each quarter, you will be a receiving the following evaluation form asking you to reflect you on your progress and your experience as a mentee. We will sit aside time during an individual meeting at the beginning of following quarter to review your answers together. This is an opportunity for you to share any concerns you may have about your experience as a graduate student, whether they involve other students, faculty, or staff.
This discussion is also a chance to address any concerns you may have about my role as your advisor. If you need more guidance, would like more independence, or would prefer more frequent meetings, please let me know. Likewise, I’ll provide feedback on your progress, noting any areas where improvement is needed so we can address them proactively. This session is our time to address any concerns early, ensuring that we’re aligned on your goals and progress.
Individual Development Plans
Primal will work with each of you to develop your individual mentoring plan that serves to ensure your time in the lab progresses your short, medium, and long-term goals. This is a useful planning document that assists in aligning expectations. Graduate students will revisit the mentoring plan during an individual meeting with Primal during multiple times in the year. Other lab members will revisit these at appropriate time scales (e.g. every 6 months). For this purpose, we will modify a template (for all students) or use an online tool (geared towards PhD students and PostDocs).
Take care of yourself!
As a student, you may experience a wide variety of challenges to your physical and mental health, that can interfere with learning or doing research. Help is available on campus and an important aspect of taking care of yourself is learning how to ask for help. Talk to Primal or any of the lab members, if you are struggling. Ask for help early. We cannot change the past, but can influence the future. Confidential counseling services are available at PSU. Please refer to the Student Crisis Resource Card for a list of phone numbers, contacts and support resources.