The transition between working in someone else’s lab and running your own is both exciting and nerve-wracking. But before you can jump into your research, you’ve got to get your new lab set up. To learn more about this process, we’ve spoken with David Montrose, a junior faculty member and recent appointee at Stony Brook University. In the following article, we will be sharing his tips and advice to help you learn what to expect as you navigate your way through this transition.

Negotiating your startup package

Understand what’s in a startup package

Generally speaking, a startup package is around $1–1.5 million and lasts 3–5 years. But these numbers are not set in stone. Once you have an offer, the negotiation of your startup package will go back and forth—sometimes lasting for months. You’ll want to be as prepared as possible for these negotiations to make sure that you get everything you need for your specific research projects.

However, the startup package is more than just money. It also includes your lab space and the equipment that will be given to you. Make sure you know the square feet of your new lab and the number of benches it has, and make sure that that’s enough for the number of employees you intend to hire. Remember—you’ll also bring in rotating students and summer students, so you’ll want some extra space.

Also, pay attention to the length of time that your startup money will be available. Ideally, it’ll be available indefinitely. But if it can’t be, extend it as long as you can, because you don’t want to lose your money if you don’t use it right away. Additionally, it’s good to have a “rainy day fund” in case you have a tough year in the future and the grants don’t come.

Make a realistic budget

Your budget needs to take into account your specific product needs, but it also needs to take into account the costs associated with your particular institution. The cost of things like animal housing, core facilities, and employee salaries will vary depending on the institution, so make sure you have an idea of what to expect at yours. Additionally, make sure you know what equipment will be made available to you—either in your own lab or in a neighboring lab or facility—so that you can remove it from your list of items to purchase.

Once you have a realistic number, aim for it. But start your negotiations higher. That way, as you go back and forth, you will hopefully settle around what you need.

Get everything in writing

Once you’ve come to an agreement, make sure you have get it written down. That way, if something happens in the future, you have a definite record of the promises that you were given.

Moving reagents, equipment, samples, and more

Get on the same page with your current mentor

This may seem obvious, but before you even sign your offer letter, talk to your current mentor about what projects and materials you will be allowed to take with you. It’s important to be on the same page right from the start. Once you know exactly what you get to take, then you can start working on the logistics of getting it moved.

Coordinate with others to make your move

Moving animals and large equipment will require you to contract a specialty moving company. Additionally, moving animals can be extra tricky since you have not started at the institution and are not yet in the system. Contact the officials at your new animal facility to introduce yourself and to arrange for the move of your animals and to help you get an IUCAC protocol set up.

For frozen materials, you'll want to arrange either for colleagues at your new institution to receive and store these materials or for individuals at your old institution to ship them after you move. The last thing you'll want is to lose all your samples because they aren’t transferred immediately to the freezer upon arrival.

Ordering supplies and equipment

Set up accounts in advance

Administrative work takes time, so get started as soon as you can. Communicate with your department administrators to get all your accounts—including any grants you may have received—activated in advance so that they’re ready to go when you arrive.

Use grant money ahead of startup money

Grants exist for a finite amount of time, so if you have one, use it first. Ideally, startup money will be there for you indefinitely, but if not, it will at least have a longer shelf life. Either way, you’ll want to make sure you don’t lose any of the money available to you just because you don’t spend it all in time.

Identify your sales reps

In many cases, institutions have negotiated lower prices with certain companies, so if you go through their sales rep, you can save lots of money. Contact your new institution to see who their sales reps are and what deals they’ve made.

Look for new lab/new PI discounts

Many companies do promotions where they offer discounts to new PIs who are just setting up their labs. These promotions often last for several months. You can take advantage of these by ordering non-perishable consumables in excess at the discounted rate and then storing the extras for later use.

Share the cost

Don’t assume that you have to buy everything yourself. Consider inquiring as to whether your institution will purchase the equipment as a shared item for the department to use. Alternatively, talk to other investigators to see if they would be willing to purchase and share the equipment with you. No matter what, bear in mind that large equipment purchases take time, so get going on it as early as possible.

Finding and hiring trainees

Understand the cost of trainees

Before taking on any trainees, make sure that you understand what they cost. Graduate students and postdocs will need to be supported over a number of years, so you’ve got to be sure not only that you can pay them this year but also that you will be able to continue paying them until they’re finished.

Know how much employee salaries are in your geographical location, and remember that fringe benefits can be an extra 30–40% on top of the salary.

Don’t overcommit

Remember, you may not get significant external funding right away. Don’t hire a bunch of people all at once on the assumption that you will get more funding, because things may not work out the way you hope.

On the other hand, don’t overcommit your mentorship time. As a junior investigator who is just getting their career started, you’ll have a lot to worry about. If you take on too much mentorship responsibility all at once, it could negatively affect your career.

Post positions ahead of time

Again, administrative work takes time. There are often a lot of hoops to jump through before you can onboard employees, so get started right away. Work with HR at your new institution before you arrive so that you can get your positions posted ahead of time.

It’s okay to get CVs early so that you can start narrowing down the field of prospects, and you can even conduct interviews through video chat if you want. However, avoid actually onboarding your employees until your lab is mostly set up. You don’t want to have to start paying them before there’s even any work for them to do.

Look for alternative ways to find employees

If you want to take on graduate students, you may need to be a part of their program. Investigate which graduate programs at your new institution would be a good fit for you and figure out how to join them.

Network with your new colleagues to identify individuals who are looking for positions. Your colleagues may know of recent graduates who are looking for a postdoc, for example. Additionally, consider taking on master’s and undergraduate students. These students can be very good research assistants and they often won’t cost you anything.

Getting to know your new colleagues

Reach out to potential collaborators

Make a list of people that you may like to work with, including those you’ve already met and others that you have not met yet. Send out emails letting them know that you’ve arrived and that you’d liked to have coffee and chat about what you do and what you can do together. Make sure to have a brief overview of your work prepared so that you can share it with the people you meet.

Give talks

Giving talks is a great way to make yourself visible to the broader institutional community. You aren’t going to be generating new data at first, so talk about the work that you’ve already done and the work that you plan to do at your new institution. The more talks you give, the more people that will remember you, and hopefully, you’ll be able to trigger collaborations from the outside in.

Get to know your administrators

Remember, the scientists aren’t your only colleagues. Your administrators will be critical to the proper functioning of your lab. They’re key personnel in a lot of the business, grants, and purchasing that you’ll have to deal with.

Making time for administrative work

For the first few months, you’ll spend most of your time doing administrative work and setting up your lab. So the more work you get done before you arrive, the sooner you can get back to your experiments. But bear in mind: Even once you’re up and running, you’ll still be doing a lot of administrative work—maybe more than you think. Administrative work is an unavoidable part of running a lab.

David Montrose recently presented the above tips, advice, and more in a Biocompare webinar that can be accessed here.