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EMBO Event

Starting Your Own Lab

26 – 28 August 2026 | Online, Taiwan

  • Virtual event icon
    Virtual event
2026-05/1779894372_allison_wu_nstc-logo-1.png
  • Application Deadline
  • 20 July 2026
  • Selected Participants Will Be Notified By
  • 03 August 2026

Apply now!

About the Event

Having managed the PhD and a postdoc, you are now facing a new and exciting challenge: setting up your own lab and leading your team. Moving from the bench to the PI desk is a steep learning curve and many of us are typically not prepared for this. To help you navigate this transition, we introduce you to basic concepts and ideas around setting up your first lab. Some topics deal with technicalities, for example, how to allocate resources effectively, other topics focus on managing people in the sense of how you want your lab and your team to be.
This workshop is very interactive and you get to practice what you learn already during the course.

The course is split into 3 afternoons.

Day 1 & 2 from 1:30 - 7:00 PM and Day 3 from 1:30 - 5:30 PM (CST).

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About the trainers:

Petra Pandur studied biology at the University of Ulm, Germany, where she obtained her diploma. For her PhD, she did the research work at George-Washington-University in Washington, D.C. and obtained her doctor's degree at the University of Ulm, Germany. Her postdoc project was on heart development in Xenopus laevis. Then she switched to Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism and continued to work on heart development. She established her own research group at the University of Ulm and was a group leader for about 11 years. While she was a group leader she did a 2-year training in coaching and started to coach people in academia. When she joined the team of Leadershipsculptor in 2016, she started teaching the EMBO Lab Leadership and Project Management courses. All of this made her realize her new passion for training people in the topics that we cover in these courses. Consequently, she quit her position as a group leader and is self-employed as a coach and trainer since 2020.

Diana Baumann earned her B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics and Chemistry of Materials from Durham University in the UK, followed by a Post-Graduate Certificate of Education from the University of Bristol. She began her career teaching science in the UK before moving to the United States, where she transitioned into research support and established a new core facility at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research. She directed that facility for 20 years, working closely with numerous emerging research groups to help them build efficient and effective operations from the start. An authority on non-traditional model organisms, Diana has worked with more than seventy species in the research setting, and her own research focused on parthenogenetic lizards and hybridization. She is a graduate of the Institute of Laboratory Animal Management, where she served as class president, and holds certification as a Manager of Animal Resources. Diana is an active member of several professional organizations and contributes to their management and educational committees. She has published and presented on a wide range of topics, co-authored five book chapters, and received multiple awards for teaching, training, and management. Diana joined Leadership Sculptor in 2023 to teach the EMBO Lab Leadership and Project Management courses. She is passionate about helping scientists and research teams start strong, lead with confidence, and build the systems they need to thrive.

 
 

Programme

  • Introduce you to key concepts around setting up your first lab
  • Equip you with key communication skills
  • Prepare you for your role as a PI
  • Explore your answers to strategic challenges
  • Add basic, important tools to your leadership toolkit
  • Expand your support network for scientific and leadership issues

45 minutes Welcome, Introduction, Warming-up

Give you time “to arrive” at the workshop and introduce the topics for the course. Open the “Parking Lot” for your questions and issues.

90 minutes How do I want my lab to be?

Having a clear idea of how you want your lab to work together is helpful to have before making the first hire. The first step towards this clarity is to identify the values you need for your lab. The second step is to be able to articulate a clear set of expectations. You can screen potential candidates against them during the hiring process.

45 minutes Finding Good Mentors

Here we explore whether you need a mentor, how to identify a good one, and what you can expect from them.

75 minutes Allocating Resources Pragmatically

Where do you need to focus more? How to weigh up between buying new or used equipment – and what can you share or borrow? What sharing mechanisms have you for consumables (e.g., reagents)? How much space do you need, now and in the future? We also discuss strategies for getting your lab members up to speed quickly.

60 minutes Project Portfolio Management

It’s important to not overcommit and choose your initial projects carefully – less is
often more. In addition, what is your safe bet? What is your high rise / high reward project? Which is your niche area?
A tool for evaluating the relative importance of projects in your portfolio.

90 minutes Making my first hire

Getting your first hire right is critical. In this session, we discuss the key points in the process, from identifying which position to recruit first to shaping the ad and preparing your interview strategy. How can you identify who wants to commit?

45 minutes Effective Meetings

We explore ideas with you on how to get more out of your meetings, e.g., lab meetings, discussions of scientific progress, and project progress.

90 minutes Growing your People

You learn how to give appropriate feedback in the lab and how to formulate criticism without hurting anybody. How do I discuss with the team member when things are not getting done? How do you structure their development?

90 minutes Negotiation

You have much to negotiate: How can you optimize your offer so that it orks for you and your host? (Equipment, space and role)

75 minutes Empowering Your People

You learn how to delegate effectively, including how to communicate this task clearly. Also, you acquire a strategy so they can solve their own problems.

75 minutes Balancing Your Time

You have many pulls on your attention. How do you balance time in the lab (own work & supporting others), teaching and prep and leading (1:1-meetings, group meetings, conference and visits, collaborations, writing grands and papers)

60 minutes Collaborations

How to identify and develop good collaborations? How much should your project
depend on a collaboration, and what is your Plan B? How can you manage your
collaborations for success?

30 minutes Closing

Open questions and wrap-up

 

Registration

  • Application Deadline
  • 20 July 2026
  • Selected Participants Will Be Notified By
  • 03 August 2026

 

Selection criteria

A total of 18 junior group leaders will be selected to attend this course.

Applicants will be selected by a panel of researchers and faculty based on the following criteria:

  • Current career stage - priority will be given to junior group leaders that are within their first five years of starting a new laboratory.

  • Motivation statement


Code of conduct

Anti-harassment and non-discrimination policy

At EMBO, we believe that harassment and discriminatory behaviour are unacceptable in any setting. EMBO's code of conduct is applicable for all participants of this course and can be found here.

 

Contact

EMBO Global Activities Office, global@embo.org

Pei-Hsiang Wu, phwu@as.edu.tw

 

 

Venue

This course will be online from 26-27 August from 1:30 - 7:00 PM and 28 August from 1:30 - 5:30 PM (CST).

If selected, a link will be sent to access the course prior to the start date. Please make sure to check your spam/junk folder if you were selected and did not receive an email.