mission statement
The primary purpose of the lab and each lab member is to conduct rigorous and theoretically groundbreaking research. We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of scientific rigor and integrity and to pursuing research questions that represent a significant contribution to psychology and neuroscience. We hold each other accountable to these standards by challenging and testing our own and each other’s ideas and research approaches, but we do so in a constructive, meaningful, and supportive way.
The secondary purpose of this lab is to create a space where lab members can grow and thrive academically. We thus each contribute, according to our current career levels, expertise, and experience, to the education and training of postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate students. We aim to help lab members and students develop the skills, expertise, and professional networks that prepare them for careers in academic or non-academic positions with the highest standards.
We also see it as a responsibility that lab members can grow personally, and engage in an activity that they enjoy and find fulfilling and purposeful. This is no small feat to achieve, as science and academia can be challenging. We actively contribute to build and maintain resilience by creating a safe, fun and pleasant working atmosphere, where we can also get to know each other beyond our working selves. We do so in our regular meetings, lunches, and coffee breaks, but also actively maintain regular lab social outings and support structures (e.g., hikes, skiing trips, pub nights, birthday celebrations, onboarding buddies, etc.)
Our lab culture builds on the strong conviction that kind, collaborative, and talented persons (in that order, roughly) and an enriching culture produce excellent science, a vibrant educational environment, and a socially and personally fulfilling working atmosphere. This is why we strive at recruiting, selecting, and supporting people who are not only highly talented, but who are also eager to grow and love to support others, and whose expertise and skills complement each other. This is why we are also committed to diversity, inclusivity, and mutual respect. We do so by accepting that others may have different views and perspectives, academically and personally. If science, including the one we do, teaches us something, it is that there is no absolute or final truth. Rather, advancing science needs collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas, approaches, and concepts. We are part of an evolving collective enterprise, and we need to treat each other with respect, compassion and curiosity if we want to make a difference.
Open Science statement: We place high value on responsible and ethical scientific practices. We are advocates of the Open Science Movement, and actively contribute by our actions and the way in which we do research to support it. We aim to preregister and openly share data, scripts, and other relevant materials of all our studies. We also acknowledge however that some measures may seem harmful a lab member, which is why we maintain an open culture of discussing possible concerns.
Approachability and conflict: We try to help each other in cases of conflict or working as well as personal issues we are grappling with. Our lab head Claus is generally very open, supportive and understanding for any kind of personal and professional issues, and attempts to create a culture where approaching him and openly talking about issues is seen as the right and most normal thing to do. He may nevertheless not always seem the right person to go to, which is why you are encouraged to approach your fellow lab members, or external support structures such as the Ombudsteam of the Faculty of Psychology (of which Claus is a part of, but there are 4 other persons in addition to him), or the various support and counseling structures from the University of Vienna (e.g. the Ombudsperson for good scientific practice, the gender mainstreaming and equality unit, or the ECR ambassadors and the mental health coaching they offer).