How lab heads can learn to lead

Abstract

New principal investigators (PIs) tend to be thrust into a role that includes administration and management, budgeting, lab infrastructure, mentoring and — perhaps most difficult — shepherding junior scientists to achieve their full potential. Many researchers receive little training in leadership skills to help them adapt. And the problem is not limited to just new PIs. In Nature’s 2017 survey of PhD students, one-quarter of the respondents were dissatisfied with their adviser’s guidance on research, and only one-third said that their supervisors gave useful advice about non-academic careers. Nature asked leadership experts what lessons other industries can offer to help scientists become more-effective PIs.