Prior to your arrival
All individuals conducting research in the Weitz Lab must have a valid Harvard ID and an official Research Appointment with Harvard University. Please contact Matthew Zahnzinger regarding the appointment process and related paperwork well ahead of your anticipated date of arrival.
Biosafety
If you are working with cells, you may want to get approval for the cells you wish to study from Harvard Biosafety prior to arrival, as the approval process can take 2 months. Contact safety officer Anqi Chen.
Upon your arrival
Once your research appointment begins (official start date on offer letter) you can go to the Harvard ID office on the 8th floor of the Smith Campus Center, suite 807. There you will get your picture taken and receive your ID card and PIN. Make sure you bring your driver’s license or passport with you to the ID office as well as your Harvard ID number. Their office hours are typically 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
If you are an international visitor you should also plan on checking in with the Harvard International Office, located on the 8th floor of the Smith Campus Center, suite 864.
Administration
The administrative team for the Weitz Lab resides in Pierce Hall, room 232 at 29 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138; please note that most administrators are working fully or partly remote, so consult posted signs on the door for 232 for current hours and availability.
Our Academic Affairs officer, Nora McDonald, works remotely, and is available via email (nora@seas.harvard.edu). Nora will be able to provide instructions on how to set up and access your Harvard key and email account and will straighten out any appointment-related matters that may need to be addressed, including questions surrounding visas.
Safety
If there are questions about safety, please contact group safety officers or the room monitors.
Desk, bench and drawer space
You may request a desk by contacting Hong Li, who is in charge of desk assignments. Please send your name, status (grad student/post-doc/visitor/etc.), and expected departure date. Also specify if bench space is needed within the Chem-Bio room, or drawer space needed to store personal supplies. There are only a certain number of assigned desks available for the group. Communal desks and storage space will be made available to those not assigned a desk full-time.
Website (Personnel Page)
We ask that you send your appointment title, Harvard email, and a photo of yourself, in JPEG format with equal width and height (200px by 200px), to Matthew Zahnzinger, who will include your information on our website.
Harvard Emails
Besides your SEAS account which ends with @seas.harvard.edu, please ask Harvard IT to active your Gmail account which ends with @g.harvard.edu. You’ll need a Harvard Gmail account to book equipment and check the group calendar.
Subscriptions
- Subscribe to the Weitz Lab email list. Using your Harvard email address, send a request to Matthew Zahnzinger. Note: Only Harvard email account will be approved.
- Subscribe to the Squishy Physics email list. Using your Harvard email address please visit the Signup Page.
- Subscribe to the New England Complex Fluids Workshops
Survival Guide
Finally, read carefully the Weitz Lab Survival Guide, which will provide insights on the characterand interactions of the group among other things.
After your arrival
- Take the mandatory general lab safety training. For more details of the training, please contact safety officer - Tommy Krug or Anqi Chen. You need to provide your Harvard ID number during the training. Please pay attention to Weitz Lab Waste Disposal for new comers
- Take the mandatory Chem Room safety training. Please contact Kevin Jahnke or Wentao.
- Take the mandatory pipettor training. Please schedule a time with Wenyun Wang.
- Check WeitzDocs SharePoint The Weitz group utilizes a SharePoint to share internal information and resources with current group members. While there are a number of topics addressed in greater detail on the SharePoint page, it is essential that you look over them shortly after your arrival.
- Printing - How to print in the Weitz-Lab
- Chemical Inventory: Use the Quartzy (https://www.quartzy.com/) in the common computer in Chemroom to look up the reagent stock in Weitz lab. Any new chemical must be approved before entering the lab. Please contact Wentao for approval.
- Lab Ordering: you need to contact Matthew Zahnzinger to get a Buy2Pay account if you are eligible. You can order lab general items during the monthly group order.
- Group Job Assignments：Contact Hong Li to get a lab job.
- Lab cleanup: The group is divided into 2 Pods to alternate the weekly lab cleanup job (each Friday 2 - 3 pm). Contact Hong Li to get involved in a Pod. Everyone working in the lab must participate in the cleanup once every two weeks.
- Equipment/Instrument Training: Contact Material Monitor to get training before using any equipment. (check Group Job Assignments)
- Access to the Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS): Please follow this Best way to get into SMCR Harvard CNS Don't follow people in CNS or share ID's, which is a major safety concern and our lab can lose access if new members don't respect the training requirements.
- The SEAS Facilities Office is responsible for a wide array of activities that support everyday operations at SEAS. For any building maintenance request, please use our Work Order System. You will need your Harvard Key to access the site. For anything urgent, feel free to call the operations center directly at 617-495-5560.