Master’s Student

Owner: Stone (shi1010@seas.upenn.edu)

If you have any questions or notice an issue with this page, please contact me by email or on Slack.

• Enrolled in a Penn (or affiliated) master’s program
• Onboarding is mainly a matter of requesting access. See Lab Onboarding for account-request instructions.

Welcome to the Lab!

Congratulations on joining the lab! You have likely already connected with Dr. Cheng and received her contact information. This page highlights some useful first steps and points you to relevant parts of the manual, so you can find what you need without feeling that you have to read every page in detail right away. After you finish the initial onboarding stage, please read the relevant sections in detail.

1. Connect info 101

You have likely already contacted Dr. Cheng and confirmed your position in the lab. For additional contact information, see Key Contacts.

Most lab-related communication takes place on Slack. Please join the Cheng Lab Slack workspace to stay up to date and connect with the team. For account-request instructions, see Lab Onboarding.

2. Request Building and Facility Access

Request access to Stellar-Chance Laboratories and any other facilities where your collaborators work. Email a photo or screenshot of your PennCard to Dr. Cheng. She can help arrange the appropriate access and may coordinate with Jeff or Darren Johnson (darrenj@pennmedicine.upenn.edu) as needed. See Lab Onboarding for additional information.

Access permissions may be limited to specific buildings, floors, or facilities. Please confirm that your PennCard provides access to all locations where you are expected to work.

3. Training 101

Wet Lab

My work in the lab focuses on CRISPRa, so wet-lab training has been an important part of getting started. Complete the training assigned to you through Penn Workday and follow the Wet Lab Training instructions.

To find a course, search on Penn Workday using its listed name. Course titles may differ slightly from the names used in this manual, and an exact-name search may not always return a result. If you cannot find a course, try searching for part of its name or a relevant keyword. If you are unsure which courses apply to your work, confirm the requirements with Dr. Cheng before beginning the relevant experiments.

Dry Lab

If your work also includes computational analysis, ask Dr. Cheng or Jeff whether you need access to PMACS (HPC). If you do, confirm which services you need before requesting access, then use the Dry Lab Training instructions to get started and learn the relevant tools independently.

If you have questions, check the Dry Lab manual for guidance. If you are new to bioinformatics, contact Jeff—he can point you to his introductory 101 materials. If you need help setting up a Windows computer, contact Jeff or Gaby; for help setting up a Mac, contact Dr. Cheng.

Data and Lab Notes

Lab data are stored in PennBox (just Google it). Ask Dr. Cheng for access. For experimental records and lab notes, use a paper notebook or Penn LabArchives, as appropriate for your project and lab procedures.