SAFE Labs is an initiative developed by early-career group leaders (including Cambridge LMB alumna Erika Donà and UCL colleague Pip Cohen) to promote fairer, more transparent, and more inclusive research environments. It began as a workshop for new group leaders, who receive very little formal training in how to run a lab, and has since grown into an established initiative.
At its heart is the SAFE Labs Handbook, a set of concrete commitments that any PI can adopt and make public, covering topics from authorship and working hours to team management, inclusion, mentoring and career development. It also includes examples from real lab manuals, and its recommendations draw on feedback from more than 200 researchers across more than 20 countries (see eLife features article).
Particularly useful is the online Handbook Generator, which allows PIs to select and customise recommendations and quickly generate a draft handbook for their own lab. It’s a simple, practical way to turn good intentions around research culture into concrete, transparent working practices.
You can find out more and become a SAFE Lab on their website https://safelabs.info/.
SAFE Lab websitePosted on 21/10/2026
