Philosophy

Lab philosophy

We believe that pushing the boundaries of knowledge requires rigor, curiosity and an open mind to accept and interpret all data. We are committed to building a lab culture that is inclusive, collaborative, and supportive — one where every member feels comfortable asking questions, making mistakes, and sharing ideas without fear of judgment. Good science happens when people feel safe to be wrong in public.

Lab expectations

Everyone in the lab

• Treat all lab members with respect and kindness. Science requires that we help each other while respecting everyone’s time and boundaries.
• Be honest and rigorous in your science. Take ownership of your research and communicate openly and early.
• Feedback helps us grow, catch mistakes, and think creatively and broadly about our work. Attend and contribute to all lab meetings, and provide feedback on each other’s proposals, manuscripts and talks.
• Celebrate each other’s successes

Pravrutha’s commitment to you

• Mentorship is not one-size-fits-all and in this lab, mentorship will be tailored to your career goals.
• Timely, constructive feedback on manuscripts, proposals, and presentations.
• Advocacy for your success, inside and outside the lab.
• An open-mind policy — talk to me about problems (work, lab, or otherwise) early, not after they’ve grown.

Meetings

• Lab meetings — Weekly, with members presenting work on a rotating basis
• One-on-ones — individual check-ins to discuss progress, roadblocks, and career development
• Journal club — rotating discussion of papers relevant to the lab’s interests
• Seminars and department meetings — These occur weekly or monthly and are an excellent opportunity to hear new science and present your own work

Authorship & data

We follow NIH authorship guidelines. Contributions to a project are discussed openly and early, and everyone involved receives appropriate credit. We encourage open science. Manuscripts will be posted on open sources like bioRxiv, code used in publications will be deposited in a public repository (e.g., GitHub), and all data must be stored and backed up according to lab protocols.

Funding

Pravrutha is the primary source of funding for the lab and is committed to obtaining funds for and supporting all lab members. However, our lab strongly encourages trainees to write their own grants. Pravrutha will help you identify awards, develop proposals, and edit all your work. This is less an exercise in obtaining funding and more an exercise in improving your ability to develop and write scientific proposals and understand funding mechanisms. Some of the funding mechanisms we apply to are below.

• NIH Grants & Funding
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
• HHMI Gilliam Fellows Program

Mental Health & wellbeing

Training to be established scientists can be a rewarding although intense and stressful time. Please don’t hesitate to reach out — to Pravrutha or a trusted colleague — if you’re struggling. Your wellbeing comes first.

• UMass Boston Counseling Services
• UMass Boston Health & Wellness

For Current lab members

Current lab members should all have access to internal resources like protocols, templates, meeting notes, and more which are kept in our shared lab drive. If you are a current lab member and don’t have access yet, just ask Pravrutha.

Teaching philosophy

While teaching each other is a core part of how we learn in the Raman lab, Pravrutha and graduate students are also involved in teaching at the graduate and undergraduate level at UMass Boston. As teachers, we strive to cultivate that same love of science and learning in our students. Below are some strategies we use in the lab and in our teaching:

Inquiry-based learning. encouraging students to design experiments or ideas by posing questions rather than instructing. We are genuinely excited to hear all ideas!

Teamwork. We believe everyone can learn from each other no matter their career stage. We value everyone’s experiences and contributions to discussions and collaborative projects, while ensuring that the load of the work is evenly shared.

The power of “I don’t know”. We encourage and model being explicit about what we don’t know. The unknowns motivate curiosity and can help us find new and interesting answers!

Current Courses

Epigenetics (BIOL 611) — Fall 2026 (Pravrutha)