Team Culture:

Our research group is guided by a set of shared values that shape how we conduct science, train researchers, and work together as a team. These principles underpin both our day-to-day activities and our long-term goals.

Expertise
We build expertise, and we believe it is grounded in understanding. That is why we take time to study the optical, electrical, and mechanical components of our systems, so we can design and build new experiments with confidence and avoid artefacts. We also learn from trying things that don’t work and from mistakes. Deep knowledge of components is among the main professional skills developed through hands-on work in our labs.

Professionalism
Health and safety are part of our everyday practice. We keep our lab spaces as clean and organised as possible and follow clear procedures to protect people, equipment, and data. Good lab management helps avoid delays: when tools or components are needed, they are usually easy to locate, and equipment that is maintained properly tends to perform more reliably.

Efficiency
We automate our experiments wherever it makes sense. Many of our setups run overnight, over weekends, or during holidays – not because people work those hours, but because well-designed systems can. This helps us make better use of time and focus on analysing and discussing the results.

Teamwork
We meet regularly to plan, share results, and solve problems together. We take shared responsibility for maintaining the lab, knowing that a functional space benefits everyone. We also hold informal group events to support mentorship, collaboration, and trust. At the same time, we recognise that focused individual work is essential too, and we aim to support both by separating them in time and by providing a clear framework.

Independent work
We give researchers the space to make their own technical and scientific decisions. This includes designing optical layouts, selecting components, tuning parameters, choosing analysis methods, and deciding what to automate. Researchers pursue additional measurements (with SEM, TEM, or other tools) when they judge them necessary. They are expected to stay informed about their field, choose tools that suit their needs, and take ownership of their approach. External collaborations can be proposed but require approval from the PI, who manages the lab’s external relationships. While many choices are left to individual judgement, some elements – such as data formatting – are standardised across the group to ensure consistency over time and across projects.

Scientific rigor
We believe science must be repeatable and reproducible – which is why we repeat experiments, design complementary tests, and document our data carefully. Our results should be trusted and meaningful to others.

Communication
We value communication, both within the group and beyond. Internally, this means keeping clear, structured records in shared notebooks so that work is understandable and reusable over time. Good communication supports feedback, mentoring, and problem-solving – it is closely linked to how we collaborate as a team. Externally, communication means presenting our work clearly in papers, posters, and talks – so that our ideas are accessible, our results are trusted, and our work can be built upon.

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