Before starting

In the weeks before you start:

• Prepare to travel to campus: most people either drive to campus or take the free Genome Campus shuttle. You must reserve a space on the shuttle ahead of time using the Wellcome Genome Campus Travel app. The app is only available on the UK app store and you can change the location on Google Store through Settings> General > Accounts and device preferences> country. Once downloaded, you must create an account with the EBI e-mail adress and “purchase” tickets (they are free), before booking tickets. The normal usage is to present QR code to the driver. If the app is not available, you can book ticket through this website but you won’t have QR code. In that case, you can indicate to the driver your name. Alternatively, the campus coach service is free and available without pre-booking, but there are limited travel times and routes.
• Follow up if you don’t receive an email from HR after accepting your employment offer. This is where you will receive helpful information about moving to the Cambridge area.
• Consider registering with the Cambridge accommodation services to access listings for properties owned by the university or university affiliates.
• Think about payday: EMBL payroll is once per month, and if your first day is after the 10th of the month, you won’t get your first paycheck until the 20th of the next month, ~6 weeks after starting. HR can help you get paid earlier, but you need to ask them for help.
• When inputting your bank account info to EBI HR, make sure to use an account with a UK Sort Code, otherwise you will get charged currency conversion fees both when you get paid and when you convert the money back to pounds. Other lab members have achieved this through GBP currency accounts in Wise and Revolut, or by opening a UK account online, before moving, with HSBC.
• Make sure that you have been assigned a lab member to guide you through your first day. Jess will connect you to someone over email the week before you start; if its 1-2 days before your start date and you haven’t heard from anyone, please send Jess an email.

First day

On the first day, you should:

• Get your temporary access badge from security.
• Basic IT: pick up your EBI laptop, connect to the EBI network and sign into your email and Slack account.
• Send Jess a Slack message asking her to add you to relevant research channels and lab Google group.
• Send Pia or Guillaume a Slack message asking them to add you to the relevant predoc / postdoc channels.
• Choose a desk and set up your keyboard and mouse.
• Is it Wednesday? Go to the South Building to get your picture taken. If not, make a note in your calendar to do this on the next Wednesday that you’ll be on campus.

First week

Within the first week, you should:

• Add your contact and logistical details to the lab contact spreadsheet. Access is restricted to lab members, so you will likely need to request access. We use this in the case of emergencies, to record dietary preferences for lab events, and to coordinate birthday treats!
• Complete the health & safety courses available through Workday.
• Request access to the cluster (HPC) using this link. Next, read the ServiceNow articles on an introduction to EBI HPC computing, remote access using SSH, where to store data in the cluster, an introduction to SLURM usage, and interactive HPC sessions.
• Ask Jess to add you to the Ewald Lab GitHub organisation. Send her your GitHub handle in the request. If you don’t have one, create a GitHub account with a personal email so that your access remains after leaving EBI.
• Read through the lab day-to-day, conducting research, and Github guidelines pages of the handbook. Write down anything that is confusing or unfamiliar to you - you can go through it with Jess during your first 1:1 and she can help clarify.
• Make sure that you have an HR induction meeting scheduled. This is where you will learn how to access your health insurance, how to take annual leave, etc.
• Check out the HPC Training Program and watch any relevant recordings of prior trainings. Also let Jess know if there are any future training sessions that you’d like to be registered for.
• Once you get a notification that you’ve been added to the Ewald Lab Google Group, you will have access to the main lab folders for projects, publications, presentations, and CVs. Add a shortcut to each folder on your own Google Drive: hover over the name of the folder, go to ‘Organise’, and then ‘Add shortcut’.
• Send Jess a headshot and a short bio so that she can add you to the lab team page.
• Familiarise yourself with these useful links: EBI intranet, EBI webmail