Onboarding Guide

Welcome to the Data Diversity Lab. We strive to provide an equitable, inclusive, and inspiring research environment. Please report any broken links to kennedygezella@arizona.edu

During your time in your lab, you will be using at least seven major tools: Mattermost for all lab-wise communication, Zoom for 1 on 1, and group lab meetings, GitHub for code-versioning, our lab’s Synology NAS to store copies/backups of your data in a safe environment. OnlyOffice to collaborate in documents, and Nextcloud to occasionally access certain files, folders and the lab calendar. Please follow the instructions below to successfully navigate the expectations associated with your project(s).

Communication and Onboarding

1. Join Mattermost via invite

(Optional) Download the Mattermost Desktop app. You can also download the phone app.
Get in contact with the student worker Kennedy Gezella at kennedygezella@arizona.edu to obtain an invitation, if you have not been invited already.
Once you have obtained access, you can use the following URL to log in with your credentials: https://chat.datadiversitylab.synology.me
Make sure you display your full name after setting up your username.

2. Check out your first Mattermost Channel

Read the “Welcome to the Data Diversity Lab” channel’s documentation by going into the channel’s playbook, then click on outline (direct link to playbook’s outline is below the channel’s title.)
Introduce yourself to the lab on that same channel.
Request the creation of a new communication channel (or multiple if you are working on more than 1 project) and a progress tracking board, for each of your projects via a DM to Kennedy Gezella (@kennedygezella) in Mattermost. These project channels will include you (the lab member) and the PI.
After you have joined these main channels, make sure you are added into the lab meeting’s discussion channel and the Social-Casual channel.

3. Schedule a weekly Zoom meeting with Dr. Roman-Palacios. Please DM availability via mattermost, or email Dr. Roman-Palacios cromanpa@arizona.edu as soon as possible to schedule.

Some of these meetings will include a set of professional development questions aimed at helping you achieve success in your career after your lab experience with us.
Some of these meetings will focus on making sure your github repo can run on somebody else’s computer other than your own. Make sure to keep this in mind when developing your project.

4. Other Communication and Onboarding Information

A group lab meeting will also be scheduled early during the semester, please prepare yourself to provide your weekly availability for an additional 1-hour meeting.
If you will be a lab member on campus and want access to our lab/office facilities, contact your PI for a request for keys. He will arrange with administration to provide you with all necessary keys for access.
Let the lab manager or PI know of any resources you might need to work on your project without technical difficulties.
Make sure the lab manual has been shared with you for reference on all lab policies (Nextcloud and in the Lab's Wiki website).
Please provide @kennedygezella on Mattermost with a brief description of your work in the lab and your research experience. Please provide her with your contact info and any of your personal website profiles (e.g. LinkedIn, ResearchGate) that you would like to have listed in your profile section of our own website.
Make sure to schedule a headshot photo session for you to be part of our lab website. Kindly request the lab manager to start the process sometime during your semester in the lab, preferably schedule during your first month of joining. The lab manager will provide you with lab specific guidelines for the headshot session.
(Postdocs) Make sure that you have access to the lab’s “Postdoctoral Resources Guide” through Nextcloud.

5. Code-versioning (optional, if your project will use of any programming-related tool): Please keep your GitHub repo updated at all times

Create a GitHub account
Fork repo using the following link: https://classroom.github.com/a/iABe4dKW
Change the name of the repo. For instance, if you are working on a project named “Machine Learning and Housing prices” rename to “ML_Housing”.
This repo will be private. However, the PI and any staff member in the lab will have access to it.
Are you working with another student? Please invite them to your repo (as admins). You can find this option under Settings within your repo.
Please get used to GitHub and Git. Feel free to reach out to the lab manager or PI for training (if needed).
Please update the README.
Keep track of any code-related progress/changes in this repo.
Request the addition of your GitHub project repository to the header of your Mattermost project channel.

6. File manager: Please keep all your project-related files in this directory.

You will be invited to our cloud server: (Nextcloud) where you will be promoted to further set up your account.
(Optional) Download Nextcloud’s desktop app (https://nextcloud.com/install/ ).
Request the creation and/or direct access to a folder for your project in Nextcloud to Cristian Roman.
If applicable, make sure this folder has the same name as in your repo (section 5 above).
Review the folder’s structure and contents (Figures, Supplement, 1_proposal.docx, 2_ms.docx).
Request the addition of your newly created folder to be linked to your Mattermost project channel.

7. Synology NAS Backups

If you are a lab member who is on campus, schedule an in-lab meeting with Cristian Roman, he should be able to give you direct access to our local Network Attached Storage and instructions on how to upload data to it when you are on campus. Please complete at least 1 back up per semester.
If you are a lab member who is not on campus make sure to keep relevant data in your Nextcloud folder and request a NAS back up of it to Cristian Roman at least once a semester.

8. Only Office

Only office is an open source document editor. We have replaced Microsoft office suites with OnlyOffice, and is integrated in Nextcloud.

It is recommended to download the desktop client for onlyoffice in order to access documents via Nextcloud, as it tends to open them faster. Link for download: https://www.onlyoffice.com/download-desktop.aspx
If you need training for OnlyOffice, please reach out to the lab manager or PI.

9. While working on your project remember to:

Keep constant communication with the PI through Mattermost.
Keep your GitHub repository up to date. Work in different branches if you are collaborating in GitHub.
Any write-up necessary should be included in “2_ms.docx” in your project’s Nextcloud dedicated folder
Meet with the PI once a week and lab manager once every 2 weeks (or as planned).
Regularly back up your data in the local NAS.

10. Be sure to complete the following onboarding agreement contract within a week of completing your onboarding session: Onboarding Agreement

11. Have you reached the end of your project? Congrats!

Review the off-boarding documentation by requesting access to it from the lab manager or by finding a direct link to it in the “Welcome to the Data Diversity Lab” playbook documentation in Mattermost.