1. Lab Vision and Research Goals

The Functional Vision Lab exists to understand how the visual mechanisms underlying learning and cognition develop in early childhood, and to turn that understanding into screening and intervention tools that work for the full diversity of children — across languages, scripts, and socioeconomic contexts. India gives us a rare scientific opportunity: a vast, multilingual population with enormous variation in educational environments. We take that opportunity seriously, and we take the responsibility that comes with it — to children, to schools, and to each other — just as seriously.

Beyond the science, my goal is to train the next generation of rigorous, ethical, and independent researchers. Whatever your role in the lab — Master's student, RA, volunteer, PhD student, or postdoc — you are here to learn, contribute, and grow, and I am here to support that.

A few things I care about deeply, and hope you will too:

• Open, reproducible science. Code and data are shared within the lab. We aim to publish code and data alongside manuscripts and to preprint our work where possible.
• Rigor over speed. We are working with children and with a system (Indian schools, families, and communities) that has trusted us with access. That trust is earned through careful, honest science — not by cutting corners to hit a deadline.
• Genuine collaboration. Different people bring different skills — psychophysics, coding, fieldwork, working with schools and families. We win by teaching each other, not by hoarding expertise.
• Open disagreement. You will not always agree with me or with each other, and that's fine — I want to hear it. Good science depends on people feeling safe enough to push back.

— Maha

2. Code of Conduct

To do good science together, we need clear expectations for how we treat each other. These are non-negotiable.

Essential policies

The lab does not tolerate harassment, discrimination, or misconduct of any kind — this includes conduct related to race, caste, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, region, or language. This applies to every member of the lab regardless of role, seniority, or how long they've been here.

• Discrimination and casteism. India's academic spaces carry their own history of caste-, region-, and language-based exclusion alongside more familiar forms of discrimination. We take all of these seriously. Slurs, jokes, exclusionary behaviour, or differential treatment on any of these grounds will not be tolerated.
• Sexual harassment. IIT Gandhinagar has a statutory Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013. Complaints can be raised confidentially to any ICC member. Details: iitgn.ac.in/icc.
• Ragging and bullying. IIT Gandhinagar's Honour Code explicitly prohibits ragging, bullying, and physical, verbal, or emotional abuse, including online harassment. See iitgn.ac.in/students/honourcode.
• Scientific misconduct. Fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism will not be tolerated, nor will research practices that risk the wellbeing of our participants.

3. Lab Culture

Confidentiality

Personal matters shared with the lab or with me are confidential unless you explicitly say otherwise. Don't share someone else's sensitive information without their consent.

Shared spaces

• Check before scheduling a meeting or bringing a guest into shared space.
• Use headphones for music; step out for long calls.
• Respect others' need for quiet, cleanliness, and focus time.
• If you're unwell, work from home if you can.

4. Working With Children and Schools

• Consent and assent. No child participates without documented parental/guardian consent and age-appropriate child assent.
• Child protection. All lab members working directly with children must be briefed on our child-safety protocols before their first session.
• Data privacy. Data from children is de-identified as early in the pipeline as possible and handled with extra care.
• School and community relationships. We are guests in the schools and communities we work with. Be professional, punctual, and respectful.

5. Practicalities

• Work hours. Academic hours are flexible, but we expect meaningful overlap with core hours (roughly 10am–6pm).
• Leave and vacation. Discuss planned leave with me in advance (about 2 weeks' notice where possible).
• Health and family leave. You're entitled to medical leave, and the reason is yours to keep private if you wish.
• Communication. WhatsApp and email are our main channels.
• Coding and open science. Everyone working in the lab is expected to build basic coding fluency and to keep code and data organised.

6. Role-Related Responsibilities

a. Principal Investigator

• Timely, substantive feedback on your project ideas, analyses, code, manuscripts, and talks.
• Regular meetings, and availability by email/WhatsApp between them.
• Active support for your next step — introductions, letters of recommendation.
• Your wellbeing comes first, ahead of any deadline.

b. Everyone

• Teamwork. Ask for help when you need it; give it when you can.
• Lab meetings. Present your work at least once or twice a year.
• Reading and discussion. Stay current with the literature relevant to your project.

7. Mentorship

Mentorship goes both ways. Mentors owe their mentees clear expectations, regular check-ins, and honest, constructive feedback. Mentees owe their mentors clarity about what they need and realistic effort on agreed tasks.

For prospective volunteers, interns, or RAs reaching out to join the lab: I read every inquiry, and where I don't have capacity myself, I'll try to connect you with someone in the lab who does.

8. Authorship

• Basis for authorship. Would this project be where it is without this person's contribution? This can be intellectual, methodological, or technical.
• When it's discussed. Authorship and author order are revisited as the team and contributions evolve, and explicitly discussed before submission.
• Order. First author = led the project; senior/last author = PI; middle authors ordered by contribution.
• Documentation. The project lead should keep a simple running note of who did what.

9. Where to Go When Issues Arise

• Lab level. Start with me if you can. If the issue involves me, talk to a senior lab member.
• Institute level. Academic grievances: Ombudsman — iitgnombudsman@iitgn.ac.in. Sexual harassment: ICC — iitgn.ac.in/icc.
• Wellbeing. IIT Gandhinagar's counselling and wellness services are available to all students and staff.