Welcome to PopEcol!
Welcome to the group, we’re glad you’re here! Here are the practical things worth knowing in your first weeks.
More guides for group members (on updating the website, funding, thesis writing and using AI) are in PopEcol Documents. A shortcut from the website: click the “L” of the POPECOL banner.
Slack and Zoom
We talk to each other on Slack. If you’re not in our Slack workspace yet, ask your supervisor for an invitation. You can use it in the browser or in the Slack app. Most conversations happen in #popecol.
For video calls we use Zoom. Our main Zoom room is popecol.org/zoom; if it’s busy, try popecol.org/zoom2. Zoom will ask for a passcode: any group member can give it to you. 🥐
Help with admin
Our admin assistant is Judith Baumgartner. She works for several groups in the department, and you’ll find her in room Y38-M-16.
Group meetings
We meet every Tuesday at 9 am in room Y19-M-98. If you can’t be there in person, join on Zoom.
The group calendar
We keep a shared Google calendar so everyone knows who is where. Whenever you’re not in the office, put it in the calendar: working from home or elsewhere, conferences, workshops, field trips, holidays, sick leave. Please also add anything relevant to the group, like internal talks or academic visitors.
To get access, ask Judith for an invitation. Tell her the email address you use for your Google account: if the invitation goes to another address, the calendar won’t open.
Your page on the website
We’d love every group member to have a personal page on our website. To add or update yours, post in #website on Slack and mention @Claude. The guide for updating popecol.org explains what to send.
Our computing server
We have our own local server for computing (RStudio Server and a job queue for long or heavy jobs), set up and run by Tim Vink. To get an account, sign up at accounts.int.popecol.org and say in a line what you need it for; an admin then approves it. Before your first big job, read the short documentation. These addresses work on the UZH network and through the UZH VPN. For access from elsewhere, or any other question, ask in #intranet on Slack.
Using AI
AI tools are changing how we do science. Before you use them for your analyses or writing, please read Using AI in PopEcol: it’s short, and it explains how we work with them as a group.
The group supports a yearly subscription to an AI coding assistant (Claude Code or ChatGPT Codex) with up to 100 CHF per person, MSc students included: send the receipt to Judith once a year. Before you start, read what not to upload.
Books
We keep a scientific library of over 500 titles, in print and as e-books; you’ll find the list of all of them at libib.com/u/popecol. Everyone in the group has access to our group folder on the department’s file server. In Groups > Ozgul > PopEcol_Library you’ll find our e-books on ecology and evolution, methods and writing, some useful guides, and all our PhD, MSc and BSc theses. The theses are a great way to see how others before you did it!
Keep track of what you do
We record our talks, grants and other achievements in a Google spreadsheet. Please add yours when they happen: we use it to put together the annual reports.
The same spreadsheet also lists useful courses and workshops.
Journal and book club
Every week we get together to ‘talk science’. Time, place and reading are announced in #journal_club on Slack.
Seminars
The department’s seminar programme lists upcoming speakers.
Fun outside work
Every May, the sporty among us and friends of PopEcol run as the Residuals in the SOLA-Stafette, a relay race in and around Zurich. If you’d like to join, come to #sola on Slack.
Other get-togethers are announced in #social, and some have their own channels (e.g., #birding, #ecothlon).
Working hours and home office
We usually work 9:00–17:00, but there’s room for flexibility around your schedule and other commitments.
You’re welcome to work remotely one day a week: just add it to the group calendar. For a second remote day, check with Judith or Arpat first.
If you’re sick, take care of yourself and focus on getting better! Just let Judith or Arpat know and mark it in the calendar. The same goes when plans change: update the calendar and give them a heads-up.
The idea is simply to keep everyone in the loop and make working together easier.
The department’s file server
The department has a file server for shared files, including our group folder (Groups > Ozgul). Connect to it with your UZH short name and password (on Windows, as UZH\yourshortname):
- Mac: in the Finder, Go > Connect to Server, then
smb://idnas37.d.uzh.ch/G_IEU_FS$ - Windows:
\\idnas37.d.uzh.ch\G_IEU_FS$