• A supervisor asks a student to perform experiments related to their project for an upcoming grant deadline.
• A supervisor tells a student that they will have to put more effort into their research because their research progress is not satisfactory. The supervisor suggests that the student should consider their time in the program as a full-time job.
• A supervisor informs a student that their academic work is late and consequently, feedback may not arrive in time to meet deadlines.
• A postdoctoral fellow who is struggling confides in their supervisor and requests some flexibility in work hours. The supervisor provides support and adjusts expectations accordingly. The supervisor advises the postdoctoral fellow that the project, which is funded, must keep advancing, but that they will be kept appraised of progress.

A supervisor asks a student to complete experiments for multiple projects and to train new students, but the student has no clear project direction and fails to progress. The student is used as “cheap labour”. Alternatively, a supervisor berates a student for not producing enough data or the desired data, despite effort to do so.

A supervisor expects a student to be in the lab every day, including weekends and to be available after normal work hours to discuss research progress. Holidays are refused.

A supervisor yells at a student for late submission of work using pejoratives and derogatory epithets, alone or in front of other labs.

A postdoctoral fellow who is struggling confides in their supervisor and requests some flexibility in work hours. The supervisor tells the postdoctoral fellow that they will take the project away and that “only the strong make it through my lab with good references”.