The future of the postdoc

Powell, Kendall

doi:10.1038/520144a

Cited by 152 publications

(104 citation statements)

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“…Increasing opportunities for young basic-science PIs by remedying factors viii and ix will require better mentoring as discussed by many (40)(41)(42)(43)(44)(45). Factor v suggests increasing the number of K99 postdocs (40) who are funded individually and not through the R01 grants of their supervisor.…”

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confidence: 99%

Future of fundamental discovery in US biomedical research

Levitt

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Young researchers are crucially important for basic science as they make unexpected, fundamental discoveries. Since 1982, we find a steady drop in the number of grant-eligible basic-science faculty [principal investigators (PIs)] younger than 46. This fall occurred over a 32-y period when inflation-corrected congressional funds for NIH almost tripled. During this time, the PI success ratio (fraction of basic-science PIs who are R01 grantees) dropped for younger PIs (below 46) and increased for older PIs (above 55). This age-related bias seems to have caused the steady drop in the number of young basic-science PIs and could reduce future US discoveries in fundamental biomedical science. The NIH recognized this bias in its 2008 early-stage investigator (ESI) policy to fund young PIs at higher rates. We show this policy is working and recommend that it be enhanced by using better data. Together with the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program to reward senior PIs with research time in exchange for less funding, this may reverse a decades-long trend of more money going to older PIs. To prepare young scientists for increased demand, additional resources should be devoted to transitional postdoctoral fellowships already offered by NIH.

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confidence: 99%

Future of fundamental discovery in US biomedical research

Levitt

2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Increasing the number of tenure-track-style positions, as desirable as that might be, seems unlikely given the current market trends in science funding. By addressing the demand end, it has also been suggested that the size of individual labs should be decreased to reduce the number of trainees that must be moved into faculty positions (Martinson 2007;Powell 2015). While these proposed reforms are thoughtful and wellintentioned, they do not address the current problem of the oversupply of talented researchers and the funding models that rely on large numbers of low-paid trainees to get work done.…”

Section: Box 1 the Phd "Path" To A Tenure-track Positionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new paradigm for science: nurturing the ecosystem

Lancaster

Thessen

Virapongse

2018

Preprint

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The institutions of science are in a state of flux. Declining public funding for basic science, the increasingly corporatized administration of universities, increasing “adjunctification” of the professoriate and poor academic career prospects for postdoctoral scientists indicate a significant mismatch between the reality of the market economy and expectations in higher education for science. Solutions to these issues typically revolve around the idea of fixing the career "pipeline", envisioned being a pathway from higher-education training to a coveted permanent position, and then up a career ladder until retirement. In this paper, we propose and describe the term “ecosystem” as an appropriate way to conceptualize today’s scientific training and the professional landscape of the scientific enterprise. First, we highlight the issues around the concept of “fixing the pipeline”. Then, we articulate our ecosystem metaphor by describing a series of concrete design patterns that draw on peer-to-peer, decentralized, co-operative, and commons-based approaches to creating a new dynamic scientific enterprise.

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“…Doctorates are also offered jointly by collaborating institutions in different countries, by institutions operating outside their home countries, and through distance education. The graduates of today's research doctoral programs work in roles and settings that were unimaginable in earlier times" (see also Schuster and Finkelstein 2006;Cyranoski et al 2011;Powell 2015). So the implication of a closed, autarkic system of UK PhDs and UK jobs strikes me as missing some important ways in which UK institutions often export their PhD expertise to jobs abroad and vice versa.…”

Section: Andrew Bevanmentioning

confidence: 99%

When You are more Likely to Die of Cancer than Become an Academic: What is the Role of PhD students?

2016

Papers From the Institute of Archaeology

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The future of the postdoc

Cited by 152 publications

References 0 publications

Future of fundamental discovery in US biomedical research

Future of fundamental discovery in US biomedical research

A new paradigm for science: nurturing the ecosystem

When You are more Likely to Die of Cancer than Become an Academic: What is the Role of PhD students?

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