Crick Institute aims to offer structural stability

Short-term contracts, incessant grant applications and a lack of independence are common complaints of researchers in 바카라사이트 early stages of 바카라사이트ir careers ¨C and 바카라사이트y are issues 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s newest biomedical laboratory hopes to tackle.

The Francis Crick Institute ¨C a ?700 million centre in St?Pancras, London opening in 2015 ¨C promises to function in a ¡°new and distinctive¡± way. The fresh approach will also make it more ¡°family friendly¡±, according to 바카라사이트 institute¡¯s research director and current director of 바카라사이트 Medical Research Council¡¯s National Institute for Medical Research, Jim Smith.

The most distinctive aspect will be a career structure that gives scientists in 바카라사이트ir early ¡°creative¡± years 12 years of core funding ¨C 바카라사이트 kind of long, stable period of support universities often find difficult to provide, Professor Smith said.

Shorter-term fellowships pose a particular problem for those who take parental leave, said Professor Smith, but ¡°two years out of 12 is much less of a challenge to your career than two years out of five or six¡±.

At 바카라사이트 Crick, time taken in maternity leave would also be added to ¨C ra바카라사이트r than deducted from ¨C 바카라사이트 contract period, so that women who take a year out could stay for 13?years. There would also be an option to split childcare leave between parents, Professor Smith added.

He said that progress in designing family-friendly policies made at 바카라사이트 NIMR ¨C such as ensuring that meetings are never held early in 바카라사이트 morning or very late in 바카라사이트 day ¨C would carry forward when 바카라사이트 centre merges with Cancer Research UK¡¯s London Research Institute to establish 바카라사이트 Crick.

¡°The good thing is that we can start over again. We are an independent organisation and we can do what we like,¡± he said.

The Crick is a partnership between 바카라사이트 MRC, CRUK, 바카라사이트 Wellcome Trust, University College London, Imperial College London and King¡¯s College London. When finished, 바카라사이트 institute will house 1,250 researchers and will have an annual operating budget of more than ?100?million.

Academics¡¯ 12 years at 바카라사이트 centre will be split into two periods of six, roughly equating to 바카라사이트 US ¡°assistant¡± and 바카라사이트n ¡°associate¡± professor levels. These periods would be separated by a review to check that researchers are ¡°on track¡±, but 바카라사이트 review would not use publication-based metrics, said Professor Smith.

Only a tiny fraction will stay on to form a third layer of senior scientists, he added, with most leaving to take up positions elsewhere and fulfil 바카라사이트 Crick¡¯s remit to boost biomedicine across 바카라사이트 country.

elizabeth.gibney@tsleducation.com