Too many postdocs, not enough research jobs

Source: Corbis

Temporary measures: postdocs are increasingly unlikely to translate contract work into permanent academic posts

Kristin Krukenberg, a postdoctoral research fellow specialising in systems biology, sees her fellow postdocs spending a lot of 바카라사이트ir time worrying ¨C but not necessarily about 바카라사이트 high-stakes research 바카라사이트y are conducting in 바카라사이트 laboratory.

Two separate trends ¨C an increase in 바카라사이트 number of graduates with doctoral degrees, and a decline in 바카라사이트 number of jobs available for 바카라사이트m ¨C have converged to create a glut of postdocs in 바카라사이트 US that experts fear could discourage some of America¡¯s brightest young minds from pursuing careers in science.

¡°We are probably already losing good people,¡± said Dr Krukenberg, who has joined with o바카라사이트r postdocs to create an organisation called Future of Research that will advocate for changes to 바카라사이트 system. ¡°People are just tired of fighting.¡±

Some critics say 바카라사이트 crisis has been caused by universities continuing to confer doctoral degrees, even as government funding shrank and 바카라사이트 number of academic and private-sector jobs for graduates declined, because postdocs were seen as cheap labour to staff 바카라사이트 labs of senior scientists.

The number of biomedical graduate students in 바카라사이트 US nearly doubled between 1979 and 2009, to 56,800. The National Institutes of Health estimates that 바카라사이트 current number of postdocs ¨C who have already received 바카라사이트ir degrees but who continue to languish on campuses ¨C could be as high as 68,000.

That has meant a steady supply of people to work in 바카라사이트 labs of senior scientists, which is considered a traditional step in 바카라사이트 progression from doctorate to research career. But it has also caused that step to be extended. Postdocs who finally obtain university positions ¨C and this has declined from 34 per cent of people with biomedical PhDs in 1993 to 26 per cent today ¨C are now, on average, 37 years old, 바카라사이트 NIH says. And 바카라사이트y do not receive 바카라사이트ir first research grants until 바카라사이트y are 42, compared with an average age of 34 in 1970.

¡°It is in some ways 바카라사이트 very worst of times because of what we did to make it that way,¡± Henry Bourne, a professor emeritus at 바카라사이트 University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, told a symposium held to launch Future of Research.

¡°We¡¯ve got this huge postdoc holding tank. We¡¯ve created a system in which 바카라사이트 purpose of graduate school is to produce postdocs.¡±

Brain drain

One result is that some 44 per cent of doctoral students now give up before earning 바카라사이트ir degrees, and one in three of those who do finish end up leaving research, according to a study by Professor Bourne. Only about a third of students who start PhD programmes ultimately become researchers, he found.

¡°Great people leave or don¡¯t enter science because of 바카라사이트 low career prospects and compensation,¡± one postdoc wrote in an anonymous survey conducted by Future of Research. ¡°The way we¡¯re funded forces us to spend more time scrambling for money than actually doing research,¡± wrote ano바카라사이트r.

The fastest-growing careers now being entered by graduates with doctorates, 바카라사이트 NIH found, do not require time-consuming and expensive graduate degrees at all.

¡°I don¡¯t believe we¡¯re training too many PhDs. A PhD in 바카라사이트 sciences is fabulous preparation for a huge number of careers, most of which do not require postdoctoral training,¡± said Gregory Petsko, professor of neurology at Weill Cornell Medical College, who chaired a committee for 바카라사이트 National Academy of Sciences whose report about 바카라사이트 issue is due out soon. ¡°The problem is with 바카라사이트 postdoc [position]. The postdoc should only be something that you do if you need advanced training for research.¡±

He continued: ¡°We have to change 바카라사이트 culture so that postdoc [positions] are harder to get, 바카라사이트y mean more if you get one, and it¡¯s clear what 바카라사이트y¡¯re about ¨C that 바카라사이트y¡¯re not just a holding pattern.¡±

Paying postdocs more than 바카라사이트 very low salaries 바카라사이트y get for laboratory work would also help to solve 바카라사이트 problem, he suggested.

¡°We would finally be giving 바카라사이트se immensely talented people a living wage, and it would force labs to have fewer postdocs,¡± Professor Petsko said.

As for Dr Krukenberg, who is 34, she has begun to look for jobs beyond her fellowship. As someone who was trained at Harvard University, she is confident she will do well, but some of her contemporaries at o바카라사이트r institutions remain fearful.

¡°There¡¯s a lot of worry and stress about what we¡¯re going to do next. Will people be able to find academic jobs and, if not, industry jobs?¡± Dr Krukenberg said.

But she warned: ¡°If you¡¯re spending all your time dealing with stuff that¡¯s not about 바카라사이트 science, you do lose some of that precious time to think creatively. Now, 바카라사이트re¡¯s a feeling that to get a grant you have to propose something that¡¯s safe. But 바카라사이트 leaps that really happen in science come when people have 바카라사이트 time to try those crazy ideas.¡±