October 05, 2014

Is the "ongoing PostDocs Crisis"a symptom of Broader problems Plaguing BioMedical Research, Are the PostDocs a Grunt work force of today's Science?

Chart/Illustration/Pic from Boston Globe news-Link
The "plight of PostDocs"has become a major crisis of the Science/biomedical research field, however, where is the crux of the problem lies?. It is the  academic structure itself is the basis for this terrible young scientists crisis. While the awareness about impending issue amongst the postdocs, academics and administrators is slowly picking up steam after almost a Decade of our UCONN Health Center Postdocs Unionization, the mainstream media and scientific media broadly ignored this topic. Seems like they are ready to write about it, I am hoping it is time they too come forward and participate, create and raise awareness about the plight of postdocs and that is actually the plight of our todays scientific research field. The following Boston globe "Metro" news piece seems like a step in that direction of mainstream participation.
             Gary McDowell, 29 a Biology student reveals the cliff of PostDocs crisis, he quotes that the lab bench work and research for these PostDocs is like a "Grunt Work Force", he and other postdocs hopes this Guttural Hogs condition of postdocs changes sooner than later to avoid burnout and major crisis to the scientific research field. 

If there is anything one can learn about the PostDocs issue, it is pretty pathetic and serious...........................Read further into this news piece to know the plights of PostDocs, read further to know what Carolyn has to say about the PostDocs Plight.

Some Quotes from this news piece: Yellow Highlighted
  toiling in obscurity in a low-paying scientific apprenticeship that can stretch more than a decade
this is like captured from My Blogs header, but means and sounds what I meant in the header
But in recent years, the postdoc position has become less a stepping stone and more of a holding tank.
How low can you equate these great makers of science and medicine, -Just a Supply vs Demand, that sucks:
Some of the smartest people in Boston are caught up in an all-but-invisible crisis, mired in a biomedical underclass as federal funding for research has leveled off, leaving the supply of well-trained scientists outstripping demand.
The hero of this news piece, Gary, a Biology PostDocs says this "
 “There’s this huge labor force here to do the bench work, the grunt work of science. But then there’s nowhere for them to go; this massive pool of postdocs that accumulates and keeps growing.”
about PostDocs, Carolyn writes, is it real or a myth?:
they are both future leaders and the workers who carry out experiments crucial for science to advance. 
It is Certainly true and real on the tongue and in books, or perhaps on this news piece, but not real when it comes to rewards or recognition, they are treated like some kind of "extra pair of hands"- a lab or postdoc jargon. It is not real to see the PostDocs treated and respected that way, no not at all, their screams are like Guttural....!! you heard that from Gary...remember?.
Well, as a former PostDoc, an Advocate and the PostDoc Unionization Pioneer, though I moved up a million miles above the PostDoc's stage after two successful and great, productive postdoc positions and a jaunt at the Yale Medical School,  I can say what Gary or other postdocs lamented in this news piece about their plight is just an understatement and it is rather dire. I wish that future leaders and experts get their share and recognition, respect in due time, not at the end of their life. The bottom line is this damn academic structure, funding and functioning of scientific research needs "Service and overhaul" without that the plights of postdocs "will never change much to the level of appreciation".

Oh I like these lines so much, this is a much needed step towards some action
The plight of postdocs has become a point of national discussion among senior scientists, as their struggles have come to be seen as symptoms of broader problems plaguing biomedical research. After years of rapid growth, federal funding abruptly leveled off and even contracted over the last decade, leaving a glut of postdocs vying for a limited number of faculty jobs. Paradoxically, as they’ve gotten stuck, the pursuit of research breakthroughs has also become reliant on them as a cheap source of labor for senior scientists.
 they do seems like follow a "Well-Worn Pathy?--
Biomedical research training traditionally has followed a well-worn path. After college, people who want to pursue an advanced degree enroll in graduate school. The vast majority of biology graduate students then go on to do one or more postdoc positions, where they continue their training, often well into their 30s.
they are like "invisible people", but their toil and struggle in the lab for more than 40 hours get  good funding and promotions for their Supervior and lab chief, but what do these little fellows get?
Their progress is very poorly tracked; the leader of a national report on the state of postdocs has called them “invisible people.” The National Institutes of Health estimates there are somewhere between 37,000 and 68,000 postdocs in the country. Salaries vary, but rarely reflect their level of education. The NIH stipend ranges from $42,000 a year for a starting postdoc, up to $55,272 for a seventh year.
and how long they and how many years they toil to reach for independent research jobs? but yet the majority do not attain that target in real world
 Their progress is very poorly tracked; the leader of a national report on the state of postdocs has called them “invisible people.” The National Institutes of Health estimates there are somewhere between 37,000 and 68,000 postdocs in the country. Salaries vary, but rarely reflect their level of education. The NIH stipend ranges from $42,000 a year for a starting postdoc, up to $55,272 for a seventh year.
there is no proper teenable models, not just some but most of them are not....
 “Some of the models we see don’t seem tenable in the long run,” Krukenberg said.
sure do the senior scientists, some of them agree with this, but many are oblivious and do not care for PostDocs
 Many senior scientists, who may fondly remember their own postdocs days, agree that laboratories have grown too bloated. As the cost of conducting research and the number of institutions doing such work have increased, science has outgrown the traditional model in which trainees are also the worker bees, they say.
game is changed but there is no game changer for postdocs
 “The game is changed, and what should be a wonderful time in people’s lives is, in many cases, a time of great, great anxiety and unhappiness.”
I think, Casey has done something good for himself, not worrying about years of his postdoc field and experience, he found an alternative way to prosper and progress
If there is one problem amongst PostDocs, is this one. Are they brain dead or what to go caught up with this cobbled web of Postdoctoring?, why not change your aims, goals and directions, why not think out of the box, why not use your creativity for something else in this world. Instead of that futile "faculty" job or academic career?. I wish PostDocs come out of their grunt work force and use their talents. Yes, the academy is broken and useless to reform, there is no one to listen to you, look at the scientific funding, some damn representatives may fund millions and millions of dollars for worthless areas in America but they do not want to provide even basic amount of funding used to be allocated for scientific research, so what is the use in screaming, just find an alternative and use your talents.  Here is a guy who did exactly that....
Casey Ydenberg’s path illustrates how easy it is to follow a dream and find oneself locked in a career track without a destination.
Ydenberg, 33, has an impressive resume: he earned a PhD at Princeton, then went for a postdoc at Brandeis. This summer, a decade into his training, he realized that not only were the odds of getting a faculty job against him, but he didn’t think he really wanted one. He felt burnt out.
Today, Ydenberg is pursuing a job that gives him real joy, building websites. He isn’t bitter; he cherishes his memories of graduate school. But he uses none of his formal training and thinks there should be more conversations, earlier, about future careers so that people don’t spend as long honing research skills that may not prove relevant.
For Postdocs plight to change, not only reformation and changes are needed immediately, but also the postdocs instead of being caught in the vicious cycle, must think out of the box and out of the routine or out of the ordinary, do not suck into this mundane daily routines of lab work.

Glut of postdoc researchers stirs quiet crisis in science By

 | Globe Staff   October 05, 2014

“It’s sunk in that it’s by no means guaranteed — for anyone, really — that an academic position is possible,” said Gary McDowell, 29, a biologist doing his second postdoc at Tufts University who hopes to set up his own lab in a few years. “There’s this huge labor force here to do the bench work, the grunt work of science. But then there’s nowhere for them to go; this massive pool of postdocs that accumulates and keeps growing.”

August 06, 2014

PostDocs in the UK: Do the University employed PostDocs have better "Output" than others, study says Yes.

Univresity PostDocs vs PostDocs in other Places (like industry, institutions and pvt labs?)

In this interesting "Exploratory" research study, carried out by PLOS One, those postdocs working in the university set up seems to have more publications or demonstrated a better out put compared to those who employed in industry or pvt labs or institutions etc., in the academic world the out put of an individual (postdoc or faculty or graduate) is mostly measured by how many papers one can publish. It is so important for PostDocs than a graduate or for that matter even for a faculty. As the faculties enjoy University job and its advantages, the PostDocs are like asylum seekers inside a faculties lab to train themselves for the future. While Faculties too must work hard and get papers in order to survive and get promotions and better salaries, it is the PostDoc who is in desperate need of papers and more papers published, and interestingly that is a good news for the faculty as they reap the benefits of having a bright and productive PostDocs in their lab increase the faculties promotion and prospects better than not having one. In simple words "The faculty gets best Bangs for their bucks hiring productive PostDocs". Anyways, this study is not about graduates or faculties, but about PostDocs who are in the university setup seems to have more output, better output than postdocs in other places. For PostDocs Paper Publications also translates better chances for future jobs, grants and tenure. The Plos One results are not surprising to me, coming from University background and considering how many paper I published quite successfully during my University PostDoc days.

 The survey of about 200 participants though a small number, but it is pretty reflective of the field, the study also found that PostDocs struggle about their future?;

Here is the Original Article and review:

Research Article

Postdoctoral Researchers in the UK: A Snapshot at Factors Affecting Their Research Output

  • Fatima M. Felisberti mail, Rebecca Sear

Abstract

Postdoctoral training is a typical step in the course of an academic career, but very little is known about postdoctoral researchers (PDRs) working in the UK. This study used an online survey to explore, for the first time, relevant environmental factors which may be linked to the research output of PDRs in terms of the number of peer-reviewed articles per year of PDR employment. The findings showed reliable links between the research output and research institutions, time spent as PDR, and parental education, whereas no clear links were observed between PDRs' output and research area, nationality, gender, number of siblings, or work environment. PDRs based in universities tended to publish, on average, more than the ones based in research centres. PDRs with children tended to stay longer in postdoctoral employment than PDRs without children. Moreover, research output tended to be higher in PDRs with fathers educated at secondary or higher level. The work environment did not affect output directly, but about 1/5 of PDRs were not satisfied with their job or institutional support and about 2/3 of them perceived their job prospects as “difficult”. The results from this exploratory study raise important questions, which need to be addressed in large-scale studies in order to understand (and monitor) how PDRs' family and work environment interact with their research output—an essential step given the crucial role of PDRs in research and development in the country.

also other news quotes:

Research output higher among postdocs in universities

Plos One study also reveals that parenthood has little impact on publishing productivity
Pile of research papersPostdoctoral researchers based in universities publish more on average than those based in research centres, according to new research.
The study, published in Plos One, also found that postdoctoral researchers with children tend to have the same research output as those without children.
And the survey of around 200 postdoctoral researchers revealed that two-thirds believe that their job prospects are “difficult”.

June 20, 2014

Open Access to Scientific Journals without Subscription, Postdocs fight to get Open access free for all and that I call a good activism...

Good work dear postdocs, keep up, any publicly funded research data, materials and articles must be freely available to all, there is no question about it..........subscription
Postdoc brings open access issue to the table
Jimmy O'Dea helped start a discussion at Cornell about an open-access policy.
Jimmy O’DeaCornell scientists report research discoveries almost every day, but to the nonacademic world, clicking on a link to a published paper usually leads to a pay wall, barring access without a journal subscription.
Many feel that such research – often paid for at least in part by public money – should be freely available to all inquiring minds, not just paid subscribers. Among them is Cornell postdoctoral research associate Jimmy O’Dea.

Guardian Blog article on PostDoc Jobs in UK: Academic Jobs are scarce but we're Optimistic??...Really?.

The Reader, visitors and PostDocs who is going to read this Blog article of the guardian must read some of the PostDocs comments, that is the real indication of what is the job trend, not the news as such....Read the comments...

 Young Scientists and their job prospect in UK, though this Guardian News paints a positive picture, when I browsed through the comments made by many PhD holders who are looking for jobs past several months and some of the years, its kind of negative. Not sure about the plights of postdocs looking for jobs in USA, as I left the academy long time ago... it is time someone here in US review the job prospective of newly awarded PhDs or postdocs looking for jobs....might be of use to the graduates who are enrolled in PhD degrees and to those who are continue to do their one to five postdocs?.

Postdoc diaries: academic jobs are scarce but we're optimistic

For six months, we've followed PhD graduates Mel and Dean in their hunt for a job. The final instalment sees them feeling positive about the future 
Remember childhood? Job-hunting seemed to be so much easier back then. I recall that I didn't even want my first few jobs. One day, my uncle told me that I needed "toughening up". So he gave me a job in construction that was actually more boring (eg mixing cement) than physically demanding.
For my second job, my friend convinced me to apply for work in silver service waiting with him. We learnt some valuable life lessons ("food is served from the right-hand side of the guest"), but we spent all our meagre wages on the fuel we needed to get us to work and back. (In frustration, we later set up our own company, so we could work on the things that we felt were important and would actually excite us.)

June 19, 2014

Academics take on the $400,000 salary for Administrators in Universities and institutions?, will the Canadian's campaign stir the money Pot in USA too?

For decades or as long as the academic system established, there was no scrutiny or challenge to the amount of salary paid to the so called Administrators, Deans, Vice-Chancellors etc, for the first time, a Canada based Academics facebook joke took a turn into a Campaigning, the Edmonton based group of academics are asking why is that a $400,000 (almost half a million dollar salary is given to an administrator in the university but the academics get paid 5 to 10 times lower salary than an administrator, yikes, is this the next union busting activism to happen after PostDoc Union?....

Academics Protest High Salaries of University Administrators

Tongue-in-cheek campaign highlights income disparity, program cuts

EDMONTON—After the job of president at the University of Alberta was advertised with a starting salary of $400,000, Kathleen Cawsey joked on Facebook with a fellow academic that they should jointly apply for the position and split the pay, making the point that they would both be better paid than they are currently.
A few other academic friends joined the conversation, and Cawsey, an associate professor of English at Dalhousie University, decided to get serious with the idea.
The joke then became a tongue-in-cheek campaign to apply in groups of four for the well-paid position. U of A’s current president is stepping down at the end of the month.
“I think we got 56 people who sent in applications in groups of four,” says Cawsey.

May 08, 2014

Woman PostDocs- what is their plight in Academy and Research?.


Inside Higher Eds recent Piece on Woman PostDocs:

PostDocs in general are not well paid that is the universal truth
why "PostDoc" Unions are upraising but there are issues within
PostDoc issues, that is the "Woman in PostDoc" or woman doing
PostDocs, what is their plight?. Looks like the following
piece written by Graduate Student Jennifer Bussell from
Rockefeller University discusses about that critical issue.

June 5, 2013
The message is loud, clear, and has reached cultural saturation: women are underrepresented at the top of highly competitive professions because they cannot reconcile the amount of time needed for such careers with the time they want to spend raising children. Just acknowledging this point has been a recent watershed moment for feminism, triggered by Anne-Marie Slaughter’s controversial Atlantic article and the release of Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In. Slaughter and Sandberg offer different views on exactly what’s holding women back, but both agree that much of it has to do with raising children. And, of course, each woman and critic has proposed an array of internal and structural changes to help improve work-life balance for women in highly competitive fields.
Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2013/06/05/essay-link-between-postdoc-pay-and-pipeline-women-science#ixzz319RK3YzR
Inside Higher Ed 

March 10, 2014

Jakarta: Lack of Enough PhDs Among the Indonesians?

Concerned with the lack of enough PhDs in the country, the Education and Culture Ministry encourages the nations researchers and students to pursue more PhDs. What the Indonesian Education and Culture ministry must do is to bring foreign PhDs to train the youngsters and students to embrace higher education leading to PhDs. You need a culture a better academic culture, better infrastructure and promote interests.
University World News: 
INDONESIA
Ministry needs more researchers with PhDs

Original Full News:-
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Wed, March 05 2014, 5:15 AM

The Education and Culture Ministry has encouraged the country’s researchers to get doctoral degrees as part of its efforts to improve the quality of higher education.
“We need to increase research in all sectors so that we can improve our education system and the quality of our human resources. We are willing to work together with anyone to achieve this goal [...],” the Education and Culture Minister, Muhammad Nuh, said at a Global Education Dialogue conference in Central Jakarta, on Monday.
The conference, organized by the British Council, aimed to promote collaboration between universities and research institutions in the UK, Australia and Indonesia.

March 06, 2014

PostDoc Unions:- How do Science Magazine and Nature Publications Look at it?.

Nature Publications Group (NPG) headquartered in London and The Science Magazine (AAA) based in Washington DC are the two leading science publishing groups quite well read and world wide known for their reputation to be the number one science publishers. But, it is ironic to notice that they have been on the other side of the fence with respect to PostDoc issues, quite touchy and distanced themselves to support postdoc organizing themselves, rather they openly opposed any such organizations for postdocs except of their own vested interest NPA like organizations.  From the day one Uconn Health Center (UCHC) PostDocs began to fight for their own voice to be heard by the management and the policy makers, most scientific groups and institutions kept their distance with organizing postdocs...! Why?..
.................both these scientific magazines been utterly negative about Unionization of PostDocs. If any of the readers, visitors and advocates have any idea and thoughts on why, I invite you to share it, there are several obvious reasons one can come up with and share here.

They continued their anti-postdoc attitudes in a very subtle manner so that the innocent or naive postdocs and young scientists around the world would not notice their "anti" stand. So that they can keep the naive postdocs in their loop without loosing postdoc readership of these magazines. The subtlety lies in their method of writing about postdocs, what they did is to create two groups of journalists insider their writers roster, one group will write in a postdoc union positive tone, and the other journalists will bash it and try to put the Union effort into trash, eventually they gave up once Unionization's emerged at Uconn........ they found a new love for postdocs by allocating more space and time after the Uconn Health Center's PostDoc unionization, the success of postdocs organization perhaps taught them a lesson, because postdocs put together far more powerful effort than these magazines ever thought?, and thereby the spread of postdoc unions led to some changes in their attitude towards writing about postdocs plight?.

The very mechanisms and the way these two science publishers approached this postdoc issues are pretty perplexing to someone who knows how things work at Nature and Science Magazine. I will provide some instances later, but after bashing the postdoc union for a long time (number of years?), both Nature and Science magazines slowly waking up and are coming to a realization now that it is too late to keep chanting the anti postdoc union mantra but move on writing "As IT IS" about postdoc issues. The following nature article is simply the most obvious display of the change of mind of Natures writers and editors, but science has done it's own part by letting Beryl write freely on PostDocs union without any constrain......!?. Time does bring changes to even the most notorious mindsets!................as I wrote earlier, no one can stop the Postdoc unionization spreading all over the world let alone in US...Bravo Uconn Health Center PostDocs!.

The Spread of "PostDocs Unions"
..............this is the latest news about postdoc penned by Virginia Gewin, I never heard of this name associated with postdoc issues but it is interesting to note how a genuine story can be told to the world in their narrowed outlook at times with their own little interpretation of what is happening in the world of PostDocs. This is a news publication stemmed from one of the Nature publications, NatureJobs.com, a division of nature publishing group (NPG). Nature for some reason did not like PostDocs getting unionized,  oh well, why would they and most corporations squirm at the thought of unions?

If you thought that was interesting to know, it gets even more interesting if you know how Science magazine and Alfred P.Sloan Foundation (supposed to have GM connections, they claim in their "about us" page that it is independent and no formal relationship with the General Motors Corporation, well yea, we believe it!!?) together put their heavy hands to create and support to a looser organization known as "National Postdoctoral Association". Though, there might have been some genuine reasons to create a body for PostDocs that represent all the US PostDocs, NPA was one of the least influential of such organization I ever seen, it is like for the heck of it they made an org? that has no vision or any record of helping postdocs, because it was a failure from it's very inception!.

When I was attending their very first meetings during 2003 (infact, the NPA gave me a travel fund to attend and present my views as a member of the PostDoc Union organizers from Uconn Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut. I was not sure about what their stand, and thought that they might be genuine supporter of postdocs cause, thought they are open minded and will have the right perspective about PostDoc Unions. What I noticed during the conference that there was not much interests among organizers and sponsors of this conference about postdoc Unions.The NPA folks at that time (2003) about 90% of them opposed the idea of postdoc union, or the union approach to resolve postdoc issues?. Their argument was an association like NPA will spearhead and fix issues without conflicts with PIs or Universities, whereas unions cannot?. I had attended this conference against my own colleagues advice not to participate, I kept a open mind to explore what is that NPA and the backers upto?. My colleagues who are fighting with the university for salaries, benefits and betterment of postdocs at UCONN thought that I might be sucked into the anti union gang and taken over by the NPA that I might leave the postdoc unionization efforts, they did not realize that I can't be swayed away by these organizations and such people!!, I came out of NPA with clear and strong views that Unionization is the best option for Postdocs and NPA is anti union.

They created this organization to fight the postdoc unions and made their effort to somehow stunt the growth beginning by opposing the first Postdoc union (ours?) and in that process NPA miserably failed. big upset for them?.

To be cont'd,,,,,,,,,,,,,,More to come....!!!

University of Toronoto PostDocs win Unionization Drive- Canada PostDocs Unionize.

CAUT & ACPPU Bulletin: Canada

Interesting news from our neighbors, the Canadian Postdocs are fighting for unionization, UofT is probably one of the first to win labor board certification and forming union, (I might be posting it bit later than the news release, nevertheless it is a good news and to be shared).

Postdocs at Toronto win unionization drive

 
altkeyword4 Postdoctoral scholars at the University of Toronto have been certified as a trade union by the Ontario Labour Relations Board, after a four-year organizing campaign. In the representation vote held in April, 73 per cent of postdocs voted in favour of unionization.

Postdocs whose salaries are paid by the UofT will be represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3902, and will become members of CAUT through that affiliation. The new bargaining unit will comprise approximately 600 postdocs, and will be the largest unionized group of postdocs in Canada.

Organizing efforts started in February 2009, when CUPE 3902 launched a drive to certify all postdocs at the university. An application was submitted to the OLRB five months later but the university challenged the application, arguing that postdocs were not employees and consequently not eligible for union representation. Although a vote was held, ballots were segregated and sealed while the parties litigated the challenge.
Read the full Article at the above bulletin Link
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
University of Toronto News:Postdoctoral Fellows vote for trade union certification
June 4, 2013To:       PDAD&C; Professional & Managerial Staff From:   Angela Hildyard, Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity
Re:       Postdoctoral Fellows vote for trade union certification
On April 26, 2013, Postdoctoral Fellows voted on whether they wished to proceed with a CUPE application for trade union certification. Yesterday afternoon, the ballot boxes were opened and the votes tallied. The results were in favour of trade union certification.
CUPE will represent a set of the Postdoctoral Fellows, and we await documentation from the Labour Relations Board confirming the membership of this group.
Link: http://www.hrandequity.utoronto.ca/about-hr-equity/news/2013news/pfvftuc.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------
 

Featured Post

Univerisity of Washington PostDocs Forming Union- Latest University PostDocs to Unionize!

University of Washington, yet another top notch higher education/research institute known for an impressive history and record setting, rig...

UC System & the Number of PostDocs?

How many PostDocs work at the UC system, this is one of the largest PostDoc group in US and probably in the world, what happens here can be a great event!. When things said and done on the PostDoc unionization, they will join the only Unionized PostDocs, the Uconn Health center Postdocs. Here is the latest numbers from the UC postdoc society website?

Postdocs in Numbers
UC Berkeley 1150
UC Davis 800
UC Irvine 344
UC Los Angeles 1110
UC Merced 20
UC Riverside 200
UC Santa Barbara 300
UC Santa Cruz 148
UC San Diego 907
UC San Francisco 1100
Total 6059

The above numbers are approximate and were correct to within 10 in
March 2008.


NeuroMonitoring- My Professional Blog

Subscribe to Neuromonitoring Companies in USA by Email

Academic Productivity, a Blog about Academia???

Academics salaries lower than automobile industry worker salary?

Though, a comparision between an academician and a autoworker is not the right choice to do a salary or work related benefits, it certainly brings an issue of importance. What exactly academic people get as a benefits is a daunting task?. Read further about the disparity of salary for academicians and the following thoughtful comments by readers of the blog.


From Mark J. Perry’s blog, I just learned that the average UAW worker with a high school degree earns 57.6% more compensation than the average university professor with a Ph.D. Considering that there are plenty of academic positions that do not enjoy the average salary mentioned in the blog post, this is something to worry about. Average Postdoc salaries according to the NSF are nowhere closer to this figure, and you have to add the uncertainty of these positions (they are always short-term) and mobility demands (expect to move to a different university sooner or later). And of course, academic work longer hours and suffer a lot more psychological stress than car factory workers.

PostDocs Out There!

What PostDocs Favor?

Postdocs favor top biomedical research institutes
Several of the world's top biomedical research institutes--including a couple run by biopharma giants--have made this year's list of the best places for postdocs to work. The annual ranking by The Scientist for the U.S. includes the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (4); U.T.'s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (5); Genentech (6); the Fox Chase Cancer Center (7) and the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research (15). Among the top international institutions ranked, the University of Cambridge in the UK jumped from 9th to first place, largely because of their focus on professional training.
The survey found that institutions which consistently rank at the top of the heap are noted for their ability to listen to postdocs' concerns "about uncertain career opportunities, work/life balance, and the need for first-rate professional development."

Some Science this Week?

cow pic LATEST HIGHLIGHT
Population genetics: Rich pastures for cattle genomics
Nature Reviews Genetics
1 April 2008
Two recent papers show how genomics approaches that are applied widely in humans can be put to use in an important livestock species. This Research Highlight discusses these advances — a new method for identifying large numbers of SNPs in cattle, and the use of SNP-based mapping to study inherited disorders in this species.

Interesting Little Piece on Diversity &

From Nature.com, Postdoc Journal

I'm an alien

Jon Yearsley is a senior postdoc in evolutionary genetics at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

Finding refuge in my science.

"Naturalisations en masse, STOP," is one of the more startling political posters that I pass as I cycle into work. The poster shows that the rights of foreigners are once more up for debate. This reminds me that I, as a Brit, am an alien in this European society.

When it comes to my research, the environment is as familiar as a decent pint of English ale and BBC Radio 4. The culture of science is truly international, and interesting research is exciting in any language. At the last count, my department was home to 18 nationalities, making it almost as diverse as the flowers in a Swiss alpine meadow. And rather than this turning into a Tower of Babel, science is done, null hypotheses are refuted, papers are published and impact factors are recorded.

My research gives a welcome dose of the familiar in what can sometimes be an unfamiliar culture. I wasn't brought up with alpine cows, wrapping my lips around french vowels or trying the odd yodel. The unfamiliar is fun, but I'm glad that my habitual pursuit, science, is an important one. Arguably, scientific method crosses national boundaries. I like to think that even a bug-eyed alien postdoc from a distant planet would find some common currency with earthling academics.

PostDocs Union: New Minimum Ssalary: $37, 740!!

SALARY AND STIPEND LEVELS

UCSF Graduate Division

Current University of California Office of the President, UCSF Graduate Division, and UCSF Graduate Council policies require that postdoctoral scholars receive a minimum compensation equal to $37,400 (effective October 1, 2009). This salary level was established by the UC Office of the President and was consistent with the NIH salary scale at time of announcement. [IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AGREEMENT REACHED WITH PRO/UAW, THE NEW MINIMUM SALARY FOR POSTDOCS WILL BE $37,740 AS OF 9/1/10. SEE THE UCOP WEBSITE FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. PLEASE CONTACT THE UCSF POSTDOC OFFICE IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS. (jeannine.cuevas@ucsf.edu or christine.desjarlais@ucsf.edu; ph 514-4852)]

UC PostDoc Union Proposal, now Public Document, Read it at the Link?

The union has been working to put together proposal to bring to the University. There was an election for the initial proposal ratification that passed in December. The union and the University have now exchanged proposals which are now public documents: 

(http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/employees/policies_employee_labor_relations/ne
ws_events/0901-heera_notice_px.html). 

There will be opportunity for public comment on these proposals (on both sides) Jan 20th at the UC administration building in Oakland, and also Feb 3rd. Laura encouraged PD to attend and comment. The first bargaining meeting between the union and the University will be held Feb 5th and 6th. The union will be conducting bargaining surveys over the next couple of months to get PD input, however PD must sign a card to give input. They are also conducting campus working conditions surveys to collect information on good and bad practices. The union will also be seeking authorization to go on strike if necessary during the bargaining process. This will be done through an election, no date has been set. PD who would like more information or have questions can contact Laura. Chair’s note: Laura confirmed that signing a card to give input does NOT enroll a person

PostDocs in Canada Unionize, win Union Battle?

Western’s Postdocs Win Union Battle
Postdoctoral associates at the University of Western Ontario will soon be bargaining a collective agreement as the latest in a growing number of postdocs that are unionizing at universities across North America.Western’s administration oppos­ed the union move, arguing that postdocs at the London campus were independent contractors who didn’t meet the legal definition of em­plo­­yees. The issue went before the On­­tario Labour Relations Board that ruled in favour of the more than 200 workers, certifying the Pu­blic Service Alliance of Ca­nada as their bargaining agent on Sept. 30.

PostDocs in India

How often you hear about PostDocs in general, and how often you hear news about PostDocs in India or China?. Which brings a question?, are there PostDoc jobs in India and China?. PostDocs in these countries is relatively a new development, remember the first time PostDoc was introduced in USA during 1870's, it was such a luxury, it was used to gain some special expertise to expand once background and it was not necessary to have a PostDoc in order to get a Job in Academia or in other arena's?. This is not the case today, it became so important to have PostDoc experience to get a decent job, and may be more than a couple of PostDoctoral position and even after such a prolonged procrastination in Academia, there are huge number of PostDocs life is a treacherous one?.... If this is the case in USA, just imagine in India and China?. PhD holders from India and China used to migrate in huge numbers to US, the conditions of PostDocs got gradually worsened in terms of salary, benefits, child care and future career opportunities, it became like a Slavery in Academia?.
PostDoc Salary is the most debated issue of all of a postdoc's life. So much happened in the past 10 years to PostDoc activities in US. The most profound activity was the postdoc unionization of the Uconn Health Center, followed by the unionization by the largest Postdoc campus in US or perhaps in the world the University of California campuses.
No one knows how terrible could be the postdoc conditions in developing poor nations like India and China, but there is certainly no information about many European, African, Asian and South American nations. Most of the postdoc data available thus far are from US, Canada, UK and the rest of the world's postdoc data is simply redundant?.
Two of the most important countries to watch for postdocs concern or PostDoc plights are India and China, these two nations alone bulk produce two- thirds of the PostDoc pool of this world, while most of them used to move out to either west, Europe or Australia, the trend is changing, more Indians look for the green pastures right there in India, I believe the same applies to Chinese youngsters.
But, is the Indian govt or higher education bodies do their jobs to keep postdocs career equitable and respectable?.
The answer is no, there is not even a body to monitor the welfare of postdocs, at least in US, there is NIH standard and there is the National Science Foundation and various other bodies that influence policy making for postdocs. On top of All the above the new found awareness of PostDocs in US catapulted by UCONN PostDocs after they Unionized? Their unionization is greatly helping a sea change in postdocs plight. Hope the postdocs in India and China watch and learn some lessons and start tightening the policy making to benefit the postdocs....!
So, what is happening to PostDocs in India, I could not find much news, but the Nature forum has a little bit of discussion going on......

This is a public forum

Postdoc Salary in India

Saturday, 21 Feb 2009 18:36 UTC

Hello All
I am Arun, pursuing postdoc in India. I am personally not satisfied with the postdoc stipend offered in India and I believe that the handful of students doing postdoc in India might concur with my view.

The low salaries offered to Postdocs in India is one of the major factor which is impelling Indian students to either pursue postdoc abroad or to join private R&D establishments. This is slowly devolving the scientific future of India.

Read Further:

The Plight of Japan's PostDocs?

The Fate of Japan's Postdocs and their obscure future?

Japan's postdocs open to alternative work

Toshiyuki Misu1 & Akira Horoiwa1

The government and universities must highlight non-academic careers and nurture a diverse skill set, say Toshiyuki Misu and Akira Horoiwa.

Postdocs in Japan have had a tough time finding permanent positions, either in academia or in the private sector. In a 2005 survey by the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) to identify postdocs' career intentions, we investigated people's awareness of and desire for non-traditional science jobs (NISTEP Report 161). We asked about 10% of the postdocs in Japan to participate, 66% of whom responded.


Rutgers PostDocs are on their way to Unionize successefully, FAQ!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I get involved with a postdoc union when I don’t plan on being around in a year?

If not you, then who? The postdocs who are currently employed at Rutgers have a vote over whether they and future generations of postdocs get to have a meaningful voice in determining their pay and working conditions. Also, any improvements we can make here can serve to raise standards for postdocs at other institutions across the country.

PostDoc Message Group

Click here to join 21st_CenturyPostdocs_YoungScientists
Click to join 21st_CenturyPostdocs_YoungScientists
All the rights of this blog "PostDoc World reserved
© 2006 Dr.Muni Global Education Foundation [MGEF]

UCLA PostDoc Union Negotiations with University?

Subject: Update on Postdoctoral Scholar Negotiations
UCLA Graduate Division

Dear Deans, Directors, Chairs, and Faculty:

As of November 3, 2008, the University of California recognized the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) as the exclusive representative for addressing wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment for the following Postdoctoral Scholar title codes:
• Postdoctoral Scholar – Employee (Title Code 3252)
• Postdoctoral Scholar – Fellow (Title Code 3253)
• Postdoctoral Scholar – Paid Direct (Title Code 3254)
• Postgraduate Researcher – FY (Title Code 3240)
• Postgraduate Researcher – AY State Funds (Title Code 3243)
• Postgraduate Researcher – AY Extramural Funds (Title Code 3245
• Visiting _________ - Postdoc (Title Code 3370)

The University and the UAW have commenced negotiations on an initial collective bargaining agreement for the postdoctoral scholars unit. Below is a short summary of negotiations currently in progress.

UPDATE ABOUT POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLAR NEGOTIATIONS – APRIL 3, 2009

SUMMARY INFORMATION

Today's PostDoc & their Plight?

A man of his stature with the title “the NIH director”, supposed to be the highest and most respectable government authority and policy maker on issues in science/medicine writes “we should not eat our seed corn but protect it”?.

his writings underlies the fact that even this high and mighty NIH director knows the problem of the young scientists of today?, especially the postdoctoral fellows. But yet, neither he nor the scientific committee's at the NIH has taken necessary measures to help improve the current NIH funding system. This area is grossly/largely ignored or deliberately let loose without much restructuring.

The whole academia or higher education system in USA needs a careful reorganization, otherwise what you see will continue, a single faculty of 65 or 70 years old will have all the funding available and sit on it for years until his/her demented brain kills all the funding with as many as 32 grants (MOST OUTRAGEOUS DISPARITY) and

our most valuable and efficient young scientists will be struggling to meet the ends between the academia, lab and their family commitments.

What our current academic policies and atmosphere does to our young scientists is to chase the potential scientists out of labs and academia. Why blame these youngsters if they seek green Pasteur elsewhere like a “biotech job or an industry job”, they have no choice than to look elsewhere for their future.


STEM EDUCATION

Plight of the Postdoc

Is Modern American Science Strangling Its Young Talents In the Cradle?

In some cases, one can even single out

an apparent hoarding of research funds.
In 2007, two hundred scientists received six or more NIH grants, and a single investigator won 32 grants, while many others got close to ten.
An NIH advisory panel has recommended that grant awardees devote at least 20 percent of their time to each, but these numbers show a clear disconnect between intentions and reality. These multiple awards are going to established investigators—who are certainly not spending one fifth of their time per study—while younger scientists would probably devote more energies to the work. Thus, laboratories around the country are fostering a “survival of the oldest” dynamic.