Sequestration may lead to policies that would hurt postdocs

Sequestration may lead to policies that would hurt postdocs
The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) is rallying the biomedical research community to advocate against devastating funding cuts facing the nation’s  research agencies unless Congress acts before the end of the year. Under sequestration, the National  Institutes of Health (NIH) could lose $2.8 billion and would fund 25 percent (2,300) fewer grants. The  National Science Foundation (NSF) could be cut by nearly $600 million. More than 5,800 emails have  been sent to Congress in response to a FASEB e-action alert urging individuals to let their Senators and  Representatives know why federal funding for NIH, NSF, and other agencies is critical to local research institutions and state economies. “Labs will be forced to close, resulting in layoffs of tens of thousands of researchers. It will take generations to recover the lost talent, as dedicated young scientists and engineers will be driven from science by the disruption of their training and lack of jobs,” said FASEB President Judith S. Bond, PhD. To read more, please see: http://faseb.org/Portals/0/PDFs/opa/11.12.12%20Alert%20and%20Advocacy%20press%20release.pdf

Tooling Up: Questions to Set Your Sails By

Tooling Up: Questions to Set Your Sails By  by: David G. Jensen, November 16, 2012, Science Careers.    

If you love working at the bench and are confident that doing bench science will make you happy for the foreseeable future, then you can find opportunities on either side of the academia/industry divide.

Annual Top Employers Survey: Stability in the Face of Change

Biopharmas that have fared well despite global economic turmoil have done so by making smart acquisitions, paying attention to global opportunities, investing in R&D, looking beyond the bottom line—and valuing and respecting the scientists who work for them, according to this year’s Science Careers Top Employers Survey. By Anne Harding


…’if you’re working for the right company and you’re ready to ask for what you need, says Lori Morton, associate director of cardiovascular research at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is #1 on the 2012 ScienceCareers Top Employers Survey—after making the list for the first time ever, at #2, last year. “I really believe that having an engaged parenthood and career success are not incompatible ideas here,” says Morton, who has worked at the Tarrytown, New York-based biotech for 10 years and has two young children.’ 

Read more about the top20 biopharma companies with the best reputations as employers and the top three driving characteristics for each company, according to respondents in the 2012 survey undertaken for the Science/AAAS Custom Publishing Office:

http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2012_09_21/science.opms.r1200125?goback=.gde_51557_member_169488974

Introducing myIDP, the online Individual Development Plan

You Need A Game Plan

Introducing the new individual development plan, a long-term project sponsored by multiple scientific societies and universities. ‘Scientific careers are not like the board game Monopoly. In Monopoly, the rules are clear and it’s relatively easy to succeed; in fact you get $200 just for hanging in there long enough to pass “Go” on your way to the next round. But in science, it often seems there are no definite rules and there’s no guaranteed payoff for advancing to the next training round: Ph.D., postdoc, second postdoc—then what? To succeed in science, you need to have a game plan. This is especially true in the current research environment.’ To read more, please see the weblink below.

Website: http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2012_09_07/caredit.a1200100

The Postdoc Challenge

How dedicated are you to the academic research career? Are you willing to put in the time it takes to get in line and wait for the right faculty position? These tough choices await all of us and it has to be carefully weighed against family-, political- and other social considerations. Please see the link below for further insight to postdoctoral challenges awaiting academic scientists.   
       

Website: http://the-scientist.com/2012/08/01/opinion-the-postdoc-challenge/

Best Places to Work in Academia

Institutions that were rated the best places to work in academics for the year 2012:

http://the-scientist.com/2012/08/01/best-places-to-work-academia-2012/

ScienceCareers Annual Postdoc Survey Results

ScienceCareers is published by Science Magazine and offers career advice and job postings for scientists.  Check out their recent article offering career advice for postdocs based on their annual postdoc survey:  ThePostdoc Experience: High Expectations, Grounded in Reality.

Contract Editing Jobs with American Journal Experts - First hand experience from Rebecca

I wanted to share my experiences working as a contract editor for American Journal Experts (AJE) and let other postdocs (and grad students) know about this opportunity.   AJE recruits PhD-level scientists to edit papers that were written by international authors for submission to English-language journals.  The editors try to make the grammar and style of the text sound like a native-English speaker wrote it; they don’t try to edit or even comment on the scientific content.   I joined last fall after they held a recruitment session on campus.  So far, I have edited about 9 papers (I took a big break to write a review for lab), and I think it has been a good experience.  I like knowing that I am helping the authors have a better chance of getting their work published.  Senior-level editors at AJE check each assignment and give you feedback, so you know how you are doing and can be sure that the author receives a high-quality edit on the paper.  As a result, my writing skills have definitely been fine-tuned, which has helped me write my own papers more clearly.

What I like about this job is that it is under my control.  When you sign up, you tell AJE what fields you feel comfortable with, and they only assign you papers in those categories.   For example, I edit papers in Biotechnology, Analytical Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering.  Furthermore, you decide how many papers you want to edit each week, if any.  When I am working late in lab, or working on my own paper or a grant, I set myself to “unavailable” so that I am not distracted by editing assignments.  When I am available, I limit it to 1 paper per week (though more are allowed), so that I can do the editing in my spare time and not detract from my lab work.  The papers vary from interesting to rather routine.  It usually takes me a few hours to complete an edit, though I know that in general I am a slow editor.  The most poorly written paper I received took me about 6 hours to edit, which I was discouraged by, but the very next paper I got only took 2 hours.  It averages out.  You do get paid for each paper you edit, and while the compensation isn’t going to make you rich, it’s nice to have a little extra spending money each month.

I am happy to talk to you about my experiences if you are curious.  Anyone who is interested can apply for the editor position under Contractor Opportunities on their “careers” page:  http://goo.gl/jFYUy. 

Rebecca Pompano

rpompano@uchicago.edu

Slides from Workshops at the National Postdoctoral Association meeting

The National Postdoc Association (NPA)'s (http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/home) mission is to advance the U.S. research enterprise by maximizing the effectiveness of the research community and enhancing the quality of the postdoctoral experience for all participants. The University of Chicago is a sustaining member, which means that any UofC postdoc can apply to be a affiliate member. 

The NPA 10th Annual Meeting was held March 16-18, 2012, at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco, California. More than 300 postdoctoral scholars, postdoctoral administrators and faculty participated in the event including our PDA president, the interim postdoc administrator and the founder of our Public Affairs Committee. We found the meeting incredibly informative. The slides from several of the talks and workshops are available online and we highly recommend you take a look. The link to download slides is: http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/component/content/article/91-2012-am/637-2012-annual-meeting-workshop-presentations 

Topics include: 

Becoming a More Effective Research Mentor 

Advancing Women’s Careers in Science 

Health Science Administrators at NIH: Insight Into This Exciting Career Choice 

Effective Strategies to Diversify Your Institution’s Postdoctoral Population 

My Career or My Visa: How International Postdocs Must Balance Career Advancement with Visa Issues 

MinorityPostdoc.org

MinorityPostdoc.org (http://www.minoritypostdoc.org/) is the premier web portal on the minority postdoctoral experience especially in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. It features articles, resources, & events about career advice, professional development, jobs, funding, fellowships, mentoring, and diversity issues. In particular, they publicize the activities of national and regional postdoc diversity affinity groups. Unless indicated otherwise, all website content is authored by the Editor.

Visit the website for more information: http://www.minoritypostdoc.org/

Greater Chicago Midwest Higher Eduction Consortion (GCMHERC) Dual Career Couples newsletter

Use the Dual Career News to:
-identify possible job candidates (use the thumbnail sketches) and vendors; all are accompanying partners of faculty members or faculty candidates
-help accompanying partners at your institution to find jobs
-spread the word about jobs included in each issue
-read about dual-career issues (links to articles)
-advertise your positions
Newsletter found here: http://e2.ma/message/gx4b/o7x7g

New! Job posting page on PDA website

All recent job postings that the PDA receives are now in one place:
http://www.bsdpostdoc.uchicago.edu/career-postings.shtml
It is also accessible from our PDA webpage drop-down menu under the header "Jobs" and sub-header "Job Postings - NEW!".

Spread the word that this page can also be used for local postdoctoral and research positions. Email ads to kolla@uchicago.edu