Hello everyone, 1) my first answer will go to Aaron: I understand your disapointment (I am myself finishing my PhD and sometimes facing the hard side of the academia). However this is not that much related to academia or private sector: mostly related to human beings I would say. There are people from the good and dark side of the force everywhere ;). And this is exactly the point: i find it quite challenging to aim at doing research and teaching at University keeping in mind what type of human relationship I wish to promote (i.e. fare exchanges, mutual help and common goods building, etc.. which in turns promote high quality science.). 2) to Jeremy: well, I guess the situation is different in Europe, but here it is quite common to be encouraged to go abroad for a Post-doc... If meanwhile you keep contacts and network in your home country then the way back should'nt be so hard, isn't it? Good luck to all, Adrien
Adrien CHEMINEE Responsable projet de recherche FOREFISH - Project manager Doctorant en écologie marine - Marine ecology PhD Student Web : http://www.unice.fr/ecomers/ (Projet FOREFISH) Portable France : +33 6 81 73 95 19 EA 4228 – ECOMERS - Ecosystèmes Côtiers Marins et Réponses au Stress Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Faculté des Sciences, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France ________________________________ De : Aaron T. Dossey <[email protected]> À : [email protected] Envoyé le : mardi 12 juin 2012 6h39 Objet : Re: [ECOLOG-L] Career Advice? I know this sounds like a flippant idea with no basis in reality, and maybe a little like "let them eat cake"... BUT, I am in nearly the exact same situation as you, so... Are you sure that just another postdoc/postech/postemp is all you can do/get? Are you sure that these will lead to a career? In my experience, I can use this analogy: If you're in a hole, and your career is somewhere outside of it, a postdoc/postech/postemp position is like a shovel - it can only dig you deeper in the hole, and farther from a career. Have you considered something outside government or academia? Maybe starting your own business doing some version of what you love that is marketable? I recently started my own company and, with some seed money from the Gates foundation, this will be my only job starting in July. I am oddly optimistic about it actually! Do you know anyone involved in a startup who would work with you as a partner to get the thing off the ground? I don't like that the private sector or entrepreneurial track are the only career options for most Ph.D. scientists to stay in anything resembling science - but sadly that's the reality. Academia is in scenescence (a prof at Berkeley I know recently taught me a great and quite accurate phrase "the Anemia of Academia"), and government agencies are shrinking by the day. I don't like it but I also am not impressed with much of what I have observed in the public sector, particularly for academia. The corruption and what I call "race to the bottom" I have observed in the ivory tower do not inspire much sympathy from me on the funding issue or anything that expands the current system/status quo. Academia and the science funding structure (including government agencies) need a tremendous amount of reform - particularly in the area of providing careers (and thus, diversity of innovation) for young scientists. Why aren't kids as excited about science anymore and doing well in it? No one from the undergrad level on up wants to teach them and there aren't any careers to be had in it anyhow. Those are the things that need fixed before the whole "STEM" educational system will be more fruitful. So, in summary, my advice to you is to start looking and thinking WAY outside of the "box". There are no career opportunities in the traditional box (well, aside from what can be garnered through nepotism), and it's dusty and stagnant in there anyhow. Best to seek greener pastures! :) Also, don't forget to give back to the community! Spend some time talking to the undergrads you know about whether or not they truly should go to grad school! That's my 2 cents. .. ATD On 6/11/2012 11:06 PM, Jeremy L. Conkle wrote: > Good Evening Ecolog, > > I am potentially approaching a crossroads in my early career and I would > appreciate some feedback from those of you who may have been through a > similar situation or just have some perspective to share. I have recently > finished my second year as a post-doc and have the opportunity to transition > onto a new grant here at the same institution in California in an amazing lab > that will provide me funding for another 1 or 2 years. I would generally > continue the same research, but also branch out into a slightly different > arena. However, I am also waiting to hear back from a position in England > that is a 3-4 year post-doc where I would get research experience doing > different work that I am also very interested in. > > As with most young researchers, I am ready to settle into a permanent > position, as I have lived on every coast in U.S. during my schooling. But > since I have not been able to secure a faculty/government research position I > am left (fortunately) with these two options (potentially). I believe that my > CV will have enough publications to be competitive for faculty/government > positions within the next year, but teaching is somewhat of a weakness on my > CV. > > Both positions have their pros and cons and the pay would be about the same > (accounting for exchange rates). Staying in my current position would be > more continuous, whereas starting over in England would require a little time > to get settled. I would also be able to get teaching experience at the > position in England. The other major difference is the length of each > contract. > > I was wondering what advice Eco-loggers may have for me given my potential > options and career stage? Should I start over with a new experience in a new > country? Would I be better suited to stay grounded here and hopefully get a > more permanent position in a year? In the long term I would want to work in > the states, but how hard would it be for me to move back after a few years? > I've been told that this can be tricky for some reason. > > Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Please respond to me > off the list if possible. > > Thank you in advance. > > Jeremy > > -- Aaron T. Dossey, Ph.D. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Founder/Owner: All Things Bugs Capitalizing on Low-Crawling Fruit from Insect-Based Innovation http://www.allthingsbugs.com https://www.facebook.com/Allthingsbugs 1-352-281-3643
