I keep thinking that I'm all done paper pushing and then somehow magically I'm back at it full force. So recently I've submitted four grant proposals, written a chapter for a book, started teaching again and in parallel I'm doing a half hearted attempt at some lab work. So the last thing I needed to see was this paper Don't read that paper if you are a suicidal post doc.I guess it's the life I've picked but it sure is tempting to bail out and get a "real job" as my mum calls it. Anyway, posting is about to resume with some exciting stuff on how to turn a primary amine into a leaving group. Sigh, D
I just spotted essentially the same post at the blog: In the Pipeline. Apologies to Derek for ripping him off. D!
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly why I never once considered going in to academics. Sure, the intellectual freedom and coffee drinking with smart peers was enticing, but dealing with the BS to get funded and stay funded was a little too much for moi.
ReplyDeleteThe average age of a PI's first R01 is 42.6 href="http://report.nih.gov/NIH_Investment/PDF_sectionwise/NIH_Extramural_DataBook_PDF/NEDB_SPECIAL_TOPIC-AVERAGE_AGE.pdf">(FY2007) which I think is a little too old for me.
Thanks for rubbing it in man. Could I have a bit more salt and vinigar in the open wound please? So I guess I just have to wait another 4.6 years and I'll be all sorted. D'oh, D!
ReplyDeleteThat article made me want to throw up. I'm BEYOND grateful that I'm still in graduate school for 2 more years and have time to seriously rethink my little-girl dreams of teaching at a small school and having a cute little lab where I can share my overwhelming wealth of organic chemistry knowledge with more little chemistry babies. A prof at my school is untenured and amazing but despite his amazingness, isn't getting the $ he needs because there are nuances to playing the game and he's hitting his thumb instead of the nail. It's heartbreaking and I wish all of those struggling the best...
ReplyDeleteI have just returned from UK to Germany to start my independent research career here. In UK I had a secured place in a renowned Uni but could not find any form of funding from any funding agency because I was either not british, too young, or had too little postdoc experience or too much. But what I found out was that the main reason for me failing to secure funding in UK was the lack of contacts and a supporting network of well-etablished academics. It seems you can only get somewhere in UK if you know the right kind of people and I think that is very unfair. On the other hand - the situation in the UK is very extreme as way too many young researchers try to fight their way into academia due to the current economic crisis. It doesn't help that the research councils just restructure and that they want to keep up that weird plan to block someone from applying for a while if a grant proposal was not granted. This is crazy and does not help young scientists whatsoever. Here in Germany the situation seems to be a bit more positive, especially as the funding bodies are more likely to grant some funding for a young researcher than somewhere else. I hope the situation relaxes at some point, because I absolutely agree with what was said in the article - I have become a researcher for the science, not for the bureaucracy...
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