Postdocs face crossroads.

Foreign postdocs: the changing face of biomedical science in the U.S.

Progress in biomedical research depends upon the intellectual and physical effort of talented scientists. In the U.S., the composition of this essential resource has undergone substantial change over the past three decades. Postdocs have become the largest segment of the workforce in biomedical science and in recent years, foreign postdocs have accounted for all of the growth in the postdoctora...

Perceptions about postdocs

1104 During his interview with EMBO reports (Wiesel T (2004) EMBO Rep 5: 747–750), Torsten Wiesel referred to postdoctoral fellows as “students” and “postdoctoral technicians”. We take issue with this notion, as we believe this does not adequately describe the important role of postdocs in research and because it sends the wrong message to prospective employers outside academic science. It is s...

Postdocs power research.

ater this month, postdoctoral researchers and representatives from research associations around the United Kingdom will gather in Cambridge, UK, for the first National Postdoc Meeting, also the inaugural event of the latest Postdoc Centre of the University of Cambridge. This gathering coincides with the United States National Postdoc Appreciation Week and marks increasing, though long overdue, ...

How postdocs benefit from building a union

Career Development among American Biomedical Postdocs

Recent biomedical workforce policy efforts have centered on enhancing career preparation for trainees, and increasing diversity in the research workforce. Postdoctoral scientists, or postdocs, are among those most directly impacted by such initiatives, yet their career development remains understudied. This study reports results from a 2012 national survey of 1002 American biomedical postdocs. ...