The future of the postdoc

K Powell - Nature, 2015 - go.gale.com
K Powell
Nature, 2015go.gale.com
By the time Sophie Thuault-Restituito reached her twelfth year as a postdoctoral fellow, she
had finally had enough. She had completed her first postdoc in London, then moved to New
York University (NYU) in 2004 to start a second. Eight years and two laboratories later, she
was still there and still effectively a postdoc, precariously dependent on outside grants to
secure and pay for her position. Her research on Alzheimer's disease was not making it into
high-profile journals, so she was unable to compete for academic positions in the United …
By the time Sophie Thuault-Restituito reached her twelfth year as a postdoctoral fellow, she had finally had enough. She had completed her first postdoc in London, then moved to New York University (NYU) in 2004 to start a second. Eight years and two laboratories later, she was still there and still effectively a postdoc, precariously dependent on outside grants to secure and pay for her position. Her research on Alzheimer's disease was not making it into high-profile journals, so she was unable to compete for academic positions in the United States or Europe. She loved science and had immense experience, but with two young children at home, she knew she needed something more secure." My motivation was gone. I was done with doing research," she says.
So in 2013, Thuault-Restituito moved into a job as a research-laboratory operations manager at NYU, where she coordinates building renovations and fosters collaboration between labs. She enjoys the fact that her staff position has set hours, as well as better pay and benefits. But at the time of the move, she mourned the loss of a research career and she regrets the years wasted pursuing one." I stayed five years more than I should have," she says.
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