SAB NewsScientists Call for No Restrictions on Length of Postdoctoral FellowshipsPosted 6/24/2003 Almost one-third of the 1,000+ respondents to a Science Advisory Board Instant Poll believe that a postdoctoral appointment should not be limited to a predetermined number of years. Conventionally, a postdoctoral fellowship occurs after the completion of a doctorate for the purposes of receiving advanced training. It is meant to be a temporary position and is often conceived of as a professional apprenticeship. However, the length of postdoctoral appointments have been increasing over the past decade and there is speculation that newly minted Ph.D.s are stretching out their postdoctoral fellowships to mark time while waiting for permanent employment. “I believe the potential downsides of such an extended arrangement are not only personal, i.e., lower pay and minimal-to-no benefits,” claims Tamara Zemlo, Ph.D., MPH, Director of Scientific and Medical Communications for The Science Advisory Board, “but also professional, since there are minimal funding mechanisms available to postdoctoral fellows.” It is with these concerns in mind that a very large minority of respondents, 28%, believes that a postdoctoral fellowship be limited to three years. “The sole reason one pursues a postdoctoral fellowship should be to receive specialized training in a specific discipline and/or to work with a particular person,” observes Dr. Zemlo, “it should not be because there are no other desirable options available.” |
|
