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The Big Picture

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Important issues affecting the scientific community and academia.

Immigration
NIH Funding Crisis
Impact of the Internet
Required Reading
Improving Graduate Education
Restructuring of the Professoriate
Improving the Postdoctoral Experience
Rising Cost of Higher Education
Intellectual Property
Science and Politics
International Competitiveness
Scientist Shortages?
Labor Market for PhDs
Trends in Funding for R&D

The Real Science Crisis: Bleak Prospects for Young Researchers
in Labor Market for PhDs
Chronicle of Higher Education , September 2007. "[F]or many of today's graduate students, the future could not look much bleaker. They see long periods of training, a shortage of academic jobs, and intense competition for research grants looming ahead of them. 'They get a sense that this is a really frustrating career path,' says Thomas R. Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. So although the operating assumption among many academic leaders is that the nation needs more scientists, some of brightest students in the country are demoralized and bypassing scientific careers."
Slaves to Science
in Required Reading
Salon Magazine, Feb. 28, 2000. An outsider's take on the working conditions of postdocs in science.
Mathematicians and the Market
in Labor Market for PhDs
The stats are all for mathematicians, but the trends and ideas apply to all the sciences. A comprehensive overview of the job market for mathematicians, plus ideas on steps toward a solution. From the November 1997 issue of the Notices of the AMS.
The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings
in Labor Market for PhDs
US Census, July, 2002. "This report illustrates the economic value of an education, that is, the added value of a high school diploma or college degree. It explores the relationship between educational attainment and earnings and demonstrates how the relationship has changed over the last 25 years. Additionally, it provides, by level of education, synthetic estimates of average total earnings adults are likely to accumulate over the course of their working lives."
Doctors Without Orders: Highlights of the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey
in Required Reading
Results of Sigma Xi's survey of 7600 postdocs at 46 US institutions. Very interesting discussion of salaries, training, and administrative oversight.
Out of Academia
in Required Reading
by Annalee Newitz, Salon Magazine, Nov 6, 1998. Why do we think that Ph.D.s are only good for making someone into a professor?
Zerhouni for a Day: A Challenge
The Problem: The NIH’s budget doubled over the past few years, and the NSF is currently working on a budget doubling of its own. Despite this vast influx of new federal funding, approval rates for grant proposals at the NIH have plummeted, and similar things are happening at NSF. The Challenge: If you were in charge, tell us what would you do differently. Join a public discussion.