Topic: Graduate Education
by Zohreh AkhavanAghdam UCSD
09/11/2015
Proposed Actions Dramatically reduce the amount of graduate students admitted into biology programs. There’s too many PhDs.
Have more skills training for PhDs in biology programs (programming, quantitative biology, internships in industry). Graduate students usually apply for PhDs because they enjoy learning and yet we put very little emphasis on training and even core classes. Sometimes there’s so much pressure to churn out data (for PIs, postdocs, and grad students) that learning seems like its discouraged or put in the backburner.
1) Internships
2) More programming and quantitative classes for biologists
3) Better core classes (not just random lectures from different PIs in the program on their research)
4) Allow students to explore techniques and skills that would benefit them in the future
5) More emphasis on good mentorship (make it just as important as publication record)
6) Management classes since many PhDs might end up in management positions in academia or industry
Most importantly: Admit less graduate students