Rescuing Biomedical Research

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Universities launch initiative to improve transparency around biomedical Ph.D. careers

December 14, 2017 By Chris Pickett

Today, nearly a dozen university presidents announced the formation of the Coalition for Next Generation Life Sciences (publication; website), which is committed to collecting and publishing data on demographics and career outcomes of biomedical Ph.D.s and postdocs. Rescuing Biomedical Research has worked with many CNGLS members and members of the National Institutes of Health’s Broadening […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: biomedical research enterprise, career outcomes, graduate students, postdocs, postdoctoral scholars, Rescuing Biomedical Research

Bias in distribution of K99 awards and faculty hires

June 5, 2017 By Chris Pickett

The biomedical research enterprise strives to be a meritocracy, but structural inequities and the reliance on nonscientific proxies such as journal impact and university prestige present roadblocks. Attempts to alleviate these problems are numerous— for example, ASAPbio, the grant-support index, the National Research Mentoring Network, and the Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity—and have met with […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: biomedical research enterprise, grant applications, NIH grants, postdocs, postdoctoral scholars

The financial woes of postdoctoral training

January 18, 2017 By RBR Writing Program

By Swagata Basu A recent paper in Nature Biotechnology shows how postdoctoral training in biomedical sciences can affect early career outcomes. Despite a dearth in available academic tenure-track positions in and a drop in National Institutes of Health success rates, there has been sustained growth in the number of biomedical postdocs due to an abundance […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: postdocs, postdoctoral scholars, RBR Writing Program, staff scientists

Injunction granted to block FLSA overtime rule update

November 22, 2016 By Chris Pickett

This evening, a federal judge granted a preliminary, nationwide injunction to prevent the implementation of an update to the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime rule. This rule change would have increased the pay of postdoctoral scholars. After a lengthy review process, the Department of Labor released its final version of the FLSA overtime rule in […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: biomedical research enterprise, FLSA, postdocs, postdoctoral scholars

Challenges and strategies to increase diversity in the professoriate

November 21, 2016 By RBR Writing Program

By Elizabeth Moses Underrepresentation of minority groups in the biomedical research workforce, and faculty in particular, has limited the competitiveness and productivity of the research enterprise. While the lack of diversity of medical school faculty has often been blamed on a lack of available talent in the underrepresented-minority pool, a new paper suggests there is […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: diversity, postdocs, postdoctoral scholars, RBR Writing Program

NSF funds new alliances to strengthen pathways to the professoriate for underrepresented minorities

November 14, 2016 By RBR Writing Program

By Elizabeth Moses Approaching scientific problems with a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds can accelerate the progress of research. Underrepresented minorities occupy just eight percent of senior faculty positions at U.S. four-year colleges and universities. In an effort to broaden participation in the professoriate, the National Science Foundation has committed $5.9 million to three new […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: diversity, graduate students, NSF, postdocs, postdoctoral scholars, RBR Writing Program

What the new NINDS grant mechanism means for postdocs

October 20, 2016 By RBR Writing Program

By Helena Lucente On Monday, the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke announced it had discontinued its participation in the NIH-wide F32 National Research Service Award for postdoctoral scholars. Instead, the NINDS has established a new F32 NRSA where only graduate students a year prior to joining a lab or a postdoc in their […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: NIH, postdocs, postdoctoral scholars

What do legal and legislative challenges mean for postdoc salaries?

October 14, 2016 By RBR Writing Program

By Helena Lucente In May, the U.S. Department of Labor announced revisions to the overtime rule provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act making an employee earning less than $47,476 on Dec. 1 eligible for overtime pay. This rule change includes postdoctoral scholars, potentially putting a financial burden on labs, departments and universities. Despite the […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: FLSA, postdocs, postdoctoral scholars, RBR Writing Program, Rescuing Biomedical Research

Launching the RBR Writing Program

September 20, 2016 By Chris Pickett

We are pleased to announce the launch of Rescuing Biomedical Research’s Writing Program. This program is intended to help graduate students and postdocs about to embark on a career in science policy improve their policy writing skills.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: graduate students, postdocs, postdoctoral scholars, RBR Writing Program, Rescuing Biomedical Research, science policy

The U.S. House unveils FY17 NIH funding package

July 6, 2016 By Chris Pickett

Today, the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives released its fiscal 2017 spending proposal. The National Institutes of Health, which is funded by the Labor-H subcommittee, would receive a $1.25 billion, or nearly 4 percent, increase in FY17. Alzheimer’s research, the BRAIN initiative and the Precision […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: appropriations, biomedical research enterprise, FLSA, House of Representatives, NIH, NIH budget, overtime pay, postdocs, postdoctoral scholars, Rescuing Biomedical Research, science funding

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iBiology Videos: The Biomedical Workforce

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Most Recent Input

Click on a blue header below to see the full comment.

Comments by Andrea Repetto

Posted: November 3, 2016

Non-PhD level positions undervalued

Comments by Andrea Repetto

Posted: November 3, 2016

Reward negative results

Comments by Holly Hamilton

Posted: September 13, 2016

(1) The training model thus far is that of the medieval apprentice- a trainee is to become a clone of his/her supervisor. (2) Trainees are rarely permitted to conduct work not expressly assigned/approved by supervisor. (3) Training goals for postdocs at a national level are unspecified. (4) All postdocs are trained as if they will become academic research professors.

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