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 […]
The financial woes of postdoctoral training
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 […]
Injunction granted to block FLSA overtime rule update
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 […]
Challenges and strategies to increase diversity in the professoriate
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 […]
NSF funds new alliances to strengthen pathways to the professoriate for underrepresented minorities
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 […]
What the new NINDS grant mechanism means for postdocs
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 […]
What do legal and legislative challenges mean for postdoc salaries?
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 […]
Launching the RBR Writing Program
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.
The U.S. House unveils FY17 NIH funding package
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 […]
Increasing postdoc pay. What’s next?
Earlier this month, the Department of Labor released a revision to the Fair Labor Standards Act rule concerning overtime pay. The revision raised the salary threshold by which workers are eligible for overtime pay to $47,476. The DOL made it clear that postdoctoral scholars would be eligible for overtime pay under this rule. Here is […]