WEB FORUM ON THE SITUATION OF POSTDOCS
Science's Next Wave, a Web site published by the American Association
for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Science magazine, will be
presenting an interactive discussion forum titled "The Situation of
Post-Docs," beginning on August 2, 1996.
The forum deals with the postdoc experience from many different points
of view--including the perspectives of those doing postdocs at NIH, at
major research universities such as Johns Hopkins, in industry, and
abroad.
Because postdocs are a large and diverse group that is often invisible
in official statistics, it is hard to know how many postdocs there are
and what their concerns are. One focus of the forum is presentation of
data on who postdocs are and how they view their situation. Summaries
will be presented of three new, unpublished studies of postdocs--one
from Canada, one from the University of California at San Francisco,
and one done among postdocs abroad.
It's no surprise to find from these surveys that the Number 1 concern
of postdocs is employment. In our forum you will find out how bad
postdocs think the situation is and what some institutions are doing
to improve the employment picture--including a report from a faculty
member at the University of Washington on an innovative "alternative
careers" program she set up on her own initiative for postdocs and
graduate students.
The URL for this forum will be
http://sci.aaas.org/nextwave/forums_postdoc/ and the forum will be
interactive until October 4, 1996
Science's Next Wave strongly encourages all members of the scientific
community to read the presentations in our forum and to exchange ideas
with the forum participants. We encourage you to spread the word about
this forum and hope that it will encourage an active discussion of the
issues and choices that young post-doctoral scientists are
encountering in the current very difficult climate for funding and
jobs.
If you would like to receive e-mail notices about future Next Wave
forums which discuss issues the general scientific community, please
let us know.
The Editors of
Science's Next Wave
___________________
Wendy Yee
Associate Editor
Science's Next Wave
