Glut of postdoc researchers stirs quiet crisis in science

[n2doc]

The life of the humble biomedical postdoctoral researcher was never easy: toiling in obscurity in a low-paying scientific apprenticeship that can stretch more than a decade. The long hours were worth it for the expected reward — the chance to launch an independent laboratory and do science that could expand human understanding of biology and disease.

But in recent years, the postdoc position has become less a stepping stone and more of a holding tank. Some of the smartest people in Boston are caught up in an all-but-invisible crisis, mired in a biomedical underclass as federal funding for research has leveled off, leaving the supply of well-trained scientists outstripping demand.

“It’s sunk in that it’s by no means guaranteed — for anyone, really — that an academic position is possible,” said Gary McDowell, 29, a biologist doing his second postdoc at Tufts University who hopes to set up his own lab in a few years. “There’s this huge labor force here to do the bench work, the grunt work of science. But then there’s nowhere for them to go; this massive pool of postdocs that accumulates and keeps growing.”

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http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/04/glut-postdoc-researchers-stirs-quiet-crisis-science/HWxyErx9RNIW17khv0MWTN/story.html

[byronius]

1. An absurd situation. Embarrassing. Fail.

Science education and science support should be the number one funding priority of this nation.

But no; banking. Banking, swindling, multilevel marketing, bribery. Those are our primary industries.

Fail.

[eppur_se_muova]

2. No kidding ?

This has been going on for a couple of decades. No jobs for people who spent years getting a PhD, and it's true in most fields of science, not just biomedical research.

[Vincardog]

3. But But But,,, everyone knows the economy will be better when we have more STEMS graduates esp Women

Haven't you seen the TV adds?

[Yo_Mama]

4. This has been true for a long, long while

It's probably worse now because of the severe recession - people went further because they hoped more qualifications would help them get jobs. But way back in the 80s we had overloads of Phds in several fields.

We actually have overloads of highly educated people in most fields now. Including lawyers, nurses, most engineering/programming niches, most scientific disciplines, and so forth.

What we need are CNAs, mechanics, craftsmen, truck drivers, plumbers and so forth.

[Fumesucker]

5. Not truck drivers much longer

Within ten years driving will become the province of automation, particularly over the road trucking.

Electric cars are going to cut the need for mechanics considerably also, the maintenance needs of an electric are far less than for an internal combustion car. Oil changes and tuneups will be a thing of the past, brakes get used a lot less in an electric thanks to regenerative braking, cooling systems are either non existent or minimal so radiator shops go away and so on and so on.

I was talking the other day to a man I know who happens to be a master carpenter with about two decades of experience, really good at his craft. He's couch surfing because he can't find a steady job, lost his car a while back in a trade that's almost completely dependent on having reliable transportation to wide flung job sites.

[Orsino]

6. Investing in labor-saving and cost-cutting is what drives this. n/t