by Charles Allen » Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:53 pm
Thank you all for your insights and frank advice. I feel that James and Kelly are correct when they question the intentions of my former boss. The state of denial has lifted! Emil Thomas Chuck (ETC)- thank's for the words of encouragement!
Over the nine (long) years (post-PhD) I've been able to publish consistently in good journals (though not as often as I would like), including New Engl J. Med (recently). But, I do agree with Kelly (an earlier posting) that T-T hiring decisions do NOT appear to be based upon tangibles (or none that I can fathom): it's like industry- it's largely who you know. And yes... we are taught to believe it is otherwise (in academia at least)!
Overall, it looks like these RAP positions are at a minimum, very risky, representing an incremental increase in status over that of Res. Assoc./postdoc and it is probably worthwhile waiting until a T-T offer opens up elsewhere or through negotiation (in writing) with my former boss. This advice is likely generally applicable to others in a similar predicament.
Fortunately, in my current position, I am able to submit (SBIR) grants as PI, establishing a funding record, and we can and do publish our work. With the Company it is pure research (& development), no teaching, no committees. The Chief Scientific Officer (my boss) also has an academic appointment (he's a senior scientist, Full Professor) & is a trustworthy individual.
My experience with this start-up biotech company has been very positive and I would suggest to younger postdocs/scientists to not discount biotech as a career option.
Do you think that with the current bottleneck in landing bona fide faculty positions, plus the new restrictions on foreign scientists & the funding crunch that we are likely to see anytime soon a shortage of good postdocs and Ph.D. students in the US? If so, this could spell disaster.
Again, James, Jim, Kelly, ETC- thanks for the advice & comments.