Postdocs, mentor thyselves

Abstract

I thought I was on pretty firm ground when I addressed postdocs at the Salk Institute in San Diego, California, about what young scientists should expect from their principal investigator (PI). The minimum standard, I said, would be someone who trains postdocs and graduate students in scientific skills such as lab techniques, experimental design and data analysis. A conscientious PI would help postdocs advance their scientific careers by developing their non-scientific skills such as grant-writing and lab management. And an exemplary PI would be sympathetic to their off-the-bench goals — even offering to write a letter of reference for them if they are seeking a non-scientific industrial job. Some members of the postdoc association present chuckled at the first, laughed at the second and were practically in hysterics by the third. That would have been edifying if I had intended the round-table discussion of postdoc issues and concerns to be a comedy workshop.