The Young PI Buzz: Learning from the Organizers of the Junior Principal Investigator Meeting at ISMB-ECCB 2013

Abstract

If you are a young principal investigator (PI) in the field of computational biology or bioinformatics, you may have noticed recently there is a buzz surrounding you: a plethora of meetings and seminars are being organized specifically for young PIs (P2P workshop at ISMB 2012, An Excellent Research Career Workshop 2012, EMBO Young Scientists' Forum, Young PI Forum at Weizmann Institute 2009–2013, Young Investigators' Meeting by NCI). The challenges faced by young PIs are being discussed widely [1], particularly across social media [2]; funding agencies are searching for new ways to encourage young investigators; new awards are being created; and novel journals, such as EuPA Open Proteomics, provide opportunities tailored for junior scientists. Picking up on this buzz and recognizing the need for a discussion platform, PLOS has established the About My Lab collection of publications. This article is a part of this collection, highlighting the latest event organized by, and for, young PIs: the Junior PI (JPI) meeting. The JPI meeting took place in Berlin, Germany, at this year's ISMB-ECCB 2013, the flagship conference of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB). With the support of the ISCB Board of Directors, the meeting was conceived and organized by a group of ISCB's young PIs, most of whom are former ISCB Student Council leaders. The meeting was a mixture of scientific talks, round-table discussions, and peer-to-peer interaction. To facilitate discussion and interaction, all participants introduced themselves during the joint breakfast. This was followed by three Frontiers in Science talks, in which researchers who recently started their own group gave a review-like overview of their research field and the challenges ahead. The keynote, by Jean Peccoud, dealt with how to run a research lab as a business [3], and how to use tracking tools to account for the productivity of lab members, which invoked plenty of discussion. In the afternoon, several round-table discussions ensued, with summaries presented to the entire audience at the end of the meeting. Since the prospective participants were asked in advance for topics of importance, these discussions were precisely tailored to reflect the interests of the audience. The meeting turned out to strike the right balance between scientific talks, experience exchange, getting to know each other, and networking opportunities. The success of the JPI meeting, while critically dependent on the input of the participants, may also be accredited to its organizers, each of whom brought his/her own experience, questions, and passions. Interestingly, some of the organizers are still in the postdoc-PI transition phase, which may explain why they are highly motivated to improve the life of a young PI. Moreover, it is becoming increasingly common in modern science for many postdocs to be involved in supervision of research staff, blurring the conventional distinction between a postdoc and PI. This rise of the postdoc as principal investigator was reflected in a recent report by the European University Institute [4]. This article is different from other About My Lab articles, each following the approach “one author—one interview.” Inspired by the experimental approach of the JPI meeting itself, we present you with six short interviews with the JPI meeting organizers, carried out by the Guest Editor of About My Lab (TA). By providing different opinions, these interviews shed light on some of the key issues of a young PI's career.