Research Career Path Research Articles

BRUSH Summer Research Program: Promoting Science Identity in Underrepresented Veterinary and Undergraduate Students.

While all facets of the health care workforce need to diversify, the veterinary profession lags behind in training students from underrepresented populations. The need to increase diversity among health care professionals is not limited to clinicians but extends to those generating new information through biomedical research. To address demographic disparities within the biomedical research community, we provide a summer research program for veterinary and undergraduate students from populations historically underrepresented in the biomedical workforce that is explicitly designed to foster science identity and subsequently increase participants' interest and success in pursuing biomedical research-related educational and career paths. We hypothesized that participation in this program would enhance science identity, confidence, and pursuit of research-related education and subsequent careers. Three validated survey instruments containing qualitative ordered rating scales were administered to program participants (N = 57) over the course of the summer in which they participated (2018-2022). Questions asked at two time points were analyzed with a repeated-measures linear mixed-effects model. Significant growth was reported in most topics surveyed over time. Many queries within gains, confidence, and science identity modules displayed significant increases over time or scored high in surveys at both time points. In addition, post-graduate educational and career outcomes were obtained for alumni (N = 130) of program years 2011-2023; their post-graduate enrollment rates (78%) markedly exceeded national norms. This multidimensional experiential research program, which holistically fosters professional networking and student confidence in research-related endeavors, provides quantifiable growth in research skills and science identity. These gains support students' persistence in research and biomedical-related educational and career paths.

AT THE NEXUS OF PUBLIC POLICY AND AGING: DOCTORAL STUDIES IN GERONTOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS BOSTON

Abstract One in five PhDs in Gerontology are graduates of the Gerontology doctoral program at the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston. The mission of UMass Boston’s program is to provide advanced training and research in gerontology within an interdisciplinary framework drawn primarily, but not exclusively, from the social and behavioral sciences. The program is designed to prepare students for leadership roles as educators, researchers, planners, and policy makers. The program has a deep emphasis on policy development, analysis, and impact, an attribute that goes back to the roots of the Gerontology enterprise at UMass Boston in the late-1970s. This presentation provides an overview of the program’s history and curriculum, along with coursework, research and service-learning experiences, and career paths in policy research and implementation. The program also is committed to increasing diversity in the field of gerontology, with the aim of strengthening policy impact and reducing disparities in the aging experience.

Do research experience programs promote capacity building in Qatar: Investigating the trend and participation differences

Research Experience programs (REPs) inspire students to pursue advanced degrees and shape their research career paths. Government and commercial organizations sponsor REPs to promote the capacity building of the country. In Qatar, the national youth is reported to show concerning participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines at the K-12 level. However, none of the studies investigate these participation trends at the undergraduate level, especially in scientific research, which is deemed necessary for building a knowledge-based economy in Qatar. Therefore, to bridge this gap, the current study uses a quantitative approach to analyze the REP in Qatar through the participation data of 2455 undergraduate students. For this, statistical measures, including descriptive analysis, independent samples t-test, and Pearson's correlation analysis were used. Results indicated concerning trends in national student participation rate, implying underlying issues restricting their representation in undergraduate research activities. Also, statistically significant differences were found in student participation rates among students' gender and ethnic distributions. While female students demonstrated higher participation rates than males, national students showed lower participation than the non-nationals. Moreover, this low participation of national students suffered more drastically in STEM disciplines. Therefore, these findings determine the outlook for stakeholders and academic institutions in making meaningful educational decisions and envision synchronizing REPs at the university level, gauging measures to bolster the adjacent funding agencies and government organizations. Furthermore, being the first research addressing REPs in the Middle East region, this study has the potential to support educators in neighboring and other developing nations where STEM education is especially significant for human capacity building.

Accelerating Research Careers in Science Through Early Mentored Research Experiences for Undergraduates and Masters' Students at the University of California, San Francisco Center for AIDS Research.

Investments early in the academic pathway are essential to increasing the diversity of the HIV research workforce. Applied mentored research experiences can advance research skills, self-efficacy, and retention in science among scholars considered to be underrepresented minorities. The UCSF Center for AIDS Research Scholars Program is a 16-week program that pairs URM undergraduate and masters-level students from San Francisco State University with URM investigators from the UCSF. The program includes one-on-one mentorship on an independent research project, a core-curriculum on research methods and HIV-specific topics, and clinical shadowing. We evaluated program outcomes and areas for improvement with preprogram and postprogram survey and qualitative data from scholars and mentors from June to October 2022. Outcomes included interest in HIV research and growth on a 20-item measure of research skills, knowledge, and confidence. Six URM scholars enrolled in the inaugural cohort and were paired with 6 mentors. Preprogram and postprogram evaluations showed gains in interest in HIV research, 0% preprogram and 100% of scholars postprogram reporting much or extensive interest in HIV research, and gains across all domains from self-confidence, skills, and clarification of a research career path. Qualitative findings noted the importance of peer support and interpersonal features of mentors, including treating them like equals. Areas for improvement included more opportunities for primary data collection and specific training around mentoring undergraduates for mentors. The UCSF Center for AIDS Research Scholars Program was successful in building foundational skills, knowledge, confidence, and interest in HIV research among URM undergraduates and masters-level students.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Early Career Investigators in Rheumatology: Recommendations to Address Challenges to Early Research Careers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the careers of trainees and early career investigators (ECIs). We sought to assess how the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the Rheumatology Research Foundation (RRF) can address the needs of those pursuing research careers. The Committee on Research created a survey to assess the impact of COVID-19 and identify topics for the ACR and the RRF to address. In fall of 2020, we surveyed postdoctoral trainees and ECIs within 9 years of terminal training. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Twenty-one percent of invitees responded to the survey (n=365); of these, 60% were pursuing careers in academic research. Seventy-five percent of respondents in academic research career paths placed their primary projects on hold during the pandemic. The number of individuals pursuing a research career from 2020 to 2021 decreased by 5%. Respondents reported funding, caregiving, and lack of preliminary data as significant challenges. Suggested impactful interventions included increased funding, funding process reform, and expanding mentoring and networking resources. Major stressors identified during the pandemic included increased caregiving responsibilities and difficulty obtaining data and funding, for which respondents suggested increases and changes in funding programs as well as more mentoring and networking opportunities. Based on these, the Committee on Research proposes 3 priorities: 1) flexible funding mechanisms for ECIs and additional support for those impacted by caregiving; 2) virtual and in-person programs for career development and networking; and 3) curated content relevant to building a research career available on demand.

Opportunities and challenges to non-communicable disease (NCD) research and training in Pakistan: a qualitative study from Pakistan

IntroductionMost of the global non-communicable disease (NCD)-related death burden is borne by low and middle-income countries (LMICs). In LMICs like Pakistan, however, a major gap in responding to NCDs is...

The career paths of researchers in long-term employment on short-term contracts: Case study from a UK university.

The career stage between PhD and lectureship, conventionally called “postdoctoral”, has traditionally been seen as transitional. However, with an estimated one third of university researchers in the United Kingdom having been employed on temporary contracts for more than 10 years, the transitional nature of this career stage is questionable. Despite so many research staff being in long-term employment on short-term contracts, the lack of visibility of this population, which does not have a legitimate place within the current academic career structure, means that we do not know how deliberate or accidental their career choices are. Based on semi-structured interviews with long-term researchers (LTRS) at one university in the United Kingdom, this is the first study to investigate the personal and professional circumstances behind the career path of long-term researchers on temporary contracts. Three categories of LTRS were identified: 1) the candidate, who wants to follow the traditional academic career pathway and to secure a lectureship 2) the accidental long-term researcher, who did not or could not plan their career path 3) the career researcher, who sustains a research-only career despite the precarity of such positions. Most participants had belonged successively to two categories. Some obstacles to career progression transcended the categories: inequal access to opportunities for developing one’s teaching portfolio, poor or lack of managerial support, the perceived prestige or lack thereof of one’s field, and bullying and discrimination. We argue that short-termism and lack of visibility play down considerably the contribution of long-term researchers to the financial and academic success of research institutions. We also argue that traditional–but still in place–structures in academia are ill adapted to the contemporary demographics and practices of the research community; we recommend that future studies involve HE sector stakeholders to review and to reform the academic career structure.

Genius Lies in the Sense of Place

Through Dyhia Belhabib's life story the broken academia system finds itself far from reality. Throughout her life, she has seen and experienced the struggles of a minority to succeed in the world of academia even when working harder for the pursuit of knowledge. The idea that one who fits elsewhere may not be able to produce sound research has led individuals to take unconventional paths in the pursuit of research. This edition of Poplar and Ivy works to shed light on these unconventional career paths in nontraditional research that shed light on global and local understudied issues.

Career Types and Career Satisfaction Among Sociology Doctoral Graduates of Corvinus University

The academic profession has significantly transformed in the past few decades due to the industrialization of higher education and research. Based on sixteen career path interviews, the study investigates how the career paths of sociology doctoral graduates who obtained their master’s or PhD degree at Corvinus University of Budapest have been formed within this changing environment of the academic profession. The study distinguishes four researcher career path types and describes attached job characteristics and career satisfaction. Hungarian and international academic researchers have spent most of their careers at Hungarian or renowned foreign universities. Hungarian academic researchers performed a high volume of teaching, while international academic researchers primarily focused on research. The career paths of market researchers were formed by their positions at research firms, where they were involved in applied research projects. Researchers of the mixed career type alternated between the different sectors throughout their career paths that led to dissatisfaction with their careers. Interviewees of the other three types were generally satisfied with their careers, however, the reconciliation of teaching, research and organizational tasks in the case of Hungarian academic researchers, the measurement of publication performance against Western scholars regarding international academic researchers, and the choice between academic and market activities among market researchers all emerged as sources of frustration in the narratives.

Application of HPC and big data in post-pandemic times

We lay out the ramifications of the 2020 pandemic for all people in geosciences, especially the young, and argue for significant changes on training and career development. We focus primarily on its devastating impact in USA and compare with that in other countries especially China. We review the potential effect for the next four years or so on the aspirations of an academic career versus more realistic career goals. We urge people in mid-career about the need to reassess previous goals. We stress the need for students or researchers to acquire technical skills in high-performance computing (HPC), data analytics, artificial intelligence, and/or visualization along with a broad set of technical skills in applied computer science and mathematics. We give advice about hot prospects in several areas that have great potential for advancement in the coming decade, such as visualization, deep learning, quantum computing and information, and cloud computing, all of which lie within the aegis of HPC. Our forecast is that the pandemic will significantly reshape the job landscape and career paths for both young and established researchers and we discuss bluntly the dire situation facing junior people in geosciences in the aftermath of the pandemic around the world until 2024.

Beyond Ticking Boxes: Holistic Assessment of Travel Award Programs Is Essential for Inclusivity

Beyond Ticking Boxes: Holistic Assessment of Travel Award Programs Is Essential for Inclusivity

Research Career Paths Among Political Scientists in Teaching Institutions

ABSTRACTConsiderable work assesses research productivity in political science. Yet, the latter work has not explicated how research careers can differ across time and individuals and neither has it considered such careers in teaching institutions. This article presents an empirically validated typology for research career paths for political scientists who began their career in a teaching institution. The typology demonstrates that many scholars follow paths different from the most conventional expectations, and research “success” by measures of publications and citations is associated with only some of those paths. Thus, existing research on aggregate publications and citations likely addresses only a subset of the career paths described here. Understanding research activities in our profession requires accounting for various career paths, their motivations, and their place in our research community.

Research Career Paths Among Political Scientists in Research Institutions—Erratum

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Research Career Paths Among Political Scientists in Research Institutions

ABSTRACTConsiderable research assesses research success in political science. Yet this work has not considered widespread findings that scholars can follow various career research paths that complicate how we envision scholarly success. Further, we have no systematic information on these career paths in any scientific discipline. I present an empirically validated research career-path typology for political scientists who began their career in a research institution. The typology demonstrates that many scholars follow paths different from the most conventional expectations, and research success by measures of publications and citations is associated with only some of these paths. Thus, existing research on aggregate publications and citations likely addresses only a subset of the career paths revealed in this article. Understanding research activities in our profession requires consideration of the various career paths, their motivation, and their place in our research community.

Tisch Cancer Institute Scholars Program: Mentored Cancer Research Training Pipeline for Medical Students.

Cancer research has led to unprecedented advances in treatment in recent decades. Physician-scientists have played a crucial role in these advances given their unique perspective at the intersection between basic research and clinical care, though their representation in cancer research has been in progressive decline. Cancer research programs that feature strong mentorship at the medical student level are associated with increased likelihood of alumni choosing a cancer research career path. In an effort to increase the cancer research medical student training pipeline, senior research faculty from the Tisch Cancer Institute (TCI) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) developed the TCI Scholars Program, a rigorous mentored research training program funding medical students’ summer research. This program is currently in its third year and has garnered significant interest among mentors and students alike from all four TCI Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG)–funded research programs. Herein, we describe the development, implementation, evaluation, and major outcomes of this program.

Research career path of the acoustics beginner

Research career path of the acoustics beginner

The ageing surgeon workforce: A qualitative study of interprofessional perspectives

ABSTRACT Objective: Identify, design and develop selective strategies to guide the management of ageing surgeons. Materials and Methods: A semi-structured interview with preset open-ended questions was employed to interview stakeholders in healthcare. Questions related to the continued practice of ageing surgeons and what can be done to leverage the competencies and experiences of ageing surgeons whilst ensuring patient safety. Results: A total of 12 respondents were included before theoretical saturation was reached. Most respondents agreed that the skills of ageing surgeons can be leveraged to improve patient outcomes or are transferable to non-clinical roles such as mentorship, teaching and research. An ageing surgeon’s personal pursuits and personality may act as barriers to this approach however. Ways to keep ageing surgeons in continued practice were explored, like the proposal of a functional evaluation. Promises of a work-life balance was also considered to incentivise the continued contributions of ageing surgeons. Conclusion: A comprehensive, multidisciplinary and objective evaluation should be periodically conducted to evaluate the competency of ageing surgeons. Education, mentoring and research career paths can be considered for surgeons who can no longer practice clinically. Professional guidance for retirement planning may be provided earlier for ageing surgeons to be meaningfully engaged post-clinical practice.

Understanding factors that motivate research performance and career longevity of science, technology, engineering and mathematics postgraduates

Given the high investments in training and mentoring graduates who have chosen the research career path, and considering a high attrition of these graduates moving on to non-research type of careers, it is important to understand the factors that motivate young scientists to stay on the job as they could make important contributions to a better world with their scientific endeavours. It is in this context that we conducted an exploratory study to understand the factors that may drive the scientists’ performance as well as their expectations to remain in the research career paths. We found evidence for an indirect link (through research commitment) between need-for-cognition and career performance as well as evidence of an effect of research commitment on the anticipated research career length. There was also evidence that continuance commitment (but not other extrinsic factors) affects anticipated research career length, and that organisational support is linked to perceived research performance. Implications of our findings for student selection and graduate mentoring are discussed.

Welche Beiträge können strukturierte Promotionsprogramme zur Qualitätssicherung medizinischer Promotionen und wissenschaftlichen Karriereförderung/ Nachwuchsförderung leisten? Eine Evaluation am Beispiel der Programminitiative „Experimentelle Medizin“ der Universität Ulm

ObjectiveStructured doctoral programs in medicine are intended to contribute to the quality of medical dissertations/doctoral theses by providing scientific skills and also inspire doctoral candidates to pursue a career in research.Here we present the potential contributions of the doctoral program “Experimental Medicine” of Ulm University with regard to the increase of individual quality indicators, e. g., the duration and evaluation of the doctoral theses as well as the study participants’ scientific career intentions and current field of activity. MethodsAll previous participants of the doctoral program (N = 144) were contacted as well as medical graduates with an experimental doctorate as individual doctorate (control group) (N = 559) who had submitted a doctoral thesis in the same period. The response rate was 55.4 % (N = 72) among program participants versus 21.7 % (N = 116) in the control group.Information on the doctoral thesis process, scientific and professional careers and quality indicators were collected in an online survey and compared statistically using U-tests or Chi-square tests. The participants‘ evaluation of the program and their confidence in scientific competences, rated on a 5-point rating scale, were outlined descriptively. ResultsProgram participants were satisfied with the supervision of their work (M 2.17; SD 0.84). According to the participants’ evaluation, particular support was given to increase competence in scientific presentations (M 1.9; SD 0.83), in literature research (M 2.21; SD 0.96) and in the critical appraisal of scientific publications (M 2.28; SD 0.91). However, they felt comparatively less competent regarding the selection of research methods (M 3.21; SD 1.11) and the application of statistical methods (M 3.53; SD 1.13).Program participants needed less time to complete their doctoral theses than the control group (median 4 years versus 5 years) and received the overall grade of “summa cum laude” (excellent) more frequently (22.9 % versus 2.7 %).In comparison, their doctoral theses were more often part of third-party funded projects (59 % versus 36.1 %). In addition, the participants more frequently wished to pursue a habilitation (29.2 % versus 13.3 %) or aspire to an academic career (13.9 % versus 1.7 %). ConclusionsDespite methodological limitations, the results support the structured doctoral program, particularly with regard to the duration and evaluation of the doctorate. The program should be further optimized, though, with respect to specific aspects, particularly in terms of “career paths in research”.

1158 Increasing Gastroenterology Related Scholarly Output in Internal Medicine Residents Using a Novel Individualized Curriculum

INTRODUCTION: Scholarly work in residency can be challenging due to a busy clinical schedule, lack of prior research and biostatistical experience, and absence of a formal curriculum. Scholarly work is a mandatory requirement from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for residents. Therefore, we designed and implemented a formal individualized research curriculum to enhance gastroenterology-related scholarly output in internal medicine residents. METHODS: We developed and instituted a research curriculum to enhance and increase scholarly activity and culture amongst internal medicine residents. The components of the curriculum were: i) Learner assessment, ii) identify needs of learner, iii) selection of the correct type of scholarly work, iv) Learner education [Referencing software (writing skills), IRB training, Institute for Healthcare Improvement modules (quality improvement projects), writing templates, statistical help / learning], finding mentorship, and dissemination of work. Our objectives were: i) foster and develop an interest in research and academic career paths, ii) meet ACGME requirements for research in residency, and iii) to increase knowledge regarding various types of scholarly work. RESULTS: This curriculum was applied to a total of 16 internal medicine residents and 7 medical students over a period of 30 months. A total of 30 peer-reviewed publications in PubMed indexed journals, and 50 presentations/abstracts at national meetings were presented as a result of this curriculum. In addition, a total of 7 national research awards including Presidential Poster Abstract Awards at the American College of Gastroenterology annual meeting, national American College of Physicians meeting presentation awards, and best Poster Presenter Awards were attained by these learners in recognition of their scholarly work. Also, 9 research awards were won at local/regional research meetings by the learners participating in the curriculum. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, a formal, systematic and individualized curriculum improved gastroenterology related scholarly output in internal medicine residents at our institution. The success of the program was largely due to the presence of identified mentors in the division who were interested in guiding enthusiastic learners. Further outcomes from the implementation of this curriculum by other departments and institutions are needed to validate the transferability and overall success of the curriculum.