"Headhunters and online job postings account for only 20% of science job placements; 80% are filled through networking."
These words from headhunter Sean McCooe, a specialist in placing scientists, had special meaning for the 160 members of the Science Alliance who heard him at a meeting on "Job Search Fundamentals" at the Cornell Medical Center in March. Science Alliance members know about networking. Two to three times a week, young investigators are fully half of the attendees at the Frontiers of Science discussion group meetings at the New York Academy of Sciences.
Why are these meetings so popular? First, because they feature top scientists from industry and academia giving presentations on cutting-edge research topics in an informal seminar like setting; Second, because each meeting is followed by an invaluable opportunity to network with the speakers and other attendees and enjoy catered refreshments. The Academy hosts more than 120 meetings of its discussion groups and sections a year. (See: What is the Frontiers of Science?)
What brings everyone back meeting after meeting is the consistently high quality of the presentations from top local, national, and international scientists. In recent months, these meetings have featured:
- Judah Folkman from Harvard Medical School speaking on emerging new approaches for antiangiogenic therapies for treating cancer
- Xinhua Ji from the National Institutes of Health speaking on the structural components of RNAi machinery
- Jacqueline Katz from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention speaking on the science of influenza vaccines
- Kari Stefansson from deCODE Genetics speaking on the genetics of special populations
- Tim Tully from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories speaking on the development of novel cognitive enhancers for cognitive aging and dementia
- Christof Koch from the California Institute of Technology speaking about his new book, The Quest for Consciousness, with Oliver Sacks acting as his discussant for the evening (A few weeks later Oliver Sacks could be found again chatting with students by the crudités after Nobelists Torsten Wiesel and David Hubel discussed their new book, Brain and Visual Perception)
Access to Academy events is not limited to residents of the New York metro area. Sixty percent of the Academy's 23,000 members are outside this area. To serve them the Academy
has top science writers report on each event and publishes their work as online eBriefings, complete with chapterized slides and audio— a benefit offered exclusively to members. This enables remote Academy members almost as rich an experience as actually attending a meeting. (see What is an eBriefing?)
All three components of what the Academy offers scientific job seekers—brilliant content, unequalled networking, insightful career mentoring—come together in the second collaboration between the Academy and Naturejobs on April 29 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in midtown Manhattan for this year's Bioscience Research Career Fair and Symposium. Last year more than 700 job seekers thronged NYU's Kimmel Center to meet with 25 exhibitors and to hear a full day of panelists discussing job trends in bioscience research. You can read the eBriefing of last year's event at www.nyas.org/Careerday2004. This year's event—with a larger venue and a symposium with multiple panels focusing on trends in drug discovery and development—promises to deliver even more to scientists evaluating career options. No other event offers the same opportunity to hear elite industry insiders and meet a broad range of industry recruiters on the same day. www.nyas.org/nycareerfair
What is the Frontiers of Science?
Constituting interdisciplinary discussion groups, led by prominent researchers working in some of the hottest areas of science, this program organizes intimate seminars in which senior scientists meet alongside graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to explore ideas and exchange information at the cutting edge of new and emerging disciplines. Groundbreaking groups include chemical biology, computational biology / bioinformatics, drug discovery, emerging infectious diseases, genome integrity, genomic medicine, imaging, neuroimmunology, neurodegenerative diseases, nanobiotechnology, RNAi, systems biology, and more. The meetings are disseminated globally (see What is an eBriefing?).
Visit www.nyas.org/frontiers for more details
What is an eBriefing?
Multimedia eBriefings turn the Academy's live meetings and conferences into dynamic, virtual experiences for those who can't attend. EBriefings are designed for busy scientists. Through a practical, drill-down format, complete with a journalist's report, executive summaries, transcripts, PowerPoint slides, and audio, they allow ready access to as little or as much information as the reader has time for, and even include speaker bios, "open questions," and links to additional resources
Sample some showcase eBriefings here
What is the Science Alliance?
The Science Alliance is a two-year-old initiative of the New York Academy of Sciences under which the Academy organizes career development events for 5000 graduate students and postdocs from the 18 top research institutions in the New York tri-state area. The program creates events like a Career Fair/Symposium, as well as meetings on interviewing skills, alternative careers, and intellectual property.