Golden opportunities

Just west of Washington DC, where federal funding and science projects are lost and found in the halls and budget proposals of the US Congress, lies northern Virginia. Given its proximity to the nation's capital, it's hardly surprising that the area has numerous government jobs in science and science policy, ranging from biodefence to geology, economics and social sciences. Indeed, the government agencies of northern Virginia help decide how to divvy up the science budgets of Capitol Hill.

As you drive into northern Virginia, the District of Columbia's massive concrete buildings and imposing security barriers give way to the businesses and pricy housing of Arlington, Alexandria and Falls Church. Some two million people call northern Virginia home. Loudon County, one of its four main jurisdictions (along with Arlington, Fairfax and Prince William) is the nation's fastest-growing large county.

J. SOHM; VISIONS OF AMERICA/CORBIS

The northern Virginia city closest to Washington is Arlington, home to several science agencies. Chief among these is the National Science Foundation (NSF), with 800 to 900 science- and engineering-related employees. About 450 of these are programme directors, overseeing specific research areas as well as the awarding and administration of grants. NSF programme directors generally keep up with new developments and emerging trends and stay in touch with leading scientists.

Unlike their counterparts at the National Institutes of Health, programme directors at the NSF have the authority to override peer-review panels' grant funding recommendations. Because of this, NSF programme directors must be particularly well-respected in their fields. "It's extremely important for them to have that credibility, especially among those whose grant proposals get denied," says Joseph Burt, the NSF's director of human resources.

Carol Bessel can continue her independent research while working as a programme director at the National Science Foundation.P. G. SPYROPOLUS

About 250 programme directors are 'temporary rotators', on assignment from universities and non-profit organizations for 1 to 3 years. About 100 to 150 of these jobs are available during the course of a year. A doctorate and at least 6 years of academic or non-profit research experience are needed. But unlike many federal jobs, US citizenship is generally not required. Rotators are paid their academic salaries, but permanent programme directors average $140,000 annually — not bad, even in a region with a very high cost of living. The recently enacted America competitiveness legislation would allow a substantial increase to the NSF's budget during the next 3 years. If this happens, the number of programme directors at the agency might well increase.

Being a programme director affords scientists the chance to see their fields from a unique perspective. "You might think it's just administrative work, but every idea that will be published in a journal in 5 years is coming across your desk in the form of a proposal or an idea," says Alan Tessier, a programme director in the division of environmental biology.

Programme directors can also continue their own research. Under the NSF's independent research and development programme, they are encouraged to spend a day a week on their own research at a lab not funded by the foundation. Carol Bessel, a full-time programme director in the NSF's inorganic, bioinorganic and organometallic chemistry division, continues her work with carbon nanofibres at the Naval Research Laboratory across the river in DC. "You get to see the science and you can also participate in it," says Bessel.

Down the street from the NSF is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon's secretive 'high risk/high reward' think-tank. Housed in a pleasant yet non-descript glass office building, DARPA seeks 25–30 programme managers each year for 4–6-year assignments, welcoming scientists from industry and academia who have what the agency terms 'far-side' ideas.

"We do fundamental research without a specific application in mind," says spokeswoman Jan Walker. "But it has to have some military relevance." DARPA salaries are commensurate with experience, and US citizenship is required for security clearances.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency employs scientists from industry and academia to do basic research with military relevance.K. SIMPSON

Many DARPA-funded projects have civilian benefits — lasers, advanced computing, the global positioning system and Internet technologies all benefited from early DARPA support. Mathematician Benjamin Mann is running seven projects in DARPA's defence sciences office, including applying algebraic topology to massive data sets and statistics. In addition to the military, the work may have applications to neuroscience and biology, he says. He and other programme managers draft solicitations for external grants and contracts, participate in the award selection process (along with Pentagon brass), and oversee the research being conducted at universities and institutes. Although nearly everything DARPA does with its sponsored research is classified, DARPA-funded scientists are encouraged to publish their findings.

John Mathieson: "This region is just burgeoning in technical activities."

Conducting research of an entirely different sort, the US Geological Survey (USGS) headquarters is nestled in a series of office parks in Reston, Virginia, 20 minutes northwest of Arlington. The USGS acquires and assesses data involving geography, geology, hydrology and biology to help the government minimize the effects of natural disasters and manage natural resources. Its large, eight-pointed star-shaped complex houses about 600 scientists who coordinate and oversee research conducted at USGS science centres in every state, including a regional seismic monitoring network for earthquakes and volcanoes. Some scientists at the headquarters oversee the conduct of competitive grants to universities and research institutions; others assess energy supply resources for public policy decision-making. Still others manage mapping activities, including a large geospatial imaging programme.

"We do a tremendous amount of hiring for biologists, geologists and hydrologists," says Roxanne Tipton, chief of the staffing and classification office for the USGS eastern region. Typically 15–25 doctorate-level science positions are open in Reston, she says, and scientists with supervisory skills and and project-management experience can earn from $110,000 to $143,000 per year. Citizenship is required for senior-level positions.

Federal money also means plenty of jobs for scientists at private contractors and consultancies in northern Virgina (see 'Worlds apart'). Non-profit think-tanks SRI International and the RAND Corporation in Arlington, for example, offer science policy and other research employment. "This region is just burgeoning in technical activities," says John Mathieson, director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Economic Development at SRI. "It's a very dynamic place for jobs for scientists."

World Apart

Although separated physically only by the Potomac River, northern Virginia and suburban Maryland are worlds apart when it comes to biotechnology. Nearly 200 of Maryland's 370 biotech companies have opened shop in Montgomery County, north of Washington DC. Even promoters of northern Virginia admit that their side of the river pales by comparison, hosting only about 60 of the state's 175 biotech firms. But some see northern Virginia as brimming with biotech potential.

Maryland's biotechs include some of the nation's oldest and most prominent, including MedImmune, Celera and Human Genome Sciences. Northern Virginia, by contrast, is a relative newcomer. It acquired its first biotech, American Type Culture Collection, in 1998. A non-profit organization, the firm occupies lab space in the Innovation @ Prince William Technology Business Park, a 600-hectare business and technology park anchored by the life-science campus at George Mason University in Prince William county.

In addition to its proximity to government facilities such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration, Maryland's biotech strength also derives from its major research universities, including the University of Maryland in College Park and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Johns Hopkins was the nation's leading NIH grant recipient in 2005, with 1,299 awards totalling $607 million. That year, George Mason University — the second-largest university in Virginia with nearly 30,000 students on three campuses — had only 17 NIH awards, at $29 million.

But together, government and private grants hit $85 million last year at George Mason University, says provost Peter Stearns, and funding has been growing at around 14% a year for the past several years. Two years ago the university started its Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine. And it broke ground last month on a $42-million biocontainment laboratory and bioscience research building on 4 hectares adjacent to the university's Prince William county campus.

Supporters of northern Virginia biotech industry hope that the Janelia Farm Research Campus — the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's $500-million research complex in Ashburn — will be a magnet for biotech development when fully operational in 2009 (see Nature 443, 128–129; 2006). "We're already seeing some interest from outside companies, but it's too early to say what will happen," says Michelle Snyder, communications director for the Northern Virginia Technology Council. Janelia has recruited about half of the 450 people it is aiming to employ, according to director Gerry Rubin. "We are still looking for everything from group leaders to administrative assistants," he says.

Oblivious to turf differences, outsiders view northern Virginia, suburban Maryland and the District of Columbia as one region — the nation's sixth-largest biotech cluster, according to a 2004 study by the Milken Institute.

"If you talk to people from overseas, they don't care about state lines," says Terry Woodworth, life-sciences director at the non-profit Virginia Center for Innovative Technology in Herndon. "It's one area."

Ted Agres