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Building a sustainable career in science

Nature Biotechnology volume 28, pages 378–379 (2010)Cite this article

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Establishing a successful academic career in the age of 'big science'.

The word “sustainability” derives from the Latin word sustinere (tenere, to hold; sus-, up), to support or endure. A principal concern of postdocs is our path to initiating and sustaining a fruitful career. Whereas approximately 79% of postdocs start out aiming for a tenure-track academic position, only about 30% end up with one1. What does it take for postdocs to decide whether or not they want an academic job? What is a successful strategy for getting and sustaining one?

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References

  1. National Science Board. Science and Engineering Indicators 2006. http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind06 (2006).

  2. National Academy of Sciences. Bridges to Independence (National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2005).

  3. <http://grants.nih.gov/>.

  4. Bonetta, L. The evolving postdoctoral experience. Science Careers (August 2009).

  5. Bonetta, L. The postdoc experience. Science Careers (August 2008).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the postdocs and faculty at Rockefeller University for participating in their survey. We thank David Roth for discussions. The postdoc retreat was organized by the Rockefeller Univeristy Post-Doctoral Association.

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  1. Aakanksha Singhvi and Pallavi Sachdev are at Rockefeller University, New York, New York, USA.,

    Aakanksha Singhvi & Pallavi Sachdev

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  1. Aakanksha Singhvi
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  2. Pallavi Sachdev
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Correspondence to Aakanksha Singhvi or Pallavi Sachdev.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Singhvi, A., Sachdev, P. Building a sustainable career in science. Nat Biotechnol 28, 378–379 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0410-378

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