The following HTML text is provided to enhance online
readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
Please use the page image
as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
ENHANCING THE POSTDOCTORAL EXPERIENCE FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS: A Guide for Postdoctoral Scholars, Advisers, Institutions, Funding Organizations, and Disciplinary Societies
FIGURE 1-4: Postgraduation Plans of Science and Engineering Doctorates at the Time They Received Their Degree, 1998. Source: 1998 Survey of Earned Doctorates.
try, and physics/astronomy. Interestingly, the proportion of doctorates planning postdoctoral study was roughly constant from 1975-1994. However, beginning around 1994 the trends were no longer parallel, as a declining number of recent US doctorates have been planning postdoctoral study in the three fields examined.
The importance of postdocs to research.
As a whole, the postdoctoral population has become indispensable to the science and engineering enterprise, performing a substantial portion of the nation's research in every setting. For example, a survey of research articles in two recent issues of Science found that 43 percent of the first authors were postdocs.9 In many labs, postdocs also educate, train, and supervise junior members, help write grant proposals and papers, and present the laboratory 's research results at professional society meetings. More than 15 universities have postdoctoral populations that exceed 500 (see Table 1-1).
Postdoctoral experiences are increasingly seen as central to careers in research. As illustrated in Figure 1-4, about 40 percent of the 1998 doctorates that plan to remain in the US will enter postdoctoral study rather than regular employment.
Items in cart [0]
