NEWS OF THE WEEK
POSTDOCS GET CONTRACT ACADEME: University of California agreement increases compensation, but may decrease opportunities
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OSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS at the Uni-
UC spokesman Steve Montiel says the five-year contract will bring stability to university research programs. The contract also establishes and formalizes policies on personal and sick leave, annual reviews, protection against job loss, and interactions with environmental health and safety departments. The postdocs also agreed not to strike for the duration of the contract. The contract specifies that all newly appointed postdocs starting at UC on or after Sept. 1 must receive at least the minimum salary recommended by NIH. For fiscal 2010, NIH guidelines call for a first-year postdoc to make at least $37,740 and for a fifth-year postdoc to make $47,940. UC postdocs up for reappointment will receive up to a 3% raise to approach or meet the NIH pay guideline. Those postdocs who already receive more than the
versity of California ratified their first contract with UC this month in voting that concluded on Aug. 11. The contract boosts their salaries to the recommended salary scale for postdocs established by NIH. “I’m ecstatic that we’ve come to this agreement at last,” says Matthew (Oki) O’Connor, a former UC CHEMISTRY POSTDOCS Berkeley bioengineering postMedian pay meets NIH guidelines only for first-year researchers doc who spent the past year working for the Postdoctoral 2009 BASE SALARY NIH GUIDELINES YEARS SINCE Researchers Organize/United PH.D. (NO. OF 25TH 75TH RESPONDENTS) PERCENTILE MEDIAN PERCENTILE 2009 2010 Auto Workers union full-time 0–1 (23) $37,000 $39,000 $41,000 $37,368 to $39,360 $37,740 to $39,756 on contract negotiations. 2–4 (100) 35,500 40,000 44,000 42,204 to 45,504 42,624 to 45,960 Others are not so happy. “I 5–9 (43) 32,448 39,000 46,000 47,460 to 51,552 47,940 to 52,068 think the impact will certainly SOURCES: 2009 ACS Comprehensive Salary & Employment Survey, NIH notices NOT-OD-09-075 and NOT-OD-10-047 be fewer postdoc positions” because research grants have not been increasing enough to accommodate the NIH-recommended pay will receive a 2% increase on higher salaries, says Carlito B. Lebrilla, chair of the reappointment. By 2014, all postdocs must receive at chemistry department at UC Davis. Lebrilla also notes least the NIH-recommended salary for their experithat the combination of stipend, tuition, and fees for ence level. UC expects grants to cover nearly all of the graduate students used to make them more expensive salary increases, Montiel says. to employ than postdocs but that the new postdoc sal“Every way I look at it, it’s just going to decrease the ary structure will likely change that equation. number of opportunities for graduate students at a The UC system overall employs roughly 6,500 posttime when we have a lot of grad students who are lookdocs, or about 10% of all the postdocs in the U.S. The ing for positions” due to the poor economy, Lebrilla contract vote was 2,588 to 121. says.—JYLLIAN KEMSLEY
RENEWABLES Gevo files IPO to fund biofuels, chemicals development Biofuels and chemicals maker Gevo has filed preliminary documents with the Securities & Exchange Commission for an initial public offering (IPO) of shares worth up to $150 million. The money Gevo raises would help finance a network of fermentation-based biorefineries to produce isobutyl alcoholbased fuels and feedstocks for plastics, fibers, rubber, and other polymers. Since its inception in 2005, however, the firm has accumulated a deficit of $50.3 million. Revenues last year amounted to $660,000, none of it from the sale of isobutyl alcohol—most came
from government grants and cooperative agreements. Nonetheless, Gevo has a blue chip slate of investors including Burrill & Co., Khosla Ventures, and the Virgin Green Fund. French oil and gas firm Total invested in the firm in April 2009. In May, German synthetic rubber producer Lanxess invested $10 million in Gevo and inked an agreement to jointly develop a renewable route for isobutene to make butyl rubber, which is used to manufacture tires. According to Samhitha Udupa, an analyst for Lux Research, it’s “IPO or bust now” for many clean technology
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firms. The market for IPOs has improved recently because other capital-raising options are less available. Algae-to-fuels maker PetroAlgae filed an IPO for up to $200 million earlier this month, and biomass-to-fuels developer Codexis recently raised $78 million in an IPO. Gevo has a good story too, Udupa adds, especially because biochemicals are “in a sweet spot right now,” where buyers are willing to pay more than for traditional petrochemicals if they can get added performance benefits.—MARC REISCH
