Policy Concentrates EDUCATION
Thinking ahead in graduate school Doctoral trainees know the odds of getting an academic job, study shows
which requires additional training. Chemists had a more realistic view of their own chances of getting a tenure-track job than life scientists, who tended to overestimate When pondering whether to pursue postfollowed up with those who did a postdoc. their odds of getting a position. doctoral training, chemistry graduate stu“We wanted to get into people’s brains” However, a large percentage of those dents understand what their chances are of to find out what they knew about the job getting a postdoc were most attracted to getting a faculty job, a new survey shows. market and how they thought about their careers outside of academia, the study But the results confirm educators’ fears career options, Sauermann explains. found. It’s not clear whether they need that students don’t feel well-informed about The researchers found that graduate postdoctoral training for those jobs. what training they need to work in industry students across scientific fields had a good Many students don’t have a sense of how R&D, start-ups, or government (Science understanding of the academic job market. many jobs are available or what background 2016, DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf2061). Those who choose to do a postdoc were they require, Doyle says. Chemistry students The survey results are “intriguing,” says more likely to pursue careers in academia, think they need a postdoc for some high-levMichael Doyle, a professor at the el industry jobs in the pharmaceutiUniversity of Texas, San Antonio, cal industry, for example. who was on an American Chemical A survey published last week in Science asked graduate Sauermann agrees that’s a probSociety panel that recommended students to pick the career path they find most attractive. lem. “We don’t know enough about changes to graduate education. “It’s The authors then compared those who say they plan to get the industry labor market,” he says. really going to cause a stir.” postdoctoral training with those who do not. Here are the But the issue could also be a Educators have long worried that responses for chemistry graduate students. lack of training. Cynthia Fuhrstudents do not get enough training mann, who created a jobs training % of respondents or mentoring to make informed program at the University of Mas44 career choices, Doyle explains. That sachusetts Medical School, says Faculty, teaching 33 could lead them to waste years in a it’s important for graduate stu51 low-paying postdoc position that dents to think about their career Faculty, research 11 won’t help advance their career. early. Students at her campus start Until this study, knowledge mandatory career training their 46 Government R&D about what graduate students first week on campus and it con45 understand about the labor tinues through graduate school. 43 Established-firm R&D market was mostly anecdotal. “It is concerning that ear67 That’s why authors Henry Sauly-career scientists who we invest 28 Start-up R&D ermann of Georgia Tech and so much in—as a scientific commu34 Michael Roach of Cornell Uninity and as taxpayers—are making ◾ Plan to pursue a postdoc versity surveyed almost 6,000 career decisions without being Other career 5 11 ◾ Plan not to pursue a postdoc graduate students at 39 research well-informed about the options universities—including around available to them.”—ANDREA Note: Numbers do not add to 100% because students could select more than 670 chemistry students. They one answer. Source: Science WIDENER
How postdoc plans impact career outlook
PUBLIC HEALTH
FDA approves first commercial test for Zika The Food & Drug Administration has granted Quest Diagnostics an emergency authorization to sell the first commercially developed test to diagnose the Zika virus in the U.S. Quest says it plans to make the test widely available to doctors for patient testing starting in early May. Previously, Zika screening tests were available only through the federal Centers for Disease Control & Prevention for use in a network of labs approved by CDC.
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | MAY 9, 2016
“The availability of our new molecular Zika test provides physicians broad access to a diagnostic tool for managing the Zika outbreak,” says Rick L. Pesano, vice president of research and development at Quest, a clinical laboratory services company. The new test detects RNA from the Zika virus in blood samples. Quest says the test results will initially be processed at a laboratory in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., which developed and validated the technology. The virus, which is mainly spread through
mosquito bites, has become an epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean. Health officials have confirmed that infection during pregnancy can cause fetal microcephaly and other birth defects and have warned that outbreaks in the U.S. are possible. The Obama Administration is seeking funding to expand programs that control mosquitoes and for research into vaccines, but the $1.8 billion request is being held up in Congress.—GLENN HESS, special to
C&EN
