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"Programs should provide all NRSA trainees with additional professional development skills and career guidance."

The global financial crisis has beaten down science budgets everywhere. So it's no surprise that science-spending forecasts for Europe are grim.

The agency has updated its grant proposal guide, but its new use of "products" in the biosketch, in place of publications, is ambiguous.

A recent analysis in neuroscience urges caution both in reading the literature and in designing your own experiments.

Although academia and industry differ in many ways, the two environments are ultimately more similar than they are different.

Identifying and addressing self-confidence issues can help early-career scientists make swifter progress.

Fátima Al-Shahrour is working to interpret the genome to help select more effective drugs for cancer patients.

"Scientists are always focused on experiments, gaining knowledge, but there is the human side that you need to be exposed to early on." -Anton Wutz

"If you want to have a safe job--a job for life--then clinical molecular genetics is it, no doubt about it." - Maximilian Muenke

Tremendous strides have been made in eradicating infectious disease scourges such as smallpox and polio that once killed and crippled millions; still, about 15 million deaths—or about one third of all deaths annually—result from infectious diseases worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Of those, nearly half involve children under the age of 5 years, predominantly in poorer countries. The ongoing hefty death toll, the pharmaceutical industry’s increasing interest in the research and development of vaccines, and plentiful funding from multiple sources all combine to provide a range of opportunities for postdocs and graduate students in vaccine research. The field is high growth and, perhaps more important, the fruits of this work promise to have a real impact on the health of the world’s population.

Many scientists opt for a research career in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry, so why not kick-start the process by also doing a postdoc in industry? Industrial postdocs often provide higher salaries and greater access to resources than their academic counterparts. But how do you find out about available positions and whether they are a good fit for you? Will a position as a postdoctoral fellow provide you a foot in the door at a company? And what if you don't like it? Will an industrial postdoc cut you off from returning to academia?

The cancer vaccine field is growing rapidly, offering ample opportunities for graduate students and postdocs to grow their careers.

Forming collaborations between academia, industry, government agencies, and private organizations can offer benefits to all parties.

"Suzanne is one of the hardest working scientists I know." --Patrick Phillips

Asked to assess the programs, the panel threw up its hands.

Intellectual property and technology transfer play important roles in today’s science. A scientist’s career can change dramatically through patents, which can spawn companies or funds for research. Moreover, some scientists create exciting careers by moving from the bench to a technology transfer office in academics, government, or industry.

“I’d like to be here [longer]. But now my wife and my baby are in Japan, so I have to go back.”

Her past experiences helped her realize the importance of being a scientist and a mentor, and she currently uses her expertise to help manage natural resources and to bring women and minorities, especially Native Americans, into science.