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Native Brazilian
Carmen 'Kika' Sucharov
passed up a faculty position back home so that she could continue as a postdoc in Colorado. Despite the colder weather, she has no regrets.
Brazil's
Marcia Triunfol
left her favorite beach in her native Brazil in order to study science in the U.S. She ended up staying, but leaving the bench behind.
What is
Beatrijs Lodde
, a Dutch medical researcher doing working long hours in the States? Aren't the working hours and terms much better in her small European country? Well, yes, but working in the 'states has its advantages.
As a working mother, writes Germany's
Carola Laue
, the support and opportunities available here make coming to America are almost like returning to her native East Germany.
Cancer researcher
Valentine Andela
of Cameroon fights cancer in the U.S. and Africa by blurring the lines between nations and disciplines.
Tawanda Zidenga
of Zimbabwe has often found himself swimming against the tide. But, he notes, it seems that the only thing you need in order to get what you want is the help and support of other people.
For physician
Hui Fang
and her husband, moving from China to Canada meant starting over. But you won't find her complaining.
Working and studying abroad can be a great experience, writes UK's
Pamela Hamill
, but there is no lack of practical hurdles (e.g., expenses, and bureaucracies) to overcome.
Professor Verstegen of Wageningen University and his wife work as a team to welcome foreign PhD-students and support them and their families.
Terry Vrijenhoek
describes how their caring approach makes the students feel at home.
Researchers in German universities and publicly funded research institutes are only allowed to work for a total of 12 years on temporary contracts, including the doctoral period. If they don't have a permanent position by then, they have to leave home or find a new line of work.
Anne Forde
investigates this major German workforce issue--one that could result in a major loss of scientific talent.
In carving out a career as a scientist while also raising a child on her own,
Takita Felder has learned a lot about science, but even more about life.
Despite some obstacles, Canada's
Keli Agama
has found his experiences as a scientist of color to be, on the whole, positive.
When it comes to diversity in the science and engineering workforce, industry is well ahead of academia in some respects. Next Wave's
Clinton Parks
explains how both sectors still have plenty of work to do.
Lack of role models and a cultural bias towards professions such as medicine and law mean Asians are few and far between in UK labs, but
Chandrika Nath
argues Britain can't afford to miss out on their talents.
Mosaic is the first Dutch research funding programme focusing on young immigrant scientists. Next Wave's
Terry Vrijenhoek
says interest for this new NWO programme was overwhelming and seems to have rung a bell at Dutch universities. The original Dutch-language article is by
Hanne Obbink
.
Ruth Kirschstein of the National Institutes of Health has been involved in the training of biomedical scientists for decades, so much so that NIH named its fellowships after her. Along with colleagues at NIH and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute,
Kirschstein asks
,
who will do science in the 21st century, and where and how will they do it?
Most young scientists-in-training envision a career in academia, perhaps because that's the only kind of scientific career they know. Yet many more scientists work in industry than in academe. Regrettably, those who wish to join today's industrial workforce may find themselves lacking key skills, writes
Clifford Mintz
, despite their impressive scientific credentials. Why? Because our universities don't teach them the skills they need.
Information Technology is a field that, historically, scientists have entered in considerable numbers. But what are the prospects for aspiring computing professionals? Next Wave's
Alan Kotok reports
on the state of the IT profession from a conference in suburban Washington, DC.
Many of the world's most serious scientific challenges affect areas that are least prepared to meet them. That's why the Howard Hughes Medical Institute funds scientific research, training, and infrastructure in the developing world via their international scholars program, which HHMI's
Jill Conley describes
.
George Langford is a member of the U.S. National Science Board (NSB) and vice chair of its Task Force on National Workforce Policies for Science and Engineering. In his
essay for Next Wave,
Langford focuses on the issue of domestic supply, arguing that America's economic well-being is placed at risk by its dependence on a large and unstable foreign science and engineering (S&E) labor force. The federal government and other stakeholders, Langford argues, must initiate efforts to increase the production of native-born U.S. scientists and engineers.
Richard Freeman, a labor economist at Harvard and the National Bureau of Economic Research, agrees that America's reliance on foreign scientists is economically dangerous. But,
Freeman argues,
efforts to directly increase supply are unlikely to be effective. Instead, we must use the leverage we have to make science a more rewarding and more lucrative career option for American scientists. That means raising federal fellowship stipends immediately and, over a longer term, restructuring the S&E enterprise so that it is more like professional athletics. Income and career opportunities, Freeman argues, should be front-loaded rather than back-loaded, with star scientists paid more like star athletes, senior scientists more like coaches.
Finland, meanwhile, can be viewed as a sort of test case for increasing scientist production. Over the last decade or so, Finland has succeeded in doing what the rest of Europe and North America now seem intent on doing: expanding its ranks of scientists.
Anneli Pauli and Liisa Savunen
of the Academy of Finland describe how they managed to dramatically increase Ph.D. production, how well it worked, and what the future holds for science and young scientists in Finland.
Minna Varis is still a Ph.D. student, in Finland. Inevitably, she sees things differently than the administrators and policymakers do, if only because she has no idea what her professional future holds.
Varis is grateful
for many of the new system's advantages. But she notes that it still has flaws, not the least of which is a dearth of long-term career opportunities at home for Finland's cohort of newly trained scientists.
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