Postdocs are looking forward to change postdoctoral research and training programs.

In December 2014, Shaping the Future of Research: A perspective from junior scientists, by Gary McDowell et al was published in F1000Research.This report based on the Future of Research meeting that was held in October that year. Its main message is that bioscience and biotechnology postdocs are not at all happy.

A postdoctoral researcher is a person conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies as part of a temporary appointment, usually in preparation for an academic faculty position. It is intended to further deepen expertise in a specialist subject, including integrating a team skills and methods. This research is often considered essential while advancing the scholarly mission of the host institution; it is expected to produce relevant publications.

In some of the countries, postdoctoral research may lead to further formal qualifications or certification, while in other countries it does not. Th report says many different problems that postdocs face.But now a days he bigger problem is the culture within academia, says Gregory Petsko, professor of neuroscience at the Weill Cornell Medical College and Chair of the National Academies’ report on the postdoctoral experience. He says when i was in postdoc, that was the best time of my life. We have almost complete freedom with very few responsibilities. But now postdoc is becoming enormously stressful.

The reason of change is the overwhelming number of postdocs working in academia. A postdoc has become the default position after finishing graduate school,” says Petsko.In the United Kingdom, 25% of doctors in the natural sciences continue to undertake postdoctoral research.

The report shows just how passionate the postdocs are at changing their situation. Some of the problems they discuss are:

– Training: there is not enough, and what’s there isn’t available to all or is not standardized.

– Job demand: there are too many postdocs being trained up by PIs as clones, postdocs are used as cheap labour, there is a lack of awareness of alternative opportunities and evaluation metrics breed a culture of hyper-competitiveness.

– Funding: Sources are insufficiently diverse, fail to select for long-term productivity, grant evaluations disadvantage young scientists.

– Reward incentives: young scientists want more honesty, integrity, communication, collaboration, utility and application of knowledge.

Still there are many institutions are creating courses, internships so that they can begin to adapt.