Articles by Carol Manahan

Courtesy of Carol L. Manahan Recently, I attended a symposium called "Catalyzing Team Science," which gathered representatives from the institutes of the National Institutes of Health; it was sponsored by the Bioengineering Consortium (BECON), a senior interagency committee that focuses on bioengineering efforts at the NIH. This was the first time that BECON has invited a postdoctoral fellow to such a symposium (www.becon1.nih.gov/symposium2003.htm). In contrast to other areas of science, suc

Obtaining the "ideal" postdoctoral position is an important but tough job. I put ideal in quotes, because applicants have their own criteria for positions that will prepare them for their first professional jobs. This search cannot begin too early, since it mainly involves information gathering. The best advice I've received was: "Do your homework." The first step is to narrow potential fields. Don't take this decision lightly. If you decide to pursue an academic career, you will work in your

Postdoc Talk | Building a Postdoc Nation Just seven months after a small group of Postdoctoral Association (PDA) leaders decided that 'something must be done,' we have formed the National Postdoctoral Association. We created the NPA from scratch, selecting an exploratory committee that successfully applied for an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant in December. The NPA aims to advocate effectively and efficiently for postdoctoral scientists in the United States, and to complement and assist lo