Best Places to Work Survey: Postdocs Speak Up

Give a postdoc an environment that encourages collegial work, and not competitive strife, and that person will respond with ample praise. At least, that's the lesson of The Scientist's Best Places for Postdocs 2004 survey; it's the magazine's largest yet, with 3,529 usable responses from postdoctoral researchers in Western Europe, Canada, and the United States.Postdocs rated access to publications and journals as the most important attribute of a university. High-quality research tools attracted

Written byMaria Anderson
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Give a postdoc an environment that encourages collegial work, and not competitive strife, and that person will respond with ample praise. At least, that's the lesson of The Scientist's Best Places for Postdocs 2004 survey; it's the magazine's largest yet, with 3,529 usable responses from postdoctoral researchers in Western Europe, Canada, and the United States.

Postdocs rated access to publications and journals as the most important attribute of a university. High-quality research tools attracted tall praise as well. They also noted the value of career preparation, which involves both scientific coaching and job advice. "My principal investigator gives me all freedom in research and is open to accept my ideas in my research project," says Dhananjay Kunte, a postdoc at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare Research Institute in Illinois. "This is giving me [a] lot of encouragement and inspiration."

In the United States, government labs, including the National Institute of Environmental Health ...

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