Most Important Factors and Least Important Factors

FEATUREBest Places to Work 2006: Postdocs Most Important Factors Rank in North America in 2006 Rank in the US in 2005 Factor Category Rank outside North America in 2006 Rank outside the US in 2005 1 1 The training and experience I receive as a postdoc will be valuable to me in my future career. Value of the Po

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This year's survey respondents consider factors relating to the quality of facilities and infrastructure to be essential to their workplace satisfaction: three factors in that category rank among the most important. Quality of training and mentoring, especially relating to principal investigator, also ranks highly; however, factors relating to safety, while in the same category, fall among the least important. Respondents place emphasis on the quality of communication within the lab (two factors in the top 14), but consider communication in the larger institutional setting relatively unimportant (two factors in the bottom six). As in years past, medical insurance benefits-ranked 4th in North America-aren't as important to European scientists, and access to literature remains high on the list (see Editorial). However, fair treatment regardless of religion or ethnicity is significantly more important for European postdocs this year than in previous surveys.

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