CONTINUING TO MENTOR: Joseph Lambert, a retired researcher formerly of Northwestern University, discusses research results with Allison Levy, an undergraduate student at Trinity University, where Lambert continues research on a volunteer basis.TRINITY UNIVERSITY, JENNIFER GOODRICH BALREIRAJohn Dowling never did a postdoc. In what was a fairly typical career transition in 1961, he went directly from Harvard graduate student to Harvard assistant professor, and, after a few institutional moves, eventually settled at the university as a full professor in 1971. (See “An Eye for Detail,” The Scientist, October 2014.) Now retired at the age of 79, the vision researcher plans to make up for skipping what has become a critical part of every new scientist’s career by joining the labs of his younger colleagues, neuroscientists Jeffrey Lichtman and Joshua Sanes, as a postdoctoral fellow. Dowling believes that older researchers can still be “quite creative and contribute substantially to the effort. . . . I always loved doing experiments and wanted to stay active the field.”
Retirement has not been mandatory for professors in the U.S. since 1994, but many still choose to give up their teaching and administrative duties—and their salaries—while continuing to spend time in the lab. Some, like Dowling, choose to take a step down the academic ladder by pursuing post-retirement postdocs; others find themselves able to start or continue leading small labs. While doing research in retirement is unconventional, options and support systems for many professors contemplating their research future are out there and growing more plentiful. Some universities have even set up special associations for retired faculty members. Here, The Scientist speaks with a handful of researchers entering retirement but not quite ready to walk away from science altogether.
For researchers who plan to retire, the ...
