But as thousands of other postdocs find out shortly after starting their new job, Hurst discovered that the work of a postdoc remains far from that of an independent scientist. Rather than pursuing his own line of research at his own pace, Hurst was doing bench work for other, more senior scientists.
So when his principal investigator, David Waxman, professor of biology at Boston University, suggested Hurst apply for a research fellowship, he jumped at the chance. With Waxman's help writing the proposal and filling out the application, Hurst won a National Institutes of Health National Research Service Award (NRSA) in April 2000. "It's given me the freedom to work on my own project," Hurst says. "Although I'm still working in the same lab, I'm my own boss, but I still have the same supervision and expertise of my PI down the hall."
Hurst is just one of thousands of ...
