Academic Scientists at Work

This work takes the young scientist on the journey from the end of a postdoctoral career to the point of promotion from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor. The journey is broken down into three stages. Part I begins with a discussion of how to get and choose the right academic job, discussing and presenting a path to follow for the major obstacles that face every Assistant Professor, including setting up his/her lab, hiring staff and obtaining funds. Part II focuses on how to achieve excellence in the three major criteria used for academic promotions: scholarship, teaching, and service. Also included in this section is a chapter on mentoring students and fellows. Part III presents information about the promotion process and how to prepare for it. The results of a national survey about the promotion and tenure process are also included in this section. Part IV introduces a plethora of worksheets to guide the young scientist in the decision-making processes that are discussed in the book's chapters. complete them. The CD that accompanies the book contains blank versions of the worksheets, which can be downloaded and used by the reader. Included on the CD and explained in this section are six database program files that can be used to help the reader organize his/her laboratory specific reagents. The book takes a hard new look at the difficult process of becoming a successful biomedical research scientist. The advice provided is not only that of the authors but substantiated by the results of the national survey and interviews with other professors. The writing style allows easy reading and the worksheets and databases in the CD are completely unique and on their own are worth the price of the book.