Investments in Early Career Scientists: Research Funding and Science Careers
Graduate Students, postdocs, and early career scientists play a key role in the generation of new scientific findings in the life and natural sciences, and postdoctoral training positions are a key step on the career ladder for scientists in these fields. Despite their important role in advancing science, in many fields the wages of postdocs are low given their education and training, and questions have been raised about the length of postdoctoral positions and the uncertainties associated with career options at their conclusion.
The NBER, with the generous support of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, is continuing its research project on the early career paths of scientists. The project will be directed by Donna Ginther (University of Kansas and NBER) with a scientific review committee of Kaye Husbands-Fealing (Georgia Tech University) and Bruce Weinberg (Ohio State University and NBER). The project will convene a hybrid research meeting on Friday, April 29, 2022 in Washington, DC that will bring together a diverse group of researchers to present new evidence on how graduate training and postdoctoral positions and the institutions surrounding them affect future scientific careers and productivity. The hybrid meeting will feature eight research papers and two keynote addresses.
The NBER seeks papers by researchers from academia, government, as well as the private sector, on topics related to the impact of science funding on science careers. Studies comparing the institutional structures and experiences in different countries and describing the data available on the early stages of scientific careers, are welcome. Topics that could be studied as part of the project include, but are not limited to, the following:
• What data are currently available for studying scientific career outcomes outside the US?
• Does postdoctoral training raise the likelihood of pursing a scientific career?
• How does research funding affect science career trajectories?
• How does research experience in graduate school affect career outcomes?
• How do graduate students and postdocs contribute to the research and development system?
• What is the effect of team size on science careers?
• How do postdocs compare across countries?
• How does the diversity of scientific teams affect research quality and quantity?
Submissions from researchers with and without NBER affiliations, from early career scholars and from researchers from under-represented groups are welcome. Please do not submit papers that will be published by March 2022.
To be considered for inclusion on the program, papers or detailed paper outlines with a timetable for completion must be uploaded by 11:59 pm (EST) on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, to the following site:
http://conference.nber.org/confsubmit/backend/cfp?id=ECSs22
Decisions about which papers will be included on the program will be announced in early March. All papers should include a comprehensive conflict of interest statement that describes any financial or other interests that the researchers might have with regard to the research. Please direct questions about this project to confer@nber.org.