Tag Archives: Perspectives

A Tale of Two Labs – Our Academic Journeys in China and in the USA

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The journeys of two professors show how to survive and thrive in the different academic systems of the US and China.

Guest contributors Zhiyong Jason Ren and Defeng Xing

Once upon a time, we worked in the same lab. Ten years later, we both lead big research labs – in Boulder, USA, and Harbin, China. We have similar backgrounds and research interests, but our journeys were very different. After reading Turning Point: Chinese Science in Transition and Nature’s How to build a better Ph.D, we want to share our stories with young researchers in the hope it might help them navigate their own science adventure.

How did we start?
It was 2006 when we first met at Penn State and became lab mates and close friends. When it became time to decide on a career path, Ren chose to become an assistant professor in the U.S., while Xing returned to his Alma Mater in China. In an “ever-lasting” U.S. tenure track system, Ren was handed a well-structured guideline for new principal investigators (PIs), while Xing got a pile of applications on his desk, so he could recruit from various young talent programs.

Ren (L) and Xing (R) in 2006

For Ren, winning the position meant he started the job as decision-making group leader, though he didn’t receive much training.  For Xing, it meant joining a big group with an established platform and shifting gradually from a team player to team lead. Continue reading →

Faculty position at WUSTL: The employee’s perspective

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Samantha Morris talks about getting her first faculty position at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis.

Perscpetives-the-employee-Morris

{credit}Photo credit: Todd Druley{/credit}

What did you do in preparation for your job application?

It was 10 years of watching, observing, following advice, and soaking up any mentorship and guidance on how to become a faculty member. Collecting these experiences really helped. It was interesting to see that many people didn’t take a traditional trajectory into a faculty position.

When I came to the end of graduate school, a friend told me about a workshop at Harvard Medical School about faculty positions, so I dropped everything and ran there! There were 300 postdocs in the session, which was terrifying when you’re thinking about applying for a position because they’re the competition!

What was your job application strategy?

I thought I should apply to everything so I applied for 33 positions and interviewed for 15.  By seeing different institutions side-by-side I was able to decide more clearly on what I was looking for. It slowly emerged that the places I was most excited about were the ones that had medical schools and close connections to clinicians. Washington University in St Louis certainly has that: many clinicians here are closely connected to the research enterprise. Continue reading →