What’s fair is fair: Leveling the playing field for young scientists

Abstract

Like every MD Ph.D. pup, I was faced with the BIG decision: medicine or science? It was easy to choose. As I saw it, in the clinic you were expected to do as told and methodically follow a well-trodden career path that tolerated little deviation. In the lab, you were expected to think for yourself and create a career based on your ability to generate new knowledge. Typically, you could start your own group as a principal investigator (PI) after just a few years (sometimes even zero) as a post-doc, and the NIH R01 funding success rate was much higher than it is now (30+% vs. less than 20%). This looked pretty good to my young self. Prizing my independence and placing a high value on creativity, I went straight to the lab. I do not remember having second thoughts or even a backup plan. I don't think my situation was that unusual. Opportunities abounded for well-trained, ambitious young scientists.