8/6 Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientifıc Management for Making the

Abstract

This manual is based on the “Course in Scientific Management for the Beginning Academic Investigator,” held in July 2002 at Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland.This intensive course was sponsored and developed by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) and HHMI. About 130 current and former BWF and HHMI grantees attended. Participants were either newly appointed faculty in research universities or senior postdoctoral fellows looking for faculty positions. The idea for the course grew out of feedback that BWF and HHMI staff had solicit- ed over the years from the talented young biomedical scientists who had received research training or career development grants from the organizations.These begin- ning investigators described the challenges they faced in having to fulfill their research, teaching, administrative, and clinical responsibilities while simultaneously being expected to obtain grant support, publish, hire staff, and keep their labs running smoothly—all without formal management training.Their comments suggested that the grantees might have avoided costly mistakes and made better progress if they had learned to be managers as well as researchers before establishing their own laborato- ries. Because BWF and HHMI have similar missions—to advance medical science by funding scientific research and education—and have grant programs that support beginning biomedical investigators, a collaboration to establish this course seemed appropriate.The two organizations were already involved in the joint funding and development of the Career Development Center, which focuses on issues facing the beginning academic investigator. It is located at Science’s Next Wave Web site and operated by staff of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It took about two years for the course to take shape.To determine what specific information should be included, BWI and HHMI staff conducted surveys and focus groups with current and former grantees and senior scientists affiliated with both organizations.The final program covered a range of topics, from laboratory leadership and mentoring skills to getting published and time management.The course, which included a lively combination of plenary sessions,workshops, panel discussions, and opportunities for networking, received an exceptionally enthusiastic response. In the postcourse focus groups and surveys, participants said that a manual based on the course would be a valuable reference for them, for colleagues who could not attend the course, and for those wanting to develop their own courses on scientific management.This manual responds to their request. This manual is intended for laboratory-based biomedical scientists just starting out— advanced postdoctoral fellows ready to enter the academic job market and new facul- ty members in research universities and medical schools. Much of the material, how- ever, is also relevant to scientists pursuing nonacademic career paths.The purpose of the manual is to alert beginning scientists to the importance of the managerial aspects of their new (or soon-to-be-acquired) jobs and to give them practical information that will help them succeed as planners and managers of research programs.