Assistance for Post-Assistant Professors

Science Professor says that while much attention has recently been paid to issues new investigators face, mid-career scientists need mentors and advice as much as their junior colleagues do. She says that deciding "whether and how to pursue tenured positions at other institutions," figuring out "how to use an offer of a job from another institution to negotiate an improvement in our current job," and determining "whether to pursue a part-time or full-time position in administration" are but a few of the mid-career issues scientists can face without much support.

"I do find it's a very tricky topic to approach and the amount of details to give. I applaud your efforts to make sure that mid-career researchers have tools to navigate the (sometimes) tricky waters of work/uni life," blogger 27andaPhD comments. RQ adds: "One of the mid-career issues that I think it under-discussed ... is how to make decisions about the 'rest' of one's career." Planning for the post-assistant and -associate professor stages — asking questions like "is it really a good idea to pursue potentially risky research paths at this juncture?" — is an especially important topic, RQ continues. "I guess this is really all about how to start shifting the intense focus on one's own career that is necessary from graduate school through tenure to a focus that is broader than that without losing the connection to one's specific research interests."