Under Pressure

A lack of support for early- and even mid-career scientists came up at the New Zealand Association of Scientists meeting held in Wellington this week. At his blog, Peter Griffin outlines some of the meeting's talking points related to issues faced by up-and-coming scientists and their employers. Overall, Griffin says, "there was a lot of discussion … about the pressure on emerging scientists to be masters of all trades — not just good at science, but savvy at communicating their science as well as networking and understanding the needs of the business community." Funding is tight, competition is fierce, and "the momentum is swinging towards commercialization and applied science," Griffin says. Despite those challenges, "emerging researchers most definitely do have a future in New Zealand and the more engaged they are in the issues and in articulating the value of their science, the more likely they are to see change that will help secure their futures here," he adds.