About half of US-trained PhD holders go on to work in academia, but the others go on to find work outside of academic research. At her Rock Talk blog, Sally Rockey, the deputy director for extramural research at the National Institutes of Health, writes that the agency has a new initiative to better prepare trainees for a variety of careers. "Especially in challenging financial times, it is important to not only prepare trainees for a diverse set of career outcomes, but to leverage existing resources and enlist additional support from the potential beneficiaries of NIH-supported training — the employers of PhD scientists," she writes.
The program, called Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training, or BEST, aims to give out 15 awards through the NIH Common Fund this fiscal year to "¬support the development of new and innovative methods for preparing graduate students for the full breadth of research and research-related careers in the biomedical, behavioral, social, or clinical sciences," Rockey says.
The application deadline is in May.