In an era of scientific opportunity, are there opportunities for biomedical scientists?

Abstract

Has the dramatic growth in the NIH budget affected the training and production of biomedical Ph.D.s? Examination of new survey data reveals surprising findings. Despite the need for an increased workforce to carry out the expansion in biomedical research, there has not been an increase in new U.S. doctorates awarded, and time-to-degree in the biomedical sciences is no longer increasing. Furthermore, both the frequency and length of postdoctoral appointments are decreasing for U.S. biomedical science recipients. There has been, however, continued growth in the number of foreign postdoctorals. Industrial employment of biomedical scientists continues to increase, but there has been only modest growth in tenured or tenure-track academic jobs.