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| Learning to lead
European researcher Svante Pääbo decided to spend his postdoctoral time at the Department of Biochemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, USA. Although his career can be described as anything but ordinary, he is a perfect example of a postdoc EMBO Fellow. Benefiting from an intense but successful research period in the US, Pääbo returned to Europe to establish his own research laboratory. But now, 20 years later, the research climate on both continents has changed. At the beginning of 2007 the EMBO Long-term Fellowship Programme provided me with the chance to fi nd out for myself when this former EMBL PhD student headed out to University of California San Diego (UCSD) to discover what makes a postdoctoral stay in the US a special experience. The time as a postdoc is meant to be a period of transition. How can you move from being a postdoctoral fellow to being an effective, productive and dynamic head of a scientific laboratory? My current boss and mentor at UCSD, Stanley J Opella, described the step from postdoc to principal researcher as follows: “We were thrown into the ocean and those who quickly learned to swim, managed to survive!
Fortunately the situation is different today.” “Scientists rarely receive formal [leadership] training before they are expected to head a lab or group,” said executive coach Greg Goates, who spoke on management and leadership styles at the event. In fact, he noted, one recent survey by ScienceCareers.org showed, that of the principal investigators, postdocs, and graduate students surveyed, nearly 90 percent had never received formal management training. The two-day symposium – organized jointly by the San Diego Postdoctoral Training Consortium – aimed to fill this gap. A university generally offers the best opportunities for scientists pursuing an academic tenure-track position. “Postdocs gain experience in research, lab management, teaching and grant writing, all in one place,” stated Jennifer Oh, Director of Postdoctoral Scholar Affair, University of California, San Diego. “It is important to build a portfolio of different skills that you will use during the course of your academic career.” “There is a difference between management and leadership,” explained Goates. “We manage and control budgets or processes. However, an effective leader provides the environment to let action take place – he guides others to do their best work.” In his session on leadership and management styles, Goates showed the importance of leadership flexibility to tailoring your supervisory style to match the skill level and commitment of the person you’re leading. Team work at its best was already required during the course. Reflecting on case studies, workshop participants gathered in small groups to brainstorm on what leadership flexibility might look like in the lab. For a lab member who is high on both the competence and commitment spectrum, techniques could include encouraging independent thinking, supporting the individual’s professional development, and offering empathy and supportive feedback.Becoming an effective leader requires more than mastering tasks such as creating budgets, writing grants, and designing projects. A laboratory head has to create a vision and set the direction for the team. Among the goals of postdoctoral training on University of California campuses is the fostering of expertise in science communication. “Individual coaching is a key component in the program at UCSD; it functions as a catalyst in raising the performance level of each participant because it is direct and immediate,” explains Martha Stacklin, UCSD Center of Teaching Development. The symposium addressed specific aspects of soft skills required when entering the academic job market, navigating the university structure and tenure process, time management, managing start-up budgets and projects, staffing your lab, and handling communication and conflict. Junior faculty reported on their experiences in setting up laboratories and staffing them with capable people. “Start to organize your independent lab set-up in the last year of your postdoc. Recently hired people can tell you best what your needs will be,” recommended Kerri Mowen who recently started her own lab at the Scripps Research Institute. “There are many ways to enhance your start-up package if you manage to integrate facility services and core equipment efficiently,” said Mowen. The social component of the event was well received by postdocs from different research institutes in San Diego, like UCSD, Scripps, Burnham, and Salk. “[Such a shared symposium] is a good opportunity for networking and exchanging ideas about common needs with other postdocs,” Cecile Loudet from the Burnham Institute said. Chatting with other postdocs and principal investigators is important. Events like the San Diego Lab Management Symposium facilitate contacts and build on the collegiality level across the research institutes that usually compete for the same pool of funding. Establishing a network in the science community can be fun and you may find out that this could be the first step to getting a part time teaching appointment at your University.
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