Introduction
Few would argue that the pursuit of detailed understanding into how the human body functions in order to develop safe and effective cures for diseases suffered by the global population would constitute a highly worthy, and critically important endeavour for anyone to undertake as a life’s work. This is the role of the biomedical researcher. Yet due to a system that has bred a hypercompetitive working culture, early stage researchers have become almost an underclass in the biomedical research machine (at least in the West). As such, most biomedical researchers face career uncertainty working on short-term contracts, with poor financial reward and failing to provide a sustainable work/life balance.
The underlying problem is that permanent, independent scientific research posts (in academia, industry and government agencies) have failed to grow at the same rate as training posts for doctoral-level biomedical research students, leading to a hyper-inflated PhD-qualified population in search of permanent biomedical research positions (Schillebeeckx et al., 2013). So well recognised is this problem that in recent years there’s been a glut of articles published that wax lyrical about the issues facing early stage researchers (Alberts et al., 2014; Bourne, 2013; Gould, 2015; Mason et al., 2016; Sauermann and Roach, 2016; Schillebeeckx et al., 2013).
Investigations in this area have predominantly focussed on biomedical research in the US, where the problem in other developed countries is thought to mirror this situation (albeit the data is more limited for other nations). The UK is one such country, where early career biomedical researchers are facing a number of unique challenges brought about by real-term funding cuts, a hypercompetitive career trajectory and an extraordinary political situation in the country, creating financial uncertainty for the wider UK economy. This article examines this distinct situation in greater detail and explores how UK-based biomedical researchers can take control of their own career options for greater professional flexibility.
The UK’s Biomedical Research Environment
World-class Biomedical Research
The UK has historically punched high above its weight in the biomedical arena. Since the 1950s, fantastic discoveries have been made that have changed practice in the medical field improving patients’ lives; from deciphering insulin’s structure to treat diabetes (Fred Sanger), to our understanding of cancer and cell division (Paul Nurse/Tim Hunt), right through to more recently, cloning and embryonic stem cell discoveries that will hugely influence the way we tackle disease in the future (Ian Wilmut and Martin Evans, respectively). These are just a few examples of some of the highly influential work that has been carried out in the UK in the biomedical arena.
The UK is also a higher level education global leader, with three universities ranked in the top 10 in the world (Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial) and 58 listed in the top 500 (The-Times-Higher-Education, 2017). In general terms the research standards are world class, with research productivity being 6.2 times the world average and producing 15.2% of the worlds most highly cited articles (Universities-UK, 2015-2016). This success translates into high economic impact for the UK economy. In the period between 2014-2015, UK universities generated £95 billion in gross output, representing 1.2% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP; Universities-UK, 2015-2016). Taken together, these results are certainly reasons to be proud of as a UK-based biomedical researcher.
Poor long-term career prospects
It appears however that despite these successes, studies suggest UK-based researchers face many of the same issues as the US biomedical workforce. In a recent survey of 520 UK-based biomedical researchers, 53% reported working >5 days/week and somewhat concerning was the finding that ~a third of researchers, ranging from students through to principle investigators (PIs), are considering leaving academic biomedical research due to worsening working conditions, and poor long-term career prospects (Riddiford, 2017). These data are in support of US findings and reinforces the well documented concept of a ‘brain-drain’ threatening biomedical research (Benderly, 2015). However despite strong recognition of the problem, a solution has yet to be reached that can effectively resolve this issue for the biomedical field.
Unique economic challenges
Moreover, the UK biomedical research system is currently facing these issues in the context of a unique political situation, revolving around a referendum vote to leave the European Union (EU; Brexit). In 2016, UK residents voted to leave the EU (52% in favour of leave) leading the country to embark on a historic exit strategy from a union that the UK has been a member of for more than four decades. This has occurred in the wake of the UK government’s austerity programme that has been in place since the financial crash of 2007-2008 and has led to a real-terms loss in research funding. The result of this has seen a drop in research investment in the UK, leading to less GDP being spent on research than most other nations; 1.7%, compared to an EU average of 2% (OECD, 2017). Together, this has fostered a challenging socio-economic climate that the UK’s biomedical research field will have to deal with in the coming months/years.
There has been plenty of speculation around the negative implications that Brexit could hold for scientific research in the UK, namely barriers blocking collaboration, immigration limits preventing the mobility of researchers within the EU and funding restrictions, specifically access to Horizon 2020 and other EU funding streams by UK researchers. On the flip side however there maybe opportunities too (EBioMedicine-Editorial, 2016), including the potential to forge stronger collaborative partnerships with other research active nations (e.g. China and the US) and the potential lifting of restrictions over certain research endeavours pertaining to biomedicine (such as stem cell and genetics research).
Although no one knows exactly what will happen to biomedical research in the UK post-Brexit, one thing is currently clear; there is widespread uncertainty of what impact Brexit negotiations could have on the UK economy, which will likely hit all sectors, including scientific research. In turn, this has the potential to create further financial problems for the biomedical research sector, the extent of which will not be possible to predict until negotiations are complete and deal is reached by both the UK and EU sides. One would predict however that such financial insecurity in the sector is likely to have the heaviest impact on early career biomedical researchers, whilst they attempt to forge a future in an environment of potentially ever tightening UK research budgets.
Solutions for Early Biomedical Researchers
Proposed system changesWhat then is the solution for UK-based biomedical researchers who are struggling with current working conditions in academia? Proposed suggestions to change the system include, rebalancing the number of trainee posts to permanent positions, improved training of graduates about their long-term career prospects and not depending so heavily on so-called ‘soft’ funding streams, but rather providing non-fixed-term research assistant contracts for those who choose to pursue lab-based research careers. Simultaneously a greater number of fellowships/early career awards for aspiring young PIs should also be provided.
These changes present a huge challenge however, not least of all a potential loss in productivity due to the increased expense of decasualising the academic research workforce. Drivers as critical as potential loss in productivity and increased expense, lessens the impetus to make such changes by policy makers. It is difficult to see how in the short-term at least, the system will alter significantly enough for those planning to enter or are already working within it.
Considering a career in biomedical research in the UK?
For those considering undertaking a higher research degree it is pertinent to start thinking about your future employment prospects early. The chances of becoming a full-time, tenured academic following doctoral training are significantly diminished compared with a few decades ago. The Royal Society has estimated that 95% of science, technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics (STEMM) PhD graduates will leave academia at some point in their research careers (RoyalSociety.org, 2014).
That said if you decide academia is for you and you possess the qualities of an exceptional research scientist, you should put your head down and go for it with all your passion and determination. However for those unsure of why they want a PhD, it would be sensible to first establish why you have the need to study towards this qualification, as you could be setting yourself up for a rough ride in the highly competitive biomedical research arena. It is far safer for your professional and personal success that the PhD forms part of a planned strategy towards achieving your future goals.
Taking matters into your own hands
The bottom line is that the academic system is not geared up to support the vast majority of those training within it. The alternative career path for many academic researchers is now the academic one and most will have to search for employment outwith the confines of the ivory tower at some point in their career. This is daunting for many given that effective training in exploring other employment streams remains limited in most academic institutions in the UK. In universities, mentors are predominantly career academics and therefore can offer only narrow advice when discussing career options outside the non-for-profit biomedical research field.
Choosing a supervisor that is interested in your future and doesn’t just view you as a pair of lab hands would provide a huge advantage, but it is difficult to assess this prior to starting in a particular PI’s research group. For these reasons, many young biomedical researchers will need to take matters into their own hands in order to explore potential career opportunities, find suitable options and then network with relevant individuals that can help them obtain a foot in the door of their chosen industry.
Exploring your options
Exploring career prospects whilst still juggling the pressures of lab work can be a daunting, especially when you don’t know where to begin. So how should you start? First it’s important to get to know yourself, ask yourself what career would be your best fit? Rather than following career moves that are popular with peers or appear to be in rapidly growing areas, it is far better that individuals weigh up which jobs provide them with the lifestyle opportunities and professional satisfaction that they aim to achieve. This requires a period of self-reflection and research that for some can be resolved relatively quickly, but for others can take a substantial amount of time, and effort.
To achieve successful career path transition, it is imperative to identify contacts within different areas in order to gain vital insight into working conditions in these sectors. These individuals will provide essential information regarding the working environment in different industries and imperatively an understanding of how job candidates are evaluated for specific positions. If you do this groundwork it’s a lot easier to take a targeted approach towards future applications, rather than a shotgun one, applying for everything that sounds remotely interesting. The latter is unlikely to yield success both in terms of applications, but also in finding a long-term career solution that fulfils your own personal requirements.
A good place to start researching your options is with the help of blogs and social media sites that provide news sources, career advice and contacts for professional transitions, particularly those focused towards research scientists. Just like this one! Using sites like these, you can hone down your interests and take a targeted approach towards networking, and marketing yourself in a particular career niche.
Taking action
The earlier you do this the better and even if your long-term aim is to be a career academic, it would be pertinent in today’s research climate to at least take some time to consider other options, should you require a plan B somewhere along the road towards professional success. This is something that ideally should be instilled in all graduate research programmes, but is unfortunately currently still lacking from most. Starting early gives you time to establish a network, have a better chance to gain all-important exposure and possibly even obtain a mentor in a chosen industry. Remember though that it’s never too late to start considering your options.
As a biomedical researcher you have lots of highly desirable transferable skills and thus employment options open to you. With the right focus and mind-set you’ll have a promising career trajectory ahead of you what ever you chose to do. We are now in a period where staying in academia and obtaining a tenured position is no longer a definition of success for qualified PhDs. So make some time outside of the lab to research and explore your options, it might just turn out to be one of the most important investments that you make for your future.
References
Alberts, B., Kirschner, M.W., Tilghman, S., and Varmus, H. (2014). Rescuing US biomedical research from its systemic flaws. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 111, 5773-5777.
Benderly, B.L. (2015). The case of the disappearing postdocs. Science AAAS 2015.
Bourne, H.R. (2013). A fair deal for PhD students and postdocs. eLife 2, e01139.
EBioMedicine-Editorial (2016). Brexit and Translational Research. EBioMedicine 10, 1-2.
Gould, J. (2015). How to build a better PhD. Nature 528, 22-25.
Mason, J.L., Johnston, E., Berndt, S., Segal, K., Lei, M., and Wiest, J.S. (2016). Labor and skills gap analysis of the biomedical research workforce. FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology 30, 2673-2683.
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RoyalSociety.org (2014). Doctoral students’ career expectations: principles and responsibilities. https://royalsocietyorg/topics-policy/projects/doctoral-students/ The Royal Society.
Sauermann, H., and Roach, M. (2016). SCIENTIFIC WORKFORCE. Why pursue the postdoc path? Science 352, 663-664.
Schillebeeckx, M., Maricque, B., and Lewis, C. (2013). The missing piece to changing the university culture. Nat Biotechnol 31, 938-941.
The-Times-Higher-Education (2017). World Universtiy Rankings 2016-2017. https://wwwtimeshighereducationcom/world-university-rankings/2016/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats.
Universities-UK (2015-2016). Higher Education in Numbers. http://wwwuniversitiesukacuk/facts-and-stats/Pages/higher-education-dataaspx.