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  • SPOTLIGHT

Beating the odds to secure a permanent contract

Six early-career researchers offer advice on how to secure a permanent contract in academia, and then make the most of it.
By
  1. Paul Smaglik

Illustration by Neil Webb

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Researchers hoping to start their own labs face long odds. A dramatic rise in the number of PhDs awarded each year has significantly reduced the chances of landing a permanent academic contract (see ‘Long odds’). Data are sparse, but in the United States, for example, the number of available faculty biomedical positions has fallen since 1980, whereas the number of people who have graduated with a PhD has increased by 60% (N. Ghaffarzadegan et al. Syst. Res. Behav. Sci. 23, 402–405; 2015).

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Nature 562, S49-S51 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-06873-5

These interviews have been edited for clarityand length.

This article is part of Nature Spotlight on faculty, an editorially independent supplement. Advertisers have no influence over the content.

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