Tuesday, 17 July 2012 from 10:45 AM to 12:40 PM, Room 204

Establishing an independent research group is an important milestone in the professional life of many scientists. This is a challenging endeavor that requires careful planning and preparation. Many questions will arise at different stages of this process: about the application, attending interviews, deciding which one is the best position to accept if one has several offers, and about negotiating the best possible deal before signing a contract. This will be followed by another phase of completely different challenges that relate to setting up a lab, such as the hiring and supervision of trainees and staff.

This workshop will address the most relevant of these challenges that many postdocs and newly appointed principal investigators (PI) are facing. Three experienced PIs will provide insight into the transition from trainee to PI and share advice on how to make the best out it. The workshop will be useful for scientists at all stages of the process and prepare them for this crucial phase of their career.

Program:
Florian Markowetz, Cancer Research UK Applying for a Principal Investigator Position

Gary Bader, University of Toronto Interviewing, Deciding, Negotiating an Offer

Philip E Bourne, University of California San Diego Hiring and Supervising Students and Staff

Panel Discussion

Organizers: Nils Gehlenborg, Harvard Medical School; Thomas Abeel, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Magali Michaut, The Netherlands Cancer Institute; Venkata P. Satagopam, European Molecular Biology Laboratory; Jeroen de Ridder, Delft University of Technology