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Academia vs. BioTech company Position

The biotech industry has changed over the years. The work is challenging and  rewarding both on an intellectual level as well as on a financial level. Some  corporations have "pure research" divisions that allow scientists the freedom to  pursue a general area of research in the hopes that the area will lead to a product  down the road. This type of position offers freedom from writing grant  applications, teaching, and a host of other responsibilities required in academic  positions. A position in a biotechnology company could also potentially provide  you with high levels of funds and resources not available to the typical Academic  Scientist. In some situations, the goals of the position are made absolutely clear,  and the research direction is laid out over the long term. If you don't mind  relatively less control over your research life, are indifferent to job security,  dislike writing and submitting grant applications, are indifferent to or dislike  teaching, and prefer not to have your work evaluated constantly by anonymous  groups, then a biotech position may be perfect for you. In addition, obtaining  stock options in an up and coming company may be a real bonus to the work.

Academic positions offer different incentives and rewards. Perhaps the  greatest benefit of academic life is the freedom to work in any field you choose.  The caveat is that you will have to find your own funding for your work,  convince others that the work is worthwhile for you to stay in the department  (tenure issues), and be willing to receive lots of objective — and maybe even  subjective — critiques of your thoughts. Freedom has its price.

A second feature of academic positions is independence. While this  sounds a lot like freedom of choice, it is not. Each "Principal Investigator" (PI),  as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and other granting agencies call theirproject coordinators, runs his or her own small business. Thus, independence  means that you will be your own Boss. Being a Boss means that within the  policies and procedures of your institution you get to run your own show and no  one will tell you how to run it differently. However, being the Boss also means  that you are responsible for hiring and firing, supervising, directing, and  mentoring your staff. It means filing the correct paper work for licenses and  approval of your protocols. Unlike the BioTech firm where you are part of a  business, you now are the business. 

A third feature of most academic positions involves a host of  responsibilities that include various types of teaching, ideological discussion and  exchange with colleagues, shaping of an educational institution, and  development of departmental research goals and initiatives. Teaching and  training of students is a major part of academic life. You will be judged to some  extent on your ability to teach and the amount that you participate in the  education mission of your department. Academic positions have a wide range of  teaching requirements. Therefore, you should be able to find one that provides  you with the amount of teaching responsibility that you desire.

The other items mentioned above fall into the general category of service  to your department or division. How much of a team player are you and do you  like to take a leadership role? If you want to get involved in running the  academic programs at your institution, no one will stop you. In general, faculty  get to have a say in the way their institutions are run. At least they think they do  and that may be all that matters in the end anyway.  Job security is another benefit for the academic scientist. Most academic  research institutions have either tenure or long-term contract policies. The  prospect of attaining "a job for life" seems like a pretty good deal, but the process  of attainment may not be one you want to go through. Additionally, having a  job but not enjoying it would make the "job for life" like a prison sentence.  Thus, freedom, independence, security, and contributing to an academic  environment highlight the advantages of a job in academia. While many  consider tenured professorships the best of all jobs, the process of becoming a  tenured professor is rigorous but can be accomplished with hard work, careful  planning, some good ideas, and a little guidance.