I can speak pretty candidly about biomedical sciences and apologies in advance if my tone is a bit judgemental. Most PhD and postdoc students are never taught how to become tenure track faculty. The major reason IMO is because that would suck time away from doing research that is paid for by the PI. Outside of training grants, it is the PIs that pay stipends, tuition etc. at elite programs. Going to a non-elite PhD program in biomedical sciences is generally a terrible idea. Generally, if your studentship has to be covered by teaching labs or by giving intro lectures, that is not the program you want to be in. Also, the quality of students and trainees vary wildly. Best ones are driven, curious and entrepreneurial. Why entrepreneurial? Because no one tells you how to become successful. You kind of sort of have to figure it out.
The secret sauce @hebegebe is not papers in prestigious journals. They mean about nothing. Here is the template for R1 schools:
To get hired, you need a “Pathway to Independence” award from NIH. This is a minimum for fresh grads (<10 years out of PhD). About 50% award rate.
If you are a bit past your prime (say…5+ years of postdoc), you need transferable NIH funding in place or a pretty decently scored grant that has a shot at getting funded soon.
To get tenure and beyond, you need a minimum R01 award as PI and at elite schools at least 2 R01s (1 as PI, 1 as co-I). The award rate for new PIs at most institutes is ~15% and about 10% for seasoned PIs. I believe that over 50% of those that receive a first award never get a second R01. So, it is brutal.
The other stuff is generally speaking window dressing. I personally do not know of a single person with an R01 award that is unemployed/underemployed. If they are, there is a lot more to it. I know many people that have “prestigious” publications that are toiling as permanent/glorified postdocs.
Also, SIL is a professor and HOD at a state school in humanities. Apparently, you have to wealthy or just plain mad to get a PhD and hope for tenure track at a top school.
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