The emphasis is on training. At other places, you're treated like another pair of hands. I do feel lucky to be here. Kimberly Paul, co-vice president of the Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Association, agrees. The typical trainee today is older and more experienced than in the past.
Postdoctoral associations can help bring about such a shift in cultural view.
For instance, one of Paul's peers, upon leaving her research post to work for a biotech firm, was amazed to find that her new colleagues actually listened to her. If that is being undermined, you don't have anything. The committee's survey of postdoctoral fellows across the United States reveals that, for many postdocs, their experience falls short of their expectations. The NTA helps to bring scientific experts together with trainees in mentoring relationships. The Johns Hopkins Postdoctoral Association has worked in the past toward a number of improvements designed to make life better for the more than 1,200 postdoctoral fellows in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and School of Hygiene and Public Health.