post-docs

Another letter from my inbox: Dear Sciencewoman, I am a mom of 3 just starting my own lab. I have been thinking hard about how to recruit good postdoc talent despite the fact that I have no track record as an independent investigator. And then I remembered an article about an organization to help mentors and mentees who would like to return to science after a break (for taking care of children, family, whatever) to find each other. I was psyched about using such an organization because juggling three kids during my training taught me pretty quickly that productivity is often more about…
SW Notes: This post was begun a few weeks ago...you know, in the break between semesters. But I've been delayed and delayed in getting it done, and today is a day of metaphorical desk-clearing. So I'm just going to put it up now, half complete and let you all finish discussing it in the comments section. The scene: My car insurance office Insurance agent: You work at Mystery U.? You're on break now for a couple weeks, right? ScienceWoman: Well, sort of. Classes start back up in mid-January, but there's lots of work to be done before then. Insurance agent: Oh. That scene is hardly unique in…