En España un doctorando puede impartir clases a alumnos, un doctor con un contrato de postdoctorado también, pero en EE.UU. esa situación no es habitual. Menos aún en una de las universidades de mayor prestigio como Hardvard. Pero los tiempos de crisis están cambiando ciertas cosas. A modo de prueba, la Universidad de Harvard va a contratar a 20 doctores recién doctorados (en los últimos 3 años) para que impartan clases, eso sí, con un horario reducido (70% de clases), sólo durante 1 o quizás 2 años, y cobrando 48 mil dólares al año. Nos lo cuenta Susan Gaidos,»New Ph.D.s to Teach Harvard Undergrads,» Science 323: 697, 6 February 2009 .
Harvard University plans to hire up to 20 recent Ph.D.s to teach undergraduate courses in a move that officials say will improve instruction and help students facing a tough job market. Fellows will be paid $48,000 with full benefits to work in some 20 academic departments throughout the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. The program is open to all recent–since 2005–Ph.D. graduates. The awards are for 1 year, with a second year possible. Fellows will be expected to carry 70% of the teaching load of a faculty member, leaving them some time to pursue their research.
«We wanted to develop strong teaching for our Harvard College students and to make sure our teaching needs were met.» «The program is designed for people who have a deep interest in university teaching.» «At this career stage, it’s very important that they have some protected time to continue their research endeavors.»
La crisis financiera está obligando a echar a muchos investigadores jóvenes en California. El gobierno de este Estado ha reducido drásticamente los presupuestos que aporta hacia los institutos de investigación y universidades. Muchos investigadores principales (I.P.) están reduciendo sus grupos de tamaño para no cortar por lo sano su investigación. No hay dinero para pagar los sueldos y los recortes presupuestarios están afectando a los últimos «monos» de cada departamento. Para muchos, la única esperanza de seguir una carrera en investigación es el presupuesto de «choque» del gobierno de Obama. ¿Llegará pronto para salvar sus carreras? ¿Podrán reincorporarse a los grupos a los que pertenecían? Muchas incógnitas sin respuesta en la mente de jóvenes cuya prioridad ahora mismo encontrar un puesto de trabajo fuera del mundo académico. Nos lo cuenta Greg Miller, «California Researchers Chilled by Sudden Freeze on Bond Funds,» Science 323: 698-699, 6 February 2009 .
California’s governor and legislature are at loggerheads about how to narrow a projected $40 billion budget deficit. The state’s department of finance was freezing billions of dollars in funding tied to the sale of state bonds. Bad news for researchers.
Rikk Kvitek, a marine ecologist at California State University, Monterey Bay, principal investigator on a $20 million state-funded sea-floor-mapping project. «For the last 8 years, I have all of my funding eggs in one basket.» Kvitek was instructed to stop all work immediately on bond-funded projects. He says that his money will last only 2 or 3 months.
Tawny Mata, an ecology graduate student at UC Davis, says «has pretty much left me up in the air about how I’ll finish my Ph.D. I’ve been contacting any professor I’ve ever worked with to see if they have any money lying around.» She’s not alone.
Jan Hopmans, chair of UC Davis’s Department of Land, Air and Water Resources, says that «60 projects received stop-work orders, 20 in my department alone.» «We have 50 employees just in my department for whom we have in principle no funding at this time.» Researchers, students, and technicians have been reassigned to projects with other sources of funding where possible.
«Obama, the change we need.»