U.S. funding agencies have traditionally steered clear of micromanaging the relationships between principal investigators (PIs) and their postdocs, although federal grants typically pay the salaries of these unsung lab heroes. Postdocs say this hands-off policy encourages PIs to treat them as skilled laborers rather than apprentice scientists. Last week, the National Science Foundation (NSF) took a small step toward addressing that complaint with a directive aimed at getting scientists to take their mentoring role more seriously.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Yudhijit Bhattacharjee (2006) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: