How will US postdocs fare during the gathering storm?

Science : In her most recent Issues & Perspectives column, Science‘s Beryl Lieff Benderly examines the plight of postdocs at US universities. In particular, she exposes the contradictions implicit in the National Academy of Sciences’ Rising Above the Gathering Storm report of 2005 and its 2010 update , Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited. The corporate authors of both reports argue for further research funding, which would temporarily benefit postdocs, while acquiescing in the outsourcing of technical jobs, which deprives postdocs of employment opportunities outside academia.