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REFLECTIONS ON A CASS TRAVEL GRANT After a Workshop The Cass Foundation Limited conducted with a number of leading scientists and researchers in 2002, the Foundation implemented a Travel Grants scheme in 2003, to further the career opportunities of Australian Post-Doctoral researchers. One of the very clear messages that came out of that Workshop was the importance to Australian Post-Doctoral researchers (particularly early career researchers) to be able to keep in contact with their peers and with developments in their field, by attending international conferences. Often, no funds were available from grants, departmental funds or other resources for their attendance. The CASS ECR Travel Grant funding is a response to this need The only requirement the Foundation imposes on its grantees is to provide a report on the particular activity or activities being funded. These reports have been of great interest to the Foundation’s Directors, not only because of the information provided, but because again and again the grantees acknowledge the benefits and opportunities afforded to them by the grant. Recently, the Foundation invited its Travel Grant Awardees to reflect on the benefits they considered the grants had brought them. The CASS Directors would like to share with you an edited version of one response received from Dr Vanessa Marsden, which contains reflections on Post-Doctoral studies and because it embodies to an extent the rationale the Directors had for commencing this program. Here is what she had to say:- “I found the travel grant I received an extremely valuable aid for attending a major international conference. At the postdoctoral level, attendance at conferences overseas is not a "right". However, conference attendance is an extremely important component of research, as it serves as a preliminary stage to that most-important of measurements of research success, publications. Conference attendance often allows a scientist to present their latest unpublished data, and receive feedback from a broad spectrum of researchers in their field (who will ultimately decide whether this data is published). It also allows the scientist to learn about the latest research performed in other laboratories, which can guide their future experiments. Furthermore, conferences form an important point for establishing collaborations and other "networking" which much access to scientific reagents relies upon. Frequently, postdoctoral fellows are supported by grants that are essentially "salary only", with little if any funding provided for research expenses and travel. For many Australian laboratories, travel to conferences in Europe or North America (where the majority of major conferences are held) can become a significant expense, which must be weighed against purchase of reagents and experimental equipment. In fact, I know of many instances of postdoctoral fellows (from a number of universities and institutions in several Australian states) supporting their own overseas travel! Hence, I think that grants such as those provided from CASS Foundation which are exclusively for postdoctoral fellows to use for travel are an extremely valuable resource. The other point you raise about "our brightest talented scientists working for and in Australia" is an interesting one. As a prelude to my comments, as an early undergraduate student I attended a seminar by Peter Doherty (who had just won the Nobel Prize and was Australian of the Year). Someone asked him a question about Australia's "brain drain"- ie Australian scientists leaving the country. Doherty's response was that he saw it not as a "drain", but rather as a global circulation- whilst some Australian scientists leave, there is also an influx of scientists from other countries. I would agree with this concept. During my PhD, through being invited to present my work I had the chance to visit a number of research institutions and departments in Melbourne. At all there were a substantial proportion of postdoctoral fellows and students who had come to Australia for their current position. My PhD studies were performed in the Molecular Genetics of Cancer Division at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, and the situation was similar: perusing the Annual Reports, I can say that during the four years of my PhD, of the 24 postdoctoral fellows employed, 19 had previously had training (generally PhD) overseas- 16 of these from Europe. Of those 19, 9 were, to my knowledge, intent on remaining in Australia- they had either obtained Australian citizenship or permanent residency, or were in the application process. Whilst I think that WEHI is a somewhat extreme example, because it has a high profile overseas and hence attracts a lot of applicants, I think that many research institutes in Australia would have a significant number of overseas-trained postdocs, and a substantial proportion of these would remain in Australia, and be promoted to lead research groups. Similarly, some Australians who leave to work overseas will not return- for a variety of reasons. Indeed, in the 2 months I have been in Denver, I have met at least 5 Australians in this position. So the final questions would be, why do many Australian scientists choose to undertake a period of postdoctoral training outside of Australia? Firstly, there are career-development reasons- the Australian scientific community is small on the global scale, and so working outside Australia provides an opportunity to forge many of the important contacts I mentioned earlier. Furthermore, although I do not believe overseas training is essential for success in Australia, a period out of the country enables many young scientists to forge their own identities, working independently of the mentors they had during their PhD. Novelty is a component of successful applications for research funding in Australia, and a candidate who can offer new techniques learnt elsewhere will often have an advantage over candidates whose experience stems directly from research conducted in an existing lab. Secondly, and I think an important contributor for many scientists, is that the postdoctoral training period is an ideal opportunity to travel- most graduating PhD students would be aged in their 20s or early 30s, and so many do not have concerns of family, mortgages, etc, which would later in life make living overseas more difficult. Funding for postdoctoral training is also relatively widely available, and frequently supports scientists living outside their native country. In fact, some funding bodies, such as the Human Frontiers Scientific Program, provide fellowships specifically for scientists to receive postdoctoral training outside their native country, with the aim that they bring that training back to their country of citizenship. Again basing my experience on WEHI, of the 9 PhD students in my division who completed their studies whilst I was a student, eight are currently working overseas, and one is preparing to work overseas, having recently completed his final medical practitioner training. Of those eight, I know that one will be returning to Australia to head a research group in 2005, one is looking into positions in the Australian private research sector, and three (me included) intend to return to Australia after approximately 3 year fellowships. Of the remaining three, all were not born in Australia- so as far as CASS Foundations' interests go, perhaps the record of Australians leaving does not seem too bad! In summary, overseas training is a common aspect of a scientific career- for scientists around the world. I strongly believe this is of benefit for Australia, firstly because it promotes global collaborations, and secondly, given that many Australians do return home after their training, it provides an opportunity for many Australian scientists to bring back techniques and experience to the Australian scientific community. And finally, Australia benefits from overseas training scientists coming to this country to share their experience: training overseas is certainly not a one-way event, and for many scientists is not a permanent move. By supporting postdoctoral scientists' overseas travel, the CASS foundation is certainly aiding Australian science. Vanessa Marsden” Travel Grants are by no means “the answer” to meeting the needs of Australian Post-Doctoral researchers, nor ensuring the continued connection with Australia of our graduates and researchers, but the Foundation’s experience so far suggests they are a useful and beneficial adjunct to the portfolio of its grant program. |
| Last Updated on Thursday, 28 January 2010 02:44 |
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