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Fox Chase Cancer Center Tops in the Nation among Places for Postdocs to Work, According to The Scientist Magazine
PHILADELPHIA (February 24, 2009) – Looking for something to do with your brand new biomedical PhD? According to The Scientist, a prominent life sciences magazine you would do well to consider starting your scientific career at Fox Chase Cancer Center. In its annual survey, The Scientist ranks Fox Chase among the top 15 best places in the nation for postdoctoral researchers – known simply as “postdocs” – to work. Fox Chase was the only top-ranked institution in Pennsylvania and ranked 12th overall in the U.S.
The survey covered all aspects of postdoctoral life, from working conditions to benefits to family and personal life. Postdocs gave Fox Chase high marks, in particular, when asked about factors relating to training, mentoring and communication.
“I like to think that their positive impressions of Fox Chase as an employer mirror the high value we, as an organization, place on the contributions of postdocs to our research programs,” says Maureen Murphy, PhD, director of postdoctoral training programs at Fox Chase Cancer Center. “Simply put, we could not be as competitive as we are without them.”
The survey yielded responses from 3,438 postdocs at 85 U.S. institutions and 27 international institutions. Respondents were asked to assess their postdoc experience according to 43 criteria in 11 different areas by scoring positive statements. Answers were scored on a 1 to 5 scale with 5 = "Strongly agree," 1 = "Strongly disagree" and 3 = "Neither agree nor disagree." The criteria included statements relating to the lab's principal investigator, colleagues, department or division and the institution.
According to Murphy, Fox Chase’s strong showing in this year’s survey is a fair assessment of the general attitude among postdoctoral researchers at the institution. Unlike many other universities and research institutions, at Fox Chase postdocs do not compete with graduate, medical and undergraduate students for attention, training and resources. “The postdoc experience really is different at Fox Chase, our faculty see them as equals, as young colleagues whose expertise will carry us forward,” Murphy says.
“By choosing Fox Chase, our postdocs have made an investment in us as the place where they want to begin their careers,” Murphy says. “We try to reward this investment by creating an environment where they can enrich their professional lives – by providing unique resources such as seminars and workshops – along with their personal lives – by providing benefits, such as housing and daycare.”
More information about the Fox Chase Postdoctoral Research Program, including a video tour conducted by current postdocs, is available at: www.fccc.edu/research/postdoc
Fox Chase Cancer Center, part of Temple University Health System, is one of the leading cancer research and treatment centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation’s first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase also was among the first institutions to receive the National Cancer Institute’s prestigious comprehensive cancer center designation in 1974. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center’s nursing program has achieved Magnet status for excellence three consecutive times. Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research and oversees programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. For more information, call 1-888-FOX-CHASE (1-888-369-2427).
