The Salk Institute Reviews

Former Employee – worked at The Salk Institute

Pros – Professional and open envrionment. Great contribution to science and human health.

Cons – More addition to improve communication between science and administration.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at The Salk Institute full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Gorgeous environment, first rate colleagues. Stellar science all around.

Cons – Lack of facilities. No gym, no cafeteria, parking is tight.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Salk Institute full-time for more than 7 years

Pros – Great colleagues, great science, great view

Cons – Not a lot of folks get academic PI positions, less than 10% of post-docs.

Advice to Senior Management – Academic science produces papers, grants, and trainees. Salk could improve on the trainees that go to high level positions.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at The Salk Institute

Pros – I really like the environment of learning and being able to ask questions and not feel initimated by anyone. It was a beautiful place to work and enjoy. The seminars were great as well as people.

Cons – Difficult to move up career wise. Academia pays less than industry. You have to be willing to stay at same position for awhile.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Salk Institute

Pros – Great location.
Great community for collaborative research.
Great local biological research community.
Innovative spirit and top principal investigators in the institute.

Cons – High requirement for publishing top level journals. May delay publication of your work. Not enough career development help from the PI level and institute leaders.

Advice to Senior Management – Offer more varied career development help to the research associates working in the institute. Do not only focus on academic institutions.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at The Salk Institute

Pros – World-class renowned research institute with excellent stuff. The most beautiful location. Very international and workers-friendly. Culture of cooperation and sharing with colleagues.

Cons – Limited growth opportunity and salaries that while above average are low when compared with cost of living in La Jolla.

Advice to Senior Management – Not enough feedback from employees to upper management. The management typically just announcing their decision vs. consulting them with workers and/or asking for feedback before making the decision

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at The Salk Institute

Pros – Lot of flexibility, lots of on the job training opportunities. Depending on your boss, your job could be very flexible with you making your own hours. Holidays are pretty standard. There is a high caliber of professors there and the prestige that goes with Salk should look good on a resume. It's mostly a low stress environment.

Cons – Being science, there is little room for advancement without a PhD and even sometimes with one. I think salaries may be capped based on the fact that this is a non-profit so don't expect that of a Biotech or Pharma.

Advice to Senior Management – Give more benefits to employees such as some gym membership discounts or other perks to compensate for low academic pay. The cafeteria can probably be improved.

Current Employee – been working at The Salk Institute

Pros – Fast paced, collaborative and stimulating scientific environment - excellent administrative and facilities support and open exchange of information is encouraged and supported. Great benefits and flexible working conditions.

Cons – Poor assignation of infrastructural support, and internal politics can overwhelm good decision making in some instances. Some failure to respond rapidly to the changing scientific and economic landscape. Non-productive sections are not re-structured leading to loss of institutional resources and unfair allocation of limited resources.

Advice to Senior Management – More aggressive outreach to new donor is needed to bolster institutional funds, and a clear pathway to translate basic research would be very helpful.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Former Employee – worked at The Salk Institute

Pros – beautiful surroundings, architecture, workplace; brilliant minds and people; surrounded by hardworking coworkers that push you to your best

Cons – like any lab job, can be tiring and repetitive at times, but that is to be expected; hours are long but necessary for rewarding work

Current Employee – been working at The Salk Institute

Pros – Great environment, friendly scientists, relaxed hours

Cons – sometimes laborious and menial work

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend