NIH Reviews

Pros

Access to great infrastructure, excellent intellectual pool.

Cons

Immigration issues are a real hassle if you are not American.

Advice to Senior Management

Please focus on good mentoring.

Pros

great benefits for health care

Cons

Tension among contractors and permanent employees doing the same job

Advice to Senior Management

none at this time.

Pros

One of the best and most diverse research institutes
Advanced technology and equipment
Databases for literature searches is virtutally unlimited

Cons

Funding is competitive, you are literally competing with the lab next door for funding
If the government shuts down, you don't have a job

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the employees in the loop, a lot of people were freaked out back in December when they found out at the last minute they might not have a job to come into the following Monday

Pros

Opportunity to work with incredibly talented people
Great talks on campus
Well funded labs
Good pay and benefits
Grant writing seminars and great career center

Cons

Experience depends on primary investigator.

Pros

Many scientists begin their careers with post-docs provided by the NIH. The salary is not great considering that you've got an advanced degree, but it gives you time to start your research program.

Cons

There's an opportunity cost for treading water. Tenure-track faculty jobs are in short supply. Think carefully about whether it's worth giving up your earning years to take a post-doc.

Pros

Smart people, less political crap to deal with.

Cons

Pay not as competitive as private industry

Advice to Senior Management

None

Pros

Had an opportunity to work on some research I may not have gotten to work on had I not been at NIH.
The OITE has great seminars and guest speakers open to the general NIH body
Network with other interns, program directors, and PI's through the institutes

Cons

Can get mundane and boring doing repetitive research
Kind of keep to yourself when it comes to research
Best way for getting to know others is outside the office/lab

Advice to Senior Management

Go in the footsteps of OITE to create more lasting bonds b/w all members of the research campus. Although a big campus with great opportunities, some people have a hard time fitting in or tapping into the resources

Pros

Freedom to pursue your own research. This is generally a great place to start your career and meet lots of great researchers

Cons

For postdoctoral fellow,s poor job security and benefits and few opportunities for career advancement within the organization. Best to go elsewhere for career movement.

Pros

Collaborations are very easy to come by, and there are a lot of resources at the NIH like career development classes or seminars.

Cons

The campus is very spread out so going to seminars can actually take a big chunk of time out of your day if you have to travel across campus or to different locations. Government red tape slows things down considerably which makes it hard at times to remain competitive with non-government institutions.

Advice to Senior Management

The management here is top of the line and represents the best from all around the world. Keep up the great work!

Pros

NIH is an amazing place to do a post doc. There are basically unlimited resources and plenty of opportunities to learn from some of the best researchers in the world.

Cons

The biggest downside to doing a post doc at NIH is the fact that you will not gain any experience in writing grants.

Advice to Senior Management

I would say to management that they should take the responsibility of mentoring post docs seriously and try to help them advance their career once they leave NIH