The Scripps Research Institute Reviews

Pros

It is a great stepping stone to get you better opportunities elsewhere, establish good collaborations from within the organization, and to perform solid scientific research.

Cons

It is very difficult to be promoted or to get a tenure-track position within the institute, as well as being extremely competitive.

Advice to Senior Management

Due to the increasingly competitive nature for acquiring grant funding, it would be of benefit if Scrripps would allow other primary sources of funding other than just the NIH, particularly for junior researchers.

Pros

Some good PIs with good reputations.

Cons

No value of post-docs by the administration. Lots of hoops to jump through.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the post-docs happy and it will be a more productive institute.

Pros

There are some good people working very hard at Scripps.

Cons

Less about merit and more about politics. A tremendous amount of nepotism/cronyism is pervasive throughout Scripps.

Advice to Senior Management

No amount of advice on my part will change the culture of management at Scripps. I hope Scripps as a whole will survive despite the current management at Scripps Research.

Pros

nice weather, good benefit, very good working environment

Cons

too stress, fast pace, frusted

Pros

Good reputation. Funding (gov't and other) pretty steady. A decent amount of freedom to set your own schedule, depending on your department of course. Fabulous location near great lunchtime running routes. If you do your job well you will probably be ignored. (Depending on who you are you might think that last comment is a con!)

Cons

Leader has his favorite PIs and depts and funds them accordingly. Also, the competence of your own particular department head varies widely. I'm mostly knowledgeable about the administrative departments, which at times seem like a bunch of fiefdoms that hardly interact with one another. Some admin dept heads are really sharp. Others...not so much.

Advice to Senior Management

My advice: show more appreciation for the grunt workers. Not everyone can be a star (ie a heavily recruited PI) but more acknowledgement for the worker bees would be nice.

Pros

One of the best non-profit research organizations! High end research.

Cons

If you are looking for a teaching job - you should not come here - mostly research.

Pros

Great benefits package, generally good working day-to-day environment, part of cutting edge research

Cons

Day to day work experience can vary greatly depending on the lab or department.

Pros

It is the biggest private biomedical research institute in the world. The research here is the first class, and the professors are among the best.

Cons

Academically, it is in an isolated San Diego area where no prominent universities locate. It does not necessary attract the best graduate students and postdocs. In one sense, you don't get to have the best colleagues.

Pros

* Intelligent, highly educated scientists & staff
* Ability to collobrate with other like minds
* Freedom to create your own (lab) culture, or niche, within a culture; not so much for support staff
* Access to relevant technology

Cons

* Lack of long-term planning
* In-fighting within the upper ranks
* Fragmented communication from the top down
* Little, or no transparancy or accountability
* Dwindling benefits
* No real career paths
* Too many complicated processes that hinder productivity

Advice to Senior Management

* Plan for a 5-year drought during the good times
* Communicate all goals & expectations
* Treat people the way you want to be treated
* Choose clarity and accountability
* Lead by example

Pros

The scientists here are AWESOME, some of the best people in the world, and you will be lucky to work with them.

Cons

The management needs to better focus on the academic learning environment rather than trying to get Scripps to be a revenue machine.

Advice to Senior Management

YOU ARE NOT AN INDUSTRIAL COMPANY, STOP TRYING TO RUN LIKE ONE.