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How to Plan for and Land a Job in Science Policy

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Title: How to Plan for and Land a Job in Science Policy
Author: Virginia Cox, PhD
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Perhaps you're fed up with flies, reluctant to run more gels and miserable thinking about sacrificing another mouse. You perhaps want to make "a bigger impact" than your current research allows you to or, perhaps, like me, you're feeling some combination of these frustrations and you're considering a career in science policy. As I've outlined in previous columns, there are many paths you can take to arrive at a policy desk, but in this article I'll address some practical steps you can take to land a job in science policy and how to prepare for those steps.
There are two main paths you can take to land a job in science policy: getting a fellowship or getting hired directly. If you're coming straight from the bench, as I did, a fellowship may be the best bet so that you can gain policy experience and more effectively market yourself for a policy position. I've listed a few fellowship programs for scientists interested in science policy below along with brief descriptions and pros and cons. I'm familiar enough with the programs.
  • AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowships: I'm biased in favor of this program since it's the one I used to transition from the bench to the policy desk. Some pros include the fact that it lasts for a year and is sometimes renewable for a second year. This means that you can really learn key skills to become effective in a policy career. These fellowships are available in the executive or legislative branch, and include valuable professional development workshops and seminars planned by the fellowship staff throughout the fellowship year. The only con is that you must already have received your PhD, MD or equivalent degree and you must be an American citizen to apply.
  • Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship Program: The pros of this fellowship program are that it is open to all US and non-US citizens who meet the criteria, including current enrollment in a US university and proof of holding a valid J-1 or F-1 visa. They will not sponsor you for a visa. The fellowship lasts 10 weeks, so it's not a permanent gig, which may be good if you want to dip your toes into the policy pool before plunging in. And, most importantly, you get to work with the National Academies of Science, whose work is well-respected throughout the federal government. Some NAS fellows go on to become AAAS Fellows.
  • Knauss Marine Policy fellowship: Though this is not a fellowship for the biomedical scientists, I worked with a number of impressive marine scientists who received this fellowship while I was in DC. The fellowship is open to marine scientists who are currently in graduate school and it lasts for one year.
  • The Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship is for mid-career health professionals and behavioral and social scientists. Fellows may work in either the executive or legislative branches.
The second option is to try to get hired directly into a science policy position. The downside of this option for those coming directly from the bench is that you may have little experience relevant to the job. So the key is to build upon your relevant training and, if necessary, seek out additional training. For instance, if you are conducting cancer research, you should look at the activities undertaken by broad patient advocacy groups such as The American Cancer Society or specific patient advocacy groups such as the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance. While most patient advocacy groups are leanly staffed and look to hire employees with legislative experience for their policy and advocacy positions, you may be able to volunteer while you're still in the lab and get your foot in the door. A general point on volunteering while you're still in the lab: it is important to managing your time well so that you don't neglect your primary objective and have time to explore other options. I'll come back to this point later.
Another way to be hired directly into a policy position is to suck it up and do a postdoc. Don't worry; you won't have to pipette anything! The National Academies advertise for postdocs from time to time; this is a way to get some policy experience at what is, as I mentioned before, an extremely prestigious institution. It may also be possible to approach a researcher at your university's School of Public Policy (if your institution has one) who is studying science policy issues in which you are interested. He or she will likely be able to give you some advice on how to apply for postdocs in science policy or may be looking for a postdoc him or herself and offer you a position.
As I mentioned in previous articles, I believe that a key to being successful in a career outside of academia is to get as much experience as possible with your intended career path while you're still in the lab. This serves two purposes: (1) you may realize that this is not what you want to do with the next few years of your life and (2) when it does come time to make the jump, you'll have some marketable skills.
In order to make time to explore career options outside the lab you must master time management. Even the most understanding and benevolent PI expects you to fulfill your commitment to your job in the lab, so that must be a priority. If you're uncertain about how to effectively manage your time, there are many resources out there that can help. Science Careers has articles on this topic as well as the HHMI Lab Management Guide, especially Chapter Six which is entirely devoted to time management in the lab.
Second, start networking to find like-minded students, faculty and postdocs. As scientists, we discuss peer-reviewed scientific articles in journal clubs, so why not discuss policy papers? I was able to find a group like this relatively easily through the Rockefeller University chapter of Student Pugwash, an organization that focuses on the implications of science and technology on citizens' everyday lives. You can check their website to see whether they have a chapter at your institution.
If you're more of a "doer" than a "talker," get involved in a community-based advocacy organization. Examples of such opportunities might include environmental advocacy groups or social advocacy groups. On a national level, signing up on the FASEB web site for "Action Alerts" allows you to track relevant legislation and write to your congressional representatives and senators to show your support.
Finally, I'd encourage you to read blogs or subscribe to list serves that discuss policy issues. Engineering Science is evolving into a thought-provoking site for discussing Science and Engineering Workforce policy, and others can be found with a quick search of Blogger. Be wary of the overly shrill or obviously partisan blogs. I find that the posts and discussions on some such science blogs are not particularly well thought-out and represent more partisan whining than constructive dialogue. As in all things on the internet, "caveat poster"!
Virginia Cox, PhD holds a PhD in Molecular and Developmental Biology from Weill Medical College at Cornell University. She was a 2004-6 AAAS Diplomacy Fellow in the Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science at the U.S. Department of State and currently works as a Program Officer at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York City.


Copyright, 2007, Virginia Cox, PhD
Published with permission

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