As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, incoming group leader Julie Simpson says this is the perfect time in her career to experience Janelia Farm. “This is a unique opportunity, and I'm fortunate that the timing works so well,” Simpson says. “I'm delighted to be going because Janelia is a chance to do pure science.” Simpson investigates the neural basis of particular behaviors, such as motor control, in the fruit fly Drosophila.

To recruit the first wave of Janelia Farm group leaders, HHMI looked for scientific researchers in the fields of biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and physics who were interested in neuronal circuits and imaging. “We also considered applications from exceptionally talented individuals working outside these defined areas,” adds Rubin. HHMI used both targeted recruitment and an open international competition, which yielded more than 300 applications. Those applications were reviewed by groups of HHMI researchers, supplemented as needed with physicists, engineers, and computer scientists.

This fall, HHMI plans to announce a second open application process. This round will include a December application deadline, resulting in offers to perhaps five additional group leaders by the spring of 2006. Later next year, when Janelia Farm opens its doors, HHMI will begin continually recruiting for additional staff. By 2009, when the campus is fully operational, it will include 24 group leaders and a permanent research staff of about 300 scientists.

Known for his entrepreneurial verve, Rubin acknowledges that Janelia Farm is a risky endeavor. “We're doing an experiment here,” he says. “Yes, there's some risk the experiment will fail, and we'll have to readjust. But if we're successful, we'll create a different way of doing biomedical research.”

		The incoming group leaders and their current affiliations Dmitri B. Chklovskii Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY Sean R. Eddy HHMI Investigator at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis Nikolaus Grigorieff HHMI Investigator at Brandeis University, MA Eugene W. Myers University of California, Berkeley Julie H. Simpson University of Wisconsin– Madison Roland Strauss University of Würzburg, Germany Karel Svoboda HHMI Investigator at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, NY     Photos: © Paul Fetters

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