FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Types of Positions

HHMI employs two types of resident investigators at Janelia Farm—group leaders and fellows. With their research groups, they will number about 250 when fully staffed. An additional 120 individuals provide core scientific support to all resident and visiting researchers. All group leaders or fellows are engaged in “hands-on” research. Relative freedom from other responsibilities allows these scientists to participate in structured and unstructured collegial interchange at a much higher level than is typical in academic environments, perhaps devoting as much as 20 percent of their time to such activities.

DIRECTOR

The Director of Janelia Farm, in addition to administrative and institutional leadership responsibilities, serves as the leader of a research group and participates actively in the scientific life of the campus. The director is assisted by a chief operating officer and an associate director for science and training.

GROUP LEADERS

Group leaders each have up to six lab members. This small lab size allows group leaders to continue to do their own experimental work and encourages collaboration between groups. The extensive core support provided at Janelia Farm allows such small groups to function effectively. A steady-state population of 25 group leaders after Janelia Farm has been operational for five years is the goal. Thus, group leaders and their groups will total about 175 scientists.

Although individual group leaders range in career stage from those who have just completed their postdoctoral training to the director of Janelia Farm, they are not distinguished by rank. Likewise, they all receive resources to support their research based on need rather than career stage.

FELLOWS

When fully staffed, there will be approximately 20 fellows from a wide variety of backgrounds, such as:

• Early career stage individuals with little or no prior postdoctoral work at the time they begin working at Janelia Farm.
• Experienced researchers who want to change research direction—an individual leaving the biotechnology industry or someone wanting to switch from pure computer science to computational biology.
• Accomplished scientists who, after a successful career in academia or industry, wish to return to an environment highly focused on the actual conduct of research rather than assume administrative and other responsibilities that are typically expected of such individuals.

Fellows are "independent" (that is, not formally associated with a group leader) and free to form collaborations or associations as they see fit. Each fellow has laboratory space and funding for up to two additional lab members. We also expect that from time to time we may appoint two or more individuals who wish to co-apply so they might work together. Fellows are appointed for five years, with the general expectation that they will obtain positions elsewhere after their term at Janelia Farm. They can compete for group leader positions in any year. Fellows and their groups will make up about 60 individuals.

APPOINTMENT AND REVIEW

The initial appointment of group leaders is for six years. Annual performance reviews are carried out by Janelia Farm management, focusing on a group leader's ability to function effectively in the Janelia Farm environment. A comprehensive review of scientific accomplishments and other contributions to the Janelia Farm research enterprise is carried out after this initial six-year period. There are three potential outcomes from this review:

• A five-year reappointment with an invitation to remain at Janelia Farm, but with the option to transfer to an acceptable HHMI host institution and enter the host-institution-based investigator population.
• A five-year appointment with a requirement to transfer within two years to an acceptable host institution and enter the HHMI host-institution-based investigator population.
• A two-year transitional appointment. Unlike HHMI investigators currently at host institutions, group leaders at Janelia Farm will be able to transfer their appointments during this transitional period if they accept a position at an acceptable academic research institution. Since the new institution may not be one of HHMI's current host institutions, we will provide generous support for the group leader during this phase-out period through a grant or restricted gift to the new institution.

Scientific reviews are carried out by a panel composed of members of HHMI's medical advisory board (MAB) and scientific review board (SRBs), with the final renewal decision resting with the president of HHMI, as is the case for all HHMI investigators. Likewise, the format of the review is similar to that used for HHMI investigators based at host institutions. However, the review criteria will reflect the different expectations held for Janelia Farm scientists. Indeed, a significant factor in the decision to renew the appointments of individuals at this level will be their contributions to the collegial environment.

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