Elsevier donates money to research

The University is one of 13 institutions that will receive a grant from the Elsevier Foundation, which provides support for leading institutions in scientific and medical research. The $75,000 given to the University is specifically targeted to help postdoctoral fellows balance career and family life by paying for spouse-related travel expenses and childcare during conferences.

The rigor and selectivity of many postdoctoral programs often make it difficult for spouses to obtain positions close to each other, said Joan Girgus, psychology professor, special assistant to the dean of the faculty and the author of the grant proposal submitted to the foundation.

Often, the quality and quantity of research done during a postdoctoral fellowship determines career opportunities, Girgus said. “It’s a very brief period of time between graduate school and becoming an assistant professor, but it’s a very critical period of time.”

This issue is of even greater concern to post-docs with children, she added.

A disproportionate number of female scientists and engineers decide not to apply for assistant professorships at research universities during the postdoctoral period, according to a statement issued by the University.

“That could have helped me out a few years ago,” said Patrick Simen, a post-doc at the Center for the Study of Brain, Mind and Behavior, a joint neuroscience-psychology program. At one point during his postgraduate career, Simen did not live with his wife because of the location of his position.

Some post-docs, however, make a conscious choice to sacrifice family interests for their careers.

“The decision to become a professor is certainly more complex than whether I have a kid,” said Danna Hargett, a molecular biology post-doc.

Hargett has begun to take care of professional ambitions before dealing with familial issues, intentionally deciding not to have children at this point in her career, she said. “If you want to be a professor, you will regardless of whether you had children, and then you’d just work [familial concerns] out.”

Girgus’ grant application is part of a larger effort by the University to help graduate students, post-docs and professors balance their careers and family life. This effort includes an extended tenure track for new parents, healthcare coverage for pregnancy and childbirth, and grants to assist with childcare expenses, according to the Graduate School and Office of the Dean of the Faculty websites.

“We have women who really have a demand to balance career and family life that puts them at a difficult disadvantage, and we’d like to assist them,” said Y.S. Chi ’83, who is both a University trustee and the vice chairman of Elsevier. Chi was not involved in Elsevier’s decision to award Princeton the grant due to his conflict of interest, he said.

The Elsevier Foundation has given a total of $594,000 in grants to 13 institutions, seven of which are “pioneering new approaches” to help scholars in science and technology “balance childcare and family responsibilities during the early stages of their academic and research careers,” according to a Foundation statement. The other six grants were given to help innovative libraries in developing countries. The 13 recipient institutions were selected from over 150 applicants worldwide.