A Postdoc in Larvaeic Rush

A witty short feature on a senior postdoc in evolutionary genetics at University of Lausanne in Switzerland appears in Nature (2008, Vol.452, No.10: 778). The feature basically portraits typical worries and dilemmas of those in academic world, struggling to move up in academic ladder to deserve professor title by means of constant publications. He thought himself like damselfly larvae (Lestes Viridis) that, like academics, have deadlines, and it stresses them out. Facing the deadlines, there will be shift on cost and benefit balance. In Larvae’s life cycle: feeding in the face of predation, trade off between mobilizing fat reserves versus reducing immune response. In academics’ life: aim lower and ensure quick publication versus aim high but accept more risks, e.g. rejection (He’s used to the ups and downs in academic publishing. Still, he finds rejection a bitter pill).