Fitting into research careers: fledgling scientists struggle with multiple options, multiple demands.(Profession)

As the October sun streams through the seventh-floor windows at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Andrey Frolov ponders a career choice that he didn't expect to wrestle with for another decade. "I'm still thinking about what I want to do," confesses Frolov, a 27-year-old physician, who is finishing his postdoctorate in molecular biology. "I think I would like to teach, so I want to see myself employed in a university setting. But there are also times [when] I think: Do I want to go to a pharmaceutical company and make more money?"

Most young scientists follow a fairly predictable path from undergraduate to graduate school to postdoctorate positions. In 2001, almost one-half of the 5,909 life scientists who received PhDs in the United States chose to do postdoctoral work, according to a recent National Science Foundation study. (1) Only one in six new life scientists headed straight for the work force. For some, the decision about which fork in the career road to take comes easily. Others need a global positioning system to find their best chance at fulfilling work.

GETTING THE RIGHT FIT "It is very individual," says Susan A. Gerbi, chairman of Brown University's Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry. "It depends on what they enjoy doing and what they are best at. Where possible we try to have them do a consulting thing in industry where …