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PANOPTIKUM » Interview: Barry Dickson
Moving to El Dorado
Barry Dickson, Wittgenstein Laureate 2005 and “IMP director on
the move” on his motives to give up his prestigious executive
position and how he intends to revisit the spirit of feeling like a
postdoc again for the years to come. Interview: Stefan Bernhardt
Stefan Bernhardt: Having read
the news, that you are going to
leave the Research Institute of
Molecular Pathology (IMP) in September
2013 and move to a fairly new research institute
in the US, I was first of all astonished
and secondly eager to find out what
the reasons were to give up the presumably
most prestigious research position in
the life sciences, here in Austria. So, what
motivated you to go to the US?
»
» I want to regain this spirit young postdocs
have: Pure concentration on the scientific
endeavours with nothing distracting you from
the work you want to do in the lab. « Barry Dickson
» Barry Dickson: I want to focus entirely on
research again. I want to regain
this spirit young
postdocs have: Pure
concentration on the
scientific endeavours
with nothing
distracting you from
the work you want to
do in the lab. One of
the slogans from Janelia
is “Small labs.
Big Sciences”. They
provide access to
world-class resources
and
infrastructure,
and free scientists of constraints commonly
found in other research environments.
For example, the small groups are
not allowed to grow by number. As a group
leader you are not allowed to acquire thirdparty
funding during your time at Janelia
Farm Research Campus.
» Bernhardt: Sounds pretty strange. What
is the intention?
» Dickson: At Janelia, writing proposals is
considered a waste of time. They don’t
want their investigators to spend time on
this. Because the group size is limited and
all positions funded, you don’t have any incentive
to apply for extra funding. You have
access to some of the best resources one
can get, the most advanced technology
available in the fields and you are expected
to just get on with the research and make
the best out of it scientifically. Focus on the
research and go for it! Stop.
» Bernhardt: And after six years?
» Dickson: After six years, your
accomplishments are evaluated
and this evaluation is tough, no doubt
about that. If you and your team were successful,
they would offer you another sixyear
term. So your contract can be renewed.
If you fail, you have to leave; there
are no fall-back options at this place.
Again very simple and transparent.
» Bernhardt: The Janelia Farm Research
Campus is – according to my knowledge –
the only research facility run directly by the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The Howard
Hughes Medical Institute has been renowned
for its substantial, high-profile
grants given to top researchers all across
the US (and beyond) working at different
universities or research institutes. What do
you know about the motives to establish
such an institution from the scratch?
» Dickson: I think, at the core of this endeavour,
there was the intention to create a
place comparable to the Bell Labs or the
LMB in Cambridge, where a talented group
of loosely collaborating scientists worked in
small groups with tremendous institutional
support. I think, the Board of Trustees had
this spirit in mind, when they made this
huge commitment to Janelia, and that establishing
such an institute was likely to have
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