POSTDOCS: Repayment and Rights

[Alexander Berezin]

Dear Postdocs and all interested in this subject:

While I am not a PDF and not even have any relatieves 
in this rank, I am reading all recent posters on
PDF repayment problem. Judging by the number of
postersm the issue seems to be both important and
sensitive. However, I remain quite curious (perhaps 
even amaized) about the following:

Nobody so far seems to pay any clear attention to 
the PRIME UNJUSTICE of whole issue: the fact that 
it is stupid, disgraceful, insulting and unfair to
consider PDF as a 'training position' at first 
place.

Postdoc's position is by definition a research work 
performed by a holder of a PhD degree, that 
is DOCTOR (!) of Philosophy. Before attaining this 
degree people as a rule have ALREADY spend about 10 years 
in a chosen profession. Almost all brand new PhD are 
people who are at least 28-30 years of age (i.e.
MORE than 1/3 of an average lifespan), often already 
having school-age children.

And you (or rather, the PDF-exploiting establishement) 
are still calling their work a 'training' (!?).

I don't believe that any-one who is quittting PDF at 
any time and for any reason (or even without one) is
ought to pay a single dime to ANY-one (Government,
NSF/NIH. University, etc).

I believe that PDF should much more pro-active in
fight for their legal and professional rights and 
establish themselves as an independetly employed 
professoional group (or a subgroup at the very least).

Best wishes 

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Alexander A. Berezin, PhD
Department of Engineering Physics
McMaster University, Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada, L8S 4L7
tel. (905) 525-9140 ext. 24546
e-mail: BEREZIN at MCMASTER.CA
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