The two faces of PhD students: management of early careers of French PhDs in life sciences
Résumé
In experimental sciences, such as the life sciences, PhD students are involved in experiments and knowledge production that require the use of increasingly complex instruments. They are also one of the vehicles for the dissemination of knowledge since they circulate between different organisations during or after their PhD. They therefore have two faces. First, during their PhD, they contribute towards scientific production in their laboratory, teaching and, in some cases, relations with the laboratory’s partners. In the life sciences in France, they account for close to 30% of skilled manpower in academic laboratories. Second, after their PhD, most have to leave their academic institution: PhDs’ embodied knowledge is thus spread to other organisations. Based on the example of the life sciences, the importance of young PhD students for both academic laboratories and private firms is analysed.