postdoctoral fellow

post-doctoral fellow

research scientist

postdoctoral researcher

researcher

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

There is no doubt that LBL is a world class place to work if you are in some areas of science. I think this goes w/o saying. The Nobel prizes won by the scientists and the success of the research performed there speaks for itself. To some professionals, this place could be heaven.

However, if you are in a support function, you may see things differently. When I arrived there, the first things I noticed were 1) The software was perhaps as much as 5 years behind what was being used in industry. 2) Not one person would say hello to me or come by and introduce themselves. I went around and and introduced myself, but no one had time for me. I never worked in a climate like that. In fact it was 1 month before anyone came to my cubicle and said "hello". In regards to being behind the times, there was one particular oddity that was extremely labor intensive to manage but was more than 10 YEARS behind the times. I was flabbergasted that I had to work with this "system" daily.   

It also became painfully apparent rather quickly that we were woefully understaffed.

My first manager was rude and crude and seemed to dislike everyone. Somehow, I was able to get on their good side and I did learn a lot. Despite having professionals with advanced degrees in the department, it was curious that some in the more favored positions only had high school diplomas. It doesn't matter how long you've been there or how good at politics you are, if you haven't paid your dues in college, you don't belong in the job. Period. 

A good deal of the employees that I had to work with had been there for many years. In about 75% of the case they were very unfriendly and would not share information no matter how bad it was needed. Organizing a meeting was downright impossible. No manger would show up and there was no accountability for their actions.

Lack of accountability was a major problem. The other major issue was respect for others. Whenever I was able to actually get people to a meeting, my manager would hijack it, brush me aside and speak to others in the room as if I didn't exist. I had excellent repertoire w/ management at other places I worked and won my share of awards (cash, stock options, extra time off, etc) for Excellence. I wasn't a "greenhorn". I knew what I was doing. Of course, coming to work after being gone for a few days and having dozens of links and formulas  in your spreadsheets destroyed by your manager and a contractor and then blaming you for it on your next review didn't help matters much, either.    

The main software that I had to use for my job was very unsuited for the task, as it was never meant for the amount and complexity of the data that was used. My next manager never quite realized what it took to get a days labor done because of this.

Spent way too many nights working to clean up messes other people made or dealing with government bureaucracy. Some that I worked with came from the corporate world, and this bureaucracy made no sense to them. Issues that arose from this were viewed as "my fault" just too many times to remain as an employee.

Every work place has it's quirks. Berkeley, pinnacle of innovation though it may be, is no exception. It is a community of people dedicated to scientific advancement and global progress. Though often times the demands of innovation require longer (and sometimes uncompensated) work days if you are a scientist, those who burn the midnight oil do so because it is a labor of love. The support staff at LBNL is wonderful, and always has kind words, warm smiles, and excellent nutrition and coffee available. The view from the laboratory is beautiful, my small desk in a trailer had a perfect view of the Golden Gate Bridge. You meet people from countries you have only seen on maps, from Nobel Laureates to High School interns to Shop Technicians. 

Unfortunately, many of the more specialized and theoretical areas of science, my former employers included, your ability to carry out the science you love is entirely dependent on funding. The saying may be "Publish or Perish," but even my Principal Investigator who published over 52 papers in one year, was unable to convince the powers that be to continue the funding of his research. 

Though there is a strong sense of camaraderie at LBNL, many scientists are in a perpetual struggle for funding, something that many forget. Berkeley is a world-class institution, and though the lab is expanding, space is limited. I would definitely recommend this place to any scientist I come across, but with a word of encouragement to make the best of your time here. Progress waits for no one.

"In the world of science, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is synonymous with “excellence.” Thirteen Nobel prizes are associated with Berkeley Lab. Seventy Lab scientists are members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), one of the highest honors for a scientist in the United States. Thirteen of our scientists have won the National Medal of Science, our nation’s highest award for lifetime achievement in fields of scientific research. Eighteen of our engineers have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, and three of our scientists have been elected into the Institute of Medicine. In addition, Berkeley Lab has trained thousands of university science and engineering students who are advancing technological innovations across the nation and around the world.

Berkeley Lab is a member of the national laboratory system supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through its Office of Science. It is managed by the University of California (UC) and is charged with conducting unclassified research across a wide range of scientific disciplines. Located on a 200-acre site in the hills above the UC Berkeley campus that offers spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay, Berkeley Lab employs approximately 4,200 scientists, engineers, support staff and students."

The site is great - the hills above U.C. Berkeley.  The offices were a cube farm with coffin sized 6'x8' cubes in the building with shipping / receiving.  There is an onsite cafeteria, but the same company runs it that runs food service for the University...  Management didn't seem to know which way to go - sent us all to a couple of months of Agile development training and then bought a project management package tied to waterfall development and required us all to work waterfall projects.  Published coding standards then said things like "you should have been doing what everyone else was doing."  Seemed to give the development staff all of the responsibility for a successful project, with none of the authority or cooperation of the owning department to get anything done. There were a lot of "adhoc" projects with no clear requirements before coding started, leading to lots of "feature creep" and unending projects.  I learned a lot about radiological experimentation and the Dept. of Energy regulations. Being a research site, they had one of just about every environment you can think of, so I also learned quite a bit about different environments - Solaris, Java, Oracle Forms, Telerik tools, .Net, MVC, Silverlight, Azure, etc.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Career level positions have a lot of freedom to exercise their professional judgement and expertise in decision making process, including to make changes to standing plans or procedures. The Lab places an emphasis on the individual to be a subject matter expert, and that freedom - so long as you're making sound, effective arguments - is very flexible. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The Lab is a Department of Energy facility that hires a lot of contractors for work, and it can be difficult at times navigating competing interest and potential churn with different contractors coming and going. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
LBNL is very much like a government facility crossed with an academic/university setting. Working at the Lab is something in-between those two spheres, creating a sort of unique environment.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day is really going to depend on what you do. However, for me, it's a combination of responding to daily things that come up, attending to provide guidance, and working through my own schedule of projects, be it technical documents, calculations/investigations, revising procedures or plans, etc.

Very relaxed atmosphere and great people to work with.  Extremely low stress except for the research which can be daunting but that's research.  Every tool in molecular biology is at your finger tips and you're working along side some of the most brilliant scientists in the field.

Though, it is extremely difficult to work your way up the ladder here.  Raises are very rare and you're better off going somewhere else for more money if that's what you need.  No bonuses ever. Expect a lower than average salary since it's academia.  The RA union is terrible and only take their portion from your paychecks ($50/month), never really coming to your aid when you want a promotion.  HR will not help you at all in advancements.  The trick is to get an outside offer which forces them to do their job.  They hate working more than they have to.  Most of the admin on the campus is like this so you'll have to be aggressive to make it to Sr. RA.  Good luck.

A typical day at work involved a morning overview of what was planned for that day. Which scientists(customers) I would be working with, and what projects they were planning on starting or planned to finish working on. I would plan and schedule these radiological work activities to fit around both the customer's and my own availability. I would conduct assessments and surveys of radiological activities and conditions, and document my findings. I also had to assure all radioactive work activies in my zone were safe and compliant in accordance with DOE regulations and our own radiation protection program. I worked very close with the Health Physicist assigned to my zone. On occasion, I would respond to a radiation/contamination spill, and support my team with decontamination. I learned so much while working at the labs such as, sealed and non-sealed sources. I recieved DOT training, and supported the packaging and shipping of radioactive materials. I think that the hardest part about my job was that I was so far away from my family. Other than that, I really enjoyed every other aspect about working at the labs.

In my time at LBNL I was impressed by the diversity of ideas and methods aimed towards improving the impact of humanity on the world. I worked specifically in a sector devoted to artificial photosynthesis, though that was not specifically what my project was about. Truth be told, it was often difficult to know what my project was about, mostly because my mentor/manager seemed to have a difficult time directing his intentions. I often found myself unsure of what to do with my time. There was also a weird undertone of competitiveness in LBNL, at least where I worked. I believe this is because each scientist's group seems to value publishing their own work in their name over collaborating with others on bigger, more impactful projects. This is understandable, since LBNL is under the purview of the government and money is likely distributed according to who gets results, i.e. who publishes... but it still felt as though this inefficiency in information relay was interfering with swift scientific advancement.

The site is beautiful, but hard to commute to/from unless you live in Berkeley.  It was taking me over 2 hours each way from San Francisco - a lot of it waiting for a shuttle from BART up to the lab..  Driving isn't a good option because parking up on the hill is all but nonexistent 

You're totally responsible for a project but don't get cooperation from the user/customer/management to get it done. You really end up trying to do several jobs project management and reporting, business analyst, product manager, developer, QA tester, Production support for existing systems all at once with timeframes that don't let you do any of them very well..

They do have a cafeteria - run by the same company that does the UC student cafeterias and has the same menu.

Advancement - only possible when someone retires.

They seem to love meetings - the more people at them and the longer they last, the better.

Excellent place for students to gain in depth world class research that stimulates the thought process and rewards generously for hard work. Typical day consisted of providing simulation runs of previously hypothetical computer models and optimizing design options to set forth variable constraints (i.e. temperature limits). Management was often helpful and were ready to provide help to your questions. They did not give you the answer but expected you to independently research your inquiries and present to them your findings. The hardest part of working in a research lab is to meet deadlines. The research group expected that students will get the work done and often times I would be at the lab until late night. In spite of that, the enjoyable part of this job is that I know that my work has been a contributing factor to the Department of Energy and the Office of Science whom providing funding for this research experience.

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