Would I be likely to get good research done in China?

December 31, 2007 9:59 AM

If anyone has any experience with postdoc- or young faculty-type work as a foreigner in China, I'd be interested to hear how it worked out for you.

I'm an Australian computational biologist currently working in the US and I'm curious as to whether it would make sense to look for a job in China at some point.

If you're a Westerner who's worked in Chinese academia (particularly scientific research), were you happy you did? Did you have the resources you needed? Did you learn much? Were there any surprising pros or cons, careerwise? Did you feel included in the life of the organization you were working for?

This is a somewhat idle question. I've already got a position lined up in the US for a couple of years, so I wouldn't be looking for work in China any time soon.

My Chinese is very rusty, but I spent a long time studying it in the past, so I think I could get up to speed on that score pretty quickly.

posted by Coventry to education