According to a widely disseminated statistic from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), Ph.D. biomedical researchers are, on average, 38 years old when they get
a permanent faculty post and 42 when they get their first major research grant.
The average chemist, for example, finishes postdoctoral work and takes a
permanent job at about age 33, said NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research Sally Rockey, who was on the working group and headed the NIH task force charged with implementing the recommendations, at last week's meeting; biomedical scientists, on average, are about 6 years older than chemists when they attain a tenure - track
faculty post.