I'm preparing to move from academia to industry. I've seen lots of generally negative comments about Merck in general, but does anybody know anything specific about their neuroscience research unit?
Good luck. MRL is a joke anymore. If you have any hope of making a difference in health and science, go to a smaller company that values R&D. MRL lost it's way about 10 years ago and they've let go of most everyone that knew anything about doing drug discovery research. Do yourself a huge favor and stay away. If your in Boston, you have many choices that are worlds better than MRL
Which site? Neuro is starting to stabilize. Just approved Belsomra. He's many lost seasoned people but things are shaping up.
Honestly i wouldn't rely on anything you hear on this board. It is mostly trolled by bitter employees who have been through a lot, but for some reason decide to stay with MRK and remain bitter (vs taking control of their lives and moving on or getting over the past). There is actually some good science going on but I'd recommend having a live conversation with someone who is knowledgeable (maybe one of the neuro scientists in the boston group) before making any judgements. Thanks
Poster #2 nailed it. So many better options in Boston. With smaller companies that actually care, and provide a healthy work environment. Don't short-change yourself.
Are you kidding? There hasn't been anything useful going on in MRL since before Brgos. If this person wants to make a difference as a scientist, MRL is the last place I would recommend.
Not much other than that all they do is record mice swimming in opaque pools of warm water and then used biased statistics to make powerpoint slides about inactive drug candidates.
You have to be out of your mind to consider getting a job at MRL. Unless you come in at a very high level (VP) so you can play around and leave again after a couple of years without losing any career prospects. For anyone else it's a dead end and an experience that at best will completely demoralize you. Go somewhere else where people appreciate true enthusiasm, hard work and dedication to doing good science.
Come work on the BACE program. We are going to be successful with this target even though all of the competitors that preceded us were not. We're Merck, we rule.
Pretty sure that was cynical sarcasm re BACE. To the OP, if you have any talent and ambition I would recomend staying away from MRK. It's a black hole for creativity and innovation. It'll be a few years before MRL is even competing again. Their strategy until they rebuild is to buy a pipeline. So you'd be nothing but glorified QC. Your colleagues at other institutions advance science and knowledge while You'll learn how to effectively label drawers and keep track of reagents.
West Point labels best! We are pros. And clean up! Benches look so good you think it's a design center. If interested we have before and after pictures.