2008年5月6日的科學時報有篇文章“施一公：我被信仰追問，回國為什麼是最好選擇”，透露“2008年2月，40歲的國際著名結構生物學家、美國普林斯頓大學終身講席教授施一公，全職回到祖國，受聘為清華大學終身教授、並出任清華大學生命科學與醫學研究院副院長”。一時學界好評如潮。

令人困惑的是，就在這篇文章見報的前一天，普林斯頓大學剛剛更新了介紹施一公的網頁（見http://www.molbio.princeton.edu/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=234
），他仍是該校教授。時至今日，在普林斯頓大學網站首頁查找，施的頭銜仍是Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Molecular Biology。

前幾天又傳來好消息，施一公被遴選為HHMI investigator。這在生物醫學研究領域是一份巨大的榮耀，也再一次證明施一公學術成就斐然。2008年度HHMI investigator的申請截止於去年6月，要求申請人來自近200所美國的研究機構（http://www.hhmi.org/research/competitions/investigator2008/institutions.html），這其中顯然不包括清華。同時要求申請人成為獨立faculty的時間不能早於1997年四月，大器早成的施一公可說是搭上了最後一班車。

如果說施一公2008年2月全職回國，在此之前就應該早有意向。HHMI在徵集申請時特別強調了以下幾點：

1. 聘任後將成為HHMI全職雇員，任期五年，可以續聘。全職聯邦政府雇員不符合條件。

2. HHMI investigators必須有至少75%的時間精力用於研究項目。承擔管理、教學、學術審評、學會活動等的申請人必須減少這些任務以滿足HHMI的要求。

3. 候選人提出申請時和受聘時必須在同一機構有工作職位。在第一個五年任期不能轉到其它機構工作。

在一個更詳細的HHMI遴選問答的文件中（見http://www.hhmi.org/research/competitions/investigator2008/2008_investigator_qa.pdf），有以下兩段：

A9. What is HHMI policy with regard to eligibility of faculty members with administrative responsibilities?

Duties at the time of appointment must be compatible with HHMI’s requirement that investigators devote at least 75% of their total professional effort to the direct conduct of research. HHMI has permitted some of its investigators to serve as department chair, director of a departmental division, head of a research center, head of a graduate program or the like, when it could be determined that those ditties would not, in fact, interfere with this requirement. The permitted 25% of non—research activity includes all administrative duties, teaching, committee service, grant and journal reviewing, participation in the activities of scholarly societies, and consulting (subject to HHMI’s rules on consulting).

HHMI investigators may not hold the positions of dean, provost, vice president, or president of an institution as we do not believe it is possible for individuals in these positions to meet the 75% requirement.

D6. I am considering moving to a new institution after January 2008. If selected by HHMI in this compelition, could I be appointed at the new institution?

No. The application must be xxxxted from the same institution that will be the site of your appointment. Also, an HHMI investigator who changes institutions prior to completion of his or her first five-year term of appointment must resign from HHMI. After successful scientific review, an investigator may transfer to another HHMI host institution as detailed in HHMI’s transfer policy. Only one transfer is permitted over the course of an HHMI investigatorship.

這樣看來，施一公受聘HHMI investigator後，既不能全職轉到清華工作，也不能擔任象生命科學與醫學研究院副院長這樣的管理職位，否則只能辭去HHMI的聘任。施一公在堅守信仰和HHMI的誘人職位間如何取捨，讓我們拭目以待。