1997年3月27日下午，在纽约市Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center的实验室里，我接到了来自普林斯顿大学分子生物学系教授Tom Silhavy的电话，“Yigong, I am calling to tell you a piece of good news. Our faculty voted unanimously to offer you a position, at the level of Assistant Professor.”我喜不自胜，“Great！” Tom接着说，“We will be happy to discuss with you about what you may need to set up your independent lab. We hope you will let us know whether you accept our offer by July 1st”我想也没想地就马上回复，“I am very happy to accept your offer.” Tom似乎很意外听到我直截了当的当场回复，竟不知如何反应；他迟疑了片刻，才提醒我，“Well, Yigong, please think it over. You may use this period to negotiate with us about your start-up package.”那天下午是我一生中最高兴的时刻之一！我把好消息与Nikola Pavletich（我的博士后导师）以及实验室的同事们分享。Nikola善意地告诫我，“If I were you, I would NOT tell them that I would accept their offer now. This is your time to cut a better deal!”Nikola故意在“NOT”上加重了语气。
27日上午分别与四位教授举行一对一的每人45分钟面谈，其中一人是2001年成为普林斯顿大学校长的Shirley Tilghman。因为我已经对他们的科研事先有所了解，所以面谈还算顺利；但Shirley在认真讲述了她的科研进展后很意外地考了我一个相关问题，我极为紧张地思考后做了还算得体的回答，她点头称对，我才收了一身冷汗。中午与几位博士生一起午餐。下午一点半午餐后，又与三位教授进行面谈，其中第一位是时任系主任的Tom Shenk，第二位是前系主任、后曾任洛克菲勒大学校长的Arnold Levine。下午4点整，我在系报告厅LTL003给了50分钟的学术报告。我发挥得很好，效果出乎自己的意料，回答问题时已经完全自信。原定晚餐由Tom Silhavy及另外两名教授参加；我的学术报告后Tom Shenk和Arnold Levine两位重量级教授临时决定共进晚餐，而且Shenk很有暗示意味地对我说，“I think you will become a superstar at Princeton.”
晚餐安排在普林斯顿小城著名的法国餐馆Lahiere’s Restaurant。 Levine介绍说这是爱因斯坦在普林斯顿22年中最喜欢的餐馆；Shenk则指着一张爱因斯坦挂像下面的桌子说，“In a few years, if I invite you to dine at that table, then you will soon receive tenure at Princeton.”。晚餐聊得很开心，根本不象是面试的一个环节。当天晚上我下榻Nassau Inn，由于白天面试的顺利进行，我激动得几乎彻夜难眠，直到凌晨4点多才入睡。第二天继续与8位教授的一对一面谈，包括后来接Shenk做系主任的Lynn Enquist和1995年的诺贝尔奖得主Eric Wieschaus。由于连续两天没休息好，午餐后我已经筋疲力尽，居然在与Wieschaus面谈时差点打盹，害得我红着脸坦白没有休息好。面试直到28日下午4点结束，也结束了持续整整两天的面试。老实说，第二天的感觉远不如第一天，心里也有点儿忐忑不安。还好，最终拿到了offer。
Shenk和Levine对我各说了一句让我终生难忘、至今想与每一位年轻PI分享的忠告。和每一位刚刚开始独立实验室的助理教授一样，我担心自己能否顺利申请到科研基金，尤其是NIH的项目经费；这种担心对英语非母语的外国人尤其真实和迫切。1998年1月，初到普林斯顿，我对Shenk表达了这种担心；Shenk回答道，“Yigong，please focus on your research and apply for NIH grants only when you have significant preliminary results. If you fail to obtain any external funding but are doing fantastic research, we will support you! Please don’t worry.”Shenk的这句话打消了我所有的疑虑！只要我的科研出色，即使拿不到外面的经费，系里也会支持我！
不可否认，每一位助理教授都对能否拿到tenure耿耿于怀；我也一样，从在普林斯顿正式报到的第一天起，就常常想这个问题，而且常常想得很紧张。在1991至1997的六年中，七位年轻的助理教授试图在分子生物学系拿到tenure；可惜，只有一位成功，其他六人都被迫离开普林斯顿、另谋它职。Levine看透了我的担心，直截了当地告诉我，“Yigong, think about it: getting tenure is not so difficult. If you can reproduce your track record as a graduate student and a postdoc in the next 5 years, you will get your tenure at Princeton or any other top-notch university in the US.”如果说Shenk的表态打消了我对申请基金的担心，Levine的忠告则让我看清了为拿到tenure而需要努力的目标。Levine进一步提醒我，“The difference is that you were alone as a grad student or postdoc. But now you have a lab full of people to help you. That’s why it should not be difficult to get tenure.”这句话让我信心充足！是啊，我至少会有三、四个人的实验室，加上我，如果这么一批人在一起还不能重复我一个人做博士生和博士后期间的工作分量，我也太笨了，不值得普林斯顿的tenure！
Levine又对我做独立PI提出了具体建议，“Treat yourself as a super-postdoc in the lab during the first 3 years. You must work on your own projects at the bench and supervise your students. This way, you will get your research take off immediately.”我完全接受Levine的建议，不仅天天在实验台上做自己的课题、还尽全力指导博士生和博士后做研究，科研工作很快形成局面，仅用三年就顺利拿到了普林斯顿大学的终身教职。在庆祝我顺利tenure的party上，Levine又一次忠告我，“I know you’ve been working hard on the bench for 3 years. Now your lab is fully established, and you need to shift your focus from bench work to supervision. Some people believe, and I agree, that spending the vast majority of your time on the bench work after being a PI for 5 years won’t make you fantastically successful.” 当时对这条建议我从心里有点不认同，但回望过去十几年的科研经历，这个建议是很有道理的。
