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Description: Traditional career models for U.S. national laboratory research staff and university professors are based on long-term career stability that enables the development of deep expertise devoted to solving complex scientific and engineering problems. However, generational transitions as well as changing dynamics of U.S. federal funding may cause major shifts in this traditional career model, which has dominated research since Vannevar Bush published, "Science the Endless Frontier". To explore career attitudes, expectations, and perceived barriers among the next generation of energy scholars, surveys were sent to 450 recipients of the U.S. Department of Energy Early Career Award (about half employed at national labs and the other half at universities) as well as nearly 200 students at the University of Washington Clean Energy Institute and Notre Dame Energy. The survey results are placed in the context of peer reviewed research on the performance and motivation of researchers and scientific organizations.