As clinical research in psychiatry has grown in importance and promise in the past decade, the need for a growing pool of skilled clinician-researchers has been increasingly recognized. Compared with physicians in other specialties, psychiatrists in academic positions have less training in research and devote less time to it, which is reflected in the growing concentration of research funds from the National Institute of Mental Health in just a few of the strongest medical school departments. To focus attention on the need for developing the role of clinician-researchers, the authors examine four major tasks faced by clinician-researchers and present a developmental perspective on the transition to research.