What is the purpose of the postdoc?#NextGenSci
Have you ever asked yourself a question: "What is the purpose of the postdoc"? Your viva has been completed, your PhD thesis has been submitted, you receive this new fancy diploma (often saying something in Latin you do not really understand but you have your name proudly inscribed on it) but it is not quite clear what to do next. Very few new PhD graduates can boast by having job offers right away. Some freshly-minted doctors frame their diplomas, put then on a wall and start searching for a proper well-paid jobs, however many more would rather stay in academia. However, university professorships and lecturerships are hard to come by, hence one has to keep pace with the research and teaching and wait for an window of opportunity to open. Here is where the postdoc comes in. Many researchers associate a postdoc program with hard work, lack of sleep, or working endless hours for your boss or PI for a minimum wage (and you thought that you would be well over that stuff after you get you PhD). Others see the postdoc as the time when only the sky seems to be the limit and burdens of family life are so far away.
The recent issue of Science features an interesting selection of views on the purpose of postdoc entitled "NextGen VOICES: A postdoc's purpose". Science asked recent and former postdocs from all around the world to write a job advertisement for the perfect postdoc position. Here is what I wrote trying to summarize the perfect postdoc as I see it:
Postdoc job advertisement: Ideal Postdoc in a digital era
An Ivy League University is announcing a call for the ideal post doc position. We are a cronyism-free workplace. Are you approaching 40 and still without a tenure? Join us and let the Matthew effect boost your career. Your main duty will be to publish extensively – your publication output is more important for you (and for us) than any teaching or administrative obligations. Our prestigious location incurs high living costs. But it the digital epoch and you can work remotely. Moreover, there is some flexibility in start date, remuneration, and part-time working. Please contact us to discuss your preferences.
In my view, the postdoc of the 21st century is digital, remote, and focused on the precise results and not on doing science for science. The resulting article (edited and abridge) can be found here among the views of other 13 scientists from around the world and representing a variety of fields: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6384/26
Cite as: Brotherton, C.A., Naz, S., Syed Shan-e-Ali, Z., Dennis, F.A., H?m?l?inen, A., Strielkowski, W., Ming-Ju Amy, A.L., Wenderott, J.K., Espinosa-Diez, C., Isaacson, K., Li, Y., Hassan, E., Stenn Hoyer, J., Cusimano, J.M. (2018). NextGen voices: A postdoc's purpose, Science 360(6384), 26-27. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat6008
Hashtag: #NextGenSci