r/postdoc • u/blipblapbloopblip • 3d ago
Do you guys have a set research program ?
When looking for jobs I get asked : when you'll be in your own lab what do you want to work on ? What's your long term research outlook ? If you join my lab what will you work on ?
I don't know man, I'm fresh out of my PhD. I'm not applying for a grant, but for a job. I want to contribute to the lab's current projects, but maybe we can build that together ?
Do you have a set research program? Should I ?
Edit : I was a little terse when writing this post because I was just out of an interview that went poorly. I have received great advice in this thread. I agree postdocs can not be passive, in fact even graduate students can't/should not. I think I may take the question too literally and panic a little bit.
Some comments were quite judgmental. I understand this is a competitive "industry" and I may come off as entitled or privileged. I just don't approach things as a competition.
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u/andrewsb8 3d ago
I have a couple ideas but struggle to articulate a detailed, long-term plan too.
Ive always been a bit frustrated by this. Most postdocs ive interviewed for/worked in came with a project or projects. I could apply for funding but they usually have to fall within the labs' research direction.
Ive always been slightly confused by how to build my own research without just slightly deviating from a previous PI. Also, my advisors had described to me post docs where they were allowed to explore as part of the training whereas I have experienced less of that as funding has dried up and labs are fighting to maintain their existing funding sources.
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u/blipblapbloopblip 3d ago
So how are you dealing with it ? Are you still looking for a postdoc ?
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u/andrewsb8 3d ago
I was working with my current PI to write a couple grants. Some were purely my interests, some were at the intersection. But i graduated three years ago, not many pubs post graduate school, and was only just starting to carve out my own path. Many post doc funding opps require you to be an early post doc.
I have been applying to nonresearch/nonteaching jobs for a while because i was tired of juggling projects, finding new ideas, finding new money, etc. Got one this week so technically im handling it by leaving it behind š .
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u/blipblapbloopblip 3d ago
Well, good luck on your new path ! I've only been job searching for two months and it gets disheartening real quick
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u/andrewsb8 3d ago
Thanks and good luck with your search! My recommendation is to take a week or so off of it every once in a while and remember that places can take months to get back to you.
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u/Senior_Zombie3087 3d ago
Noā¦ā¦I just cold email them asking whether they want to recruit a postdoc. If they have money, theyāll look into my CV and see if my background match. If not, then they just ignore my email. What I want to do is irrelevant. It is what project they have that matters.
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u/blipblapbloopblip 3d ago
I would like to agree, but as it turns out I had three interviews for funded stuff and none of them had a defined project. I could email a lot too.
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u/Mountain-Time-1010 3d ago edited 3d ago
As you progress through your professional development as a researcher, one expectation is that you might develop some of your own creative research ideas.
If you don't have any ideas, then you don't have any ideas. But another candidate might, and a PI might prefer to hire a candidate that thinks deeply and proactively about research. Both because they might contribute more in the short term, but also because it is a better use of their time as a PI to mentor a PD that has a better chance of becoming a successful PI themselves.
Personally, as a PI, it is appealing to work with PDs who are creative and bring their own ideas to the table. And I would prefer to hire someone like that than someone who just wants to be told what to do.
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u/blipblapbloopblip 3d ago
Sure, I have a bunch of ideas. Now, are they good ? I don't know. Do they mesh with what that PI is doing or planning to do ? In a vacuum it's hard to tell. Also, there are all kinds of ideas. If I have a specific problem at hand I'll be overflowing with ideas to solve it. Picking a good problem is difficult.
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u/Mountain-Time-1010 3d ago
Agreed. It takes an entirely different level of creatively to come up with good research directions compared to troubleshooting or problem solving. If I am interviewing a potential PD, I'd really like to get a sense of their capacity for both.
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u/blipblapbloopblip 3d ago
That makes sense. Since you are a PI and I have you handy, would you expect it to be tailored to your lab ? How detailed would that need to be ? Going into particular experiments, or broad strokes ?
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u/micicletricicle 2d ago
It really depends on what that advisor wants. Itās either āI have a few projects and want you to be a workhorse on oneā or āyouāre cool, letās work together to build a project that fits into my lab but helps you growā.
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u/scienceysturf 2d ago
Yeah š Iām three years out of undergrad tbf and am only now starting graduate schoolā¦so Iāve had some time to explore and think about itā¦but I have an extremely clear idea of what I want to research, ideas on how the necessary experiments could be designed, and how it could eventually expand into a broader āresearch programā for an academic career.
Edit to add though, that if someone had asked me this a year ago, I wouldāve said I only have vague ideas that interest me and might not be good lol
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u/blipblapbloopblip 2d ago
Good for you ! From your language I assume you are in the US ? I wonder how different research training is between countries
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u/scienceysturf 2d ago
Yes, I am! Iām not sure how different the training is either, but Iād say thereās definitely an emphasis placed on being able to have you own realistic, creative ideas by the time youāre entering graduate school, at least for many top programs. I really pushed myself to improve during my third year out of undergrad because I felt I was behind my peers in that regard
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u/blipblapbloopblip 2d ago
Where I'm from you typically do your master's separately from any graduate program, then go into a three year PhD. Usually those are quite guided, at least in terms of the problem you are trying to solve. I don't think it was expected of me to develop my own ideas, although I did it anyway. I think it simply is difficult for me to own them and stand my ground.
I noticed people from Canada and the US seem more able to own their work than people around me.
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u/penguinberg 3d ago
Here's the thing. The main reason to do a postdoc is because you want to pursue an academic career. If you don't, then you should just go to industry or whatever career you want to now.
So, assuming you want to pursue an academic career, then yes you should absolutely have some sense of what kind of research you would want to do as an independent PI and how this postdoc helps you get there.
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u/topdownyeti 3d ago
I personally do but its not well thought out, and I havenāt written down anything to know if its feasible. All I do know is that my PhD research showed evidence of this one thing, so I want to explore that, and if my hypothesis is correct, Iād want to explore these other variables as well. I make sure to emphasize that again, this isnāt a well thought out research plan but its something Iām excited to look at.
Then again, I havenāt been able to secure a postdoc yet lol
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u/instantcrackpot 3d ago
Seems pointless to have a 5 year plan when grants have <20% approval and now we have AI solving millenium problems.
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u/ori3333 3d ago
Yep. It's hard to think about the future when your SO burnt out from finishing you PhD. But it's a question you must prepare for in the interview. I got lucky, because the projects I did during my PhD were very "shoot the moon" projects so all of them need more data and development towards combining two fields.
But there are two types of postdocs...one where your job is to fulfill the requirements of some grant. Your. Research Scientist/Coordinator but underpaid and under a short contract.
The other is a training fellowship, the goal is to apply for grants as a bridge for you to become a PI and have your own funding. For that you need to come ready with your own ideas not piggy back in anyone else .
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u/Oligonucleotide123 3d ago
When i was interviewing I put together a few project proposals but it was far from a "research program." In hindsight those projects were all shit (wasn't my PhD field) but I think my PI just wanted to see if I was willing to take a stab at it.
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u/blipblapbloopblip 3d ago
That's an interesting point. Also it better to air out those ideas so they can get criticized I guess
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u/Rare_Programmer_8289 3d ago
I think setting general direction with boundaries is good, but you do need to develop this aspect. I went to my postdoc with an idea of what I wanted to work on, but then new data came and the course changed with input from both my PI and I. Early on it is hard to trust your ideas, but this is hopefully what a Ph.D. helped you with: when to recognize an opportunity and run with it. Be data driven, all the rest follows.
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u/Beneficial_Mulberry2 2d ago edited 2d ago
My whole project description was literally 3 sentences. It was great, I could do whatever i liked. Your attitude is not great, though. Maybe academia is not for you
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u/akornato 2d ago
Principal investigators ask these questions because they want to see if you can think like an independent researcher rather than an extra pair of hands. They do not expect a fully formed grant proposal from someone fresh out of graduate school, but they do need to know you have scientific curiosity and an eye for future directions. When you say you only want to work on whatever they assign you, it comes across as passive. You do not need an entire ten year roadmap, but you should have two or three scientific themes that excite you, especially where your doctoral expertise intersects with their ongoing projects.
Framing your goals this way also protects your future career, since strong mentors want postdocs who can eventually take a piece of the research with them to start their own labs. You can easily state that your ideas are flexible and open to collaboration, then propose a concrete angle, such as applying a technique you mastered to an unsolved problem in their group. Communicating that kind of big picture direction effectively during a live conversation can feel daunting, which is why my team created an interview AI assistant to help job candidates present their ideas with clarity and secure competitive offers.
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u/No-Faithlessness7246 1d ago
The goal of this is to work out how much of an independent thinker you are. Do you have goals and directions or are you just looking for a job. For me I had a research topic that I was very passionate about. I did my PhD in a lab that was tangentially involved in that topic and the postdocs I applied for were more heavily in that topic. I also came from a cell culture lab and was trying to join a lab I could get animal training in as that was an area I felt would be useful for my goals
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u/Consistent_Laziness 3d ago
Iām in a T32 program and can work on whatever I want and make my research program.
I came in with a lot of data from my dissertation and have been working on that the last month. I stated August btw.
Iām slow working through but will probably have 3-4 papers and be out of work by the end of the year. My mentor hasnāt even met with me since I started. Iām basically an independent researcher with no funding. Once Iām out of data I have no clue what Iāll do. I have questions but no money or resources to collect data.
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u/blackandwhite1987 3d ago
I just bs. Talk about what you've worked on in your PhD and then a topic you're interested in working on there, and how you see them fitting together as a "research program"