“Getting that first post-doc”

“Getting that first post-doc” Anthony Moorman Professor of Genetic Epidemiology

Overview of session • Negotiating the academic career pathway • Selecting the right post-doc for you • Applying for the job • Questions

Academic Career Pathway

The dream

The reality

Career pathway of PhD graduates

More and more competition!

Academic Career Pathway PhD Student Research Technician / Assistant / Associate Team Scientist Post-doc Independent Researcher Fellowship Tenured Academic Position

Get a five year plan • Where do you want to be in five years? • Fellowship • Joint application on grant • Expert in particular technique / field • Lecturing • Industry • How are you going to get? • Which elements will this post-doc fulfil? • What else do you need to do?

Get a mentor http://www.ncl.ac.uk/fms/postgrad/mentoring

Laying the foundations of a good CV • Finish your PhD on time • Publications • First author > Joint first author > Second author • Techniques (quantify) • Basic • State-of-the-art • Present research at conference • Spoken / Platform presentation • Poster presentation • International > National > Local • Networking

Networking • It's not what you know but who you know that makes the difference. [Anon] • It isn't just what you know, and it isn't just who you know. It's actually who you know, who knows you, and what you do for a living. [Bob Burg]

Networking • Make yourself known • Talk to PIs etc in your institute • Accept any invitation to meet external speakers • Do “research in progress” talks. Prepare well in advance. • Attend conferences • Don’t be afraid to ask questions • Introduce yourself to leaders in the field • Ask your supervisor(s) to introduce you • If you have a poster make sure to display on time and for full length of time. Be in attendance during “poster” sessions.

Faculty Fellowships • These Fellowships are flexible awards aimed at highly talented and motivated scientists in the early stages of their post-doctoral research careers. • Candidates will be provided with up to 12 months underpinning support to secure external fellowship funding. • Level 1 - is aimed at researchers with typically 0-2 years’ active post-doctoral research experience • Eligibility: You must have a PhD in the subject area, a strong publication record and be highly motivated and eligible for prestigious externally funded fellowship awards as appropriate to your level of research experience. • For Level 1 applicants, if you have not got your PhD at the time of application, you must have it by the start of your fellowship. • http://www.ncl.ac.uk/medicalsciences/research/fellowship/faculty/

Goals for your first-doc? • First author publications • First author publications • First author publications • Experience of grant preparation / writing • Learning new techniques/skills • Teaching experience – didactic/lab-based, UG

Selecting the right post-doc • “Should I stay or should I go” • Plus going abroad • Changing fields • Technique driven • Topic/Disease driven • Cast net early and wide • But be careful ..... Very important decision

Assessing a potential position (1) • Are they .... • ... leaders in the field? • ... the next big thing? • ... journeymen? • ... the weakest link? • Aim as high as possible • Look up the RAE (REF) rating of university/department/unit • Literature search – including citation index • Money • How much have they got and from where • Cross reference their website from funders website

Assessing a potential position (2) • Group metrics / dynamics • Who is publishing as first author / corresponding author? • Size of group • Ratio of senior : junior staff • Clinically active heads of lab • Who do they collaborate with? • Website PLUS publications • Use your contacts to gather informal information

Preparing your CV • Clear & Concise • Divide into sections • Qualifications (including training courses) • Research Skills • Be honest, Quantify, Official training • Other skills (e.g. languages etc) • Meetings / Conferences • Presentations • Publications • Mission / Personal Statements

Applying for a position • Do not apply cold. • Contact PI in advance. Ask questions about project and team. • Read their papers. • Try to find project application via funder website. • Covering letter • Write, re-write, re-write and re-write

Interview • Smart dress • Don’t bullshit!

Interview (cont’d) • Be prepared to …. • Give a brief interesting overview of PhD – contextualise • Discuss research interests of PI offering the job • What your ideal next experiment would be if there were no financial or logistical problems. • Describe how did you trouble-shoot a technical problem • How you approach writing your first author paper • Ask some questions • Research related • What have former post-docs gone on to do? • Teaching opportunities

“Getting that first post-doc”