
The human cost of the pressures of postdoctoral research - denzil_correa
https://www.theguardian.com/science/head-quarters/2017/aug/10/the-human-cost-of-the-pressures-of-postdoctoral-research
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WkndTriathlete
This comment from the journal editor is particularly telling:

"Certainly people, say in businness [sic], behave more brutally than in
academia."

I don't know what businesses and academics the editor knows, but my
observations across business and academics have repeatedly been than
professors behave far more brutally than businesspeople do.

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leemailll
It isn't in academia one usually has a year to land another job after been
told fired?

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arethuza
Never heard of that one in the UK - even heard of people who weren't even told
they were fired, they just didn't get paid and were expected to take the hint.

Imagine my horror one month when the university I worked for "forgot" to pay
me one month - due to an administrative error apparently....

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searine
My experience :

Intellectually my post-doc was amazing because I finally felt I was a world-
leader in my field. I was attending the right conferences, mentored by the
right people, and showing that I could hold my own with heavy weights.

Psychologically it was taxing. I was very strict about keeping work/life
separate which was good. However, my research itself was very isolating and I
found my self drinking far more than I should to cope with the scientific and
economic stress of the job.

Health-wise it was challenging. Drinking problem aside, my hair went grey, my
hypertension spiked, and I gained 50 pounds. The work schedule and
accommodations of the university made exercising just too hard to fit into a
normal schedule. During grad school I worked out 3-6 times per week, during my
post-doc I could barely fit in once per week.

Economically it was near disastrous. Quite frankly, if I didn't have outside
support I wouldn't have been able to make rent. Even with that, I ran up about
10K in credit card debt and was forced to each rice/beans, and dollar menu
lunches just to keep my head above water. I was the highest paid post-doc in
the building and I was one mishap away from bankruptcy.

In the end, I jumped ship. I had a very good shot a landing a faculty position
(multiple top tier first author papers), but it just wasn't worth it. The
stress, moving, and lost income was just too much of a burden. So instead I
took a job at a quasi-academic institute and tripled my income. I regret
nothing.

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heinrichf
Would you agree to share your research area ?

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searine
Genomics / Bioinformatics.

I was very lucky. Because of my field I got a premium post-doc position and
salary and I easily transitioned to a non-academic position due to my comp sci
background. Many biologists aren't so lucky...

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hprotagonist
There are reasons I am 1000% not interested in doing any postdocs. I've seen
way too many good people flame out, and the chances of landing a good faculty
job at 35 years old in my field, unless you are already a superstar by the
time you're 25, are basically nil right now. Not worth it.

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gobugat
And when finally you get out of your precarious post-doctoral status, entering
your first permanent academic position... well, let's say it's not worse, but
it's not necessarily better. Academia (my case: computer science in the UK) is
a meat grinder.

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leemailll
Entering postdoctoral for many fields basically means one is in a pre-run for
a faculty job trying to be tenured, plus post docs need to do the real work
rather than assign them to others. Unfortunately for many that is also the
time a family or children begin to occupy private life, which provide extra
stress and squeeze precious time. It is a highly stressed position, but not
unique. If one wants to stay in academia the stress always accompany the
entire career. I saw post doc sent baby to daycare at 6 weeks old, I heard
post doc's promising job interview ruined by supervisor's letter. But they all
survived and enjoy their research. I feel the freedom and joy of doing the
thing interests you are also priceless and it is a rewarding experience even
one is suffering.

It is highly stressed life, however, one can make it his own better. Keep
positive, keep smiling.

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skosuri
I loved my time as a postdoc. It was a time to be surrounded by awesome
people, many of whom are still my close friends. I spent most of my time
mostly thinking about my science and what I wanted to do with it. Finally,
there were very few distractions administratively or otherwise. I miss it
quite a bit.

Of course there are pressures, but my stint before my postdoc was being fired
from an early-stage startup (I was first employee). The last six months was
the most pressure-filled experience I had experienced to this day. I found the
postdoc-world was much more supportive an experience. Obviously YMMV, and
different labs and startups have very different cultures.

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metaphorm
I'm so so so so so so glad I left academia before getting to this point. Every
single person I met in a doctoral program was as unhappy as I've ever seen any
person who is not otherwise dealing with some serious shit (deaths in the
family, chronic disease, addiction, etc.).

