Postdoc Workshop

1
Postdoc Workshop
Mariah Hout, Ph.D.
Bioengineering Graduate Student Summer Seminar
Series August 5, 2005
2
What is a postdoc/Who are postdocs?

• A postdoc is traditionally a short-term
  apprenticeship beginning immediately after
  obtaining a Ph.D.
• The purpose of a postdoc is to provide additional
  training and the chance to focus on research
  without teaching or administrative
  responsibilities.
• Postdocs are productive 43 of first authors of
  Science articles are postdocs.
• gt 50,000 postdocs in the U.S.

• Field of study 22 engineers or physical
  scientists
• Sex 42 women/58 men overall 23 women/77 men
  engineers and physical scientists
• Citizenship 40 U.S. citizens/6 permanent
  residents/54 hold temporary visas

Data from the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey, funded by
the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (postdoc.sigmaxi.or
g)
3
Who are postdocs? (continued)

• Age majority between 30 and 35
• Family status 69 married/otherwise partnered
  34 have children
• Job satisfaction 70 satisfied with their
  current experience (comparable to surveys of all
  workers in the U.S.)
• Salary median 38,000/year
• Health benefits 97 of postdocs have access to
  health insurance
• Retirement 40 of postdocs have access to a
  retirement plan

Data from the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey, funded by
the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (postdoc.sigmaxi.or
g)
4
Where will a postdoc take me?

• 38 of postdocs plan to obtain a tenure-stream
  position at a research university, and are not
  interested in working for any other type of
  organization
• Reality

• Less than 35 of engineering and physical
  sciences postdocs become tenure-stream or tenured
  faculty in academia, and many of these postdocs
  become faculty at liberal arts or comprehensive
  colleges
• 15 of postdocs obtain other types of positions
  at educational institutions
• 35 of postdocs begin careers in industry
• 15 work for nonprofit organizations or in
  government

Data from the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey, funded by
the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (postdoc.sigmaxi.or
g)
5
What will my postdoc be like?
Data from the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey, funded by
the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (postdoc.sigmaxi.or
g)
6
Are there grants available for postdocs?

• There are competitive postdoctoral fellowships
  available that support your salary and
  (sometimes) your research

• NIH NRSA training fellowships (F32)
• Disease-related foundations (American Heart
  Association)
• Private foundations (Burroughs Wellcome
  Foundation, Ford Foundation)

• Depending on the your university, you may be able
  to apply for your own research funding as P.I.
  (i.e. for an R03 or R21).
• Approximately 37 of the respondents to the Sigma
  Xi survey indicated that their institutions
  prohibit them for applying for their own research
  funding (postdoc.sigmaxi.org).

7
Can I stay here at Pitt for my postdoc?

• Yes but there are both advantages and
  disadvantages.
• Some advantages

• You know how things work at Pitt.
• You know lots of people who will help you/answer
  your questions/collaborate with you.

• Some disadvantages

• You know how things work at Pitt, and you could
  really use a change of scenery!
• You know lots of people who may always see you as
  a grad student.
• Postdoctoral training at the same institution as
  predoctoral training is traditionally frowned on.

8
Can I stay at Pitt for my postdoc? (contd)

• Bottom line this can work if you have a good
  reason to make it work. For example, you want to
  stay in Pittsburgh, and there is an available
  postdoc position at Pitt involving research you
  are very interested in and which would provide
  additional training to you.
• Dont postdoc with your Ph.D. advisor, unless you
  have a really good reason. A postdoc should
  provide additional training-your Ph.D. advisor
  has already trained you quite thoroughly!

9
Must I do a postdoc to work in industry?

• Probably yes, if you want to work in a field
  significantly different from your dissertation
  topic (i.e. you need more training).
• Otherwise, the answer depends on the position and
  company.
• Some BioE grads who went straight to industry

• Rebecca Gottlieb (2001) Medtronic
• Stephanie Kute (2002) Johnson and Johnson
• Ron Jankowski (2003) Cook Myosite

Data from the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey, funded by
the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (postdoc.sigmaxi.or
g)
10
My experience so far

• B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Pitt, 1995
• M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Pitt,
  1997-artificial lung research (Federspiel)
• Ph.D. in Bioengineering, Pitt, 2003-affinity-drive
  n blood detoxification research (Federspiel)
• Postdoc in Surgery, Pitt/MIRM, 2003 to
  present-culture/expansion/characterization of
  cells in hollow fiber bioreactors (Gerlach)
• Teaching Hemodynamics (BioE 2310) 2003, 2004

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Resources

• Sciences Next Wave Career Development Center for
  Postdocs and Junior Faculty http//nextwave.scien
  cemag.org/cdc
• Office of Academic Career Development
  http//www.health.pitt.edu/oacd/index.html