The story is true. Some wise supervisors will put more pressure on Postdocs. As mine, a minimum request is to publish 2~3 papers related to postdoc project, not to PhD thesis. Hence, I have to focus more on postdoc project. At least, I should manage to publish 2~3 Journal papers, although I know I need to publish works related to my thesis which will be helpful for my career. The only way is too squeeze time from your after-hours! That means more pressure, less family time! You have to if you do not want to stay where you are already! I say stay, but it is risky. It is always better to publish more!
Preview:
As a graduate student, I overheard a faculty member advise a colleague to include funding in a grant proposal for a graduate student rather than a postdoctoral fellow. The reason? "Postdocs spend all their time writing papers from their dissertation work," she said. I vowed that, when I became a postdoc, I would not let paper and grant writing disrupt my research in the laboratory.
Fast-forward five years. To my dismay, I do spend much of my time writing and revising manuscripts, many of them from my previous work. I see this as part of the postdoc's primary challenge: balancing a job and a career.
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Although I have published six papers from my dissertation work, I have several other manuscripts from the same project competing for space on my desk and weighing on my conscience. Each paper represents collaborations with other early-career scientists, and I am acutely aware that delays affect their careers, as well as my own. I give priority to work related to my current position, but when there are lulls, I dedicate several days to revising one of these old manuscripts in the queue.
Once, at a workshop for early-career researchers, a panellist warned us that it was unethical for postdocs to spend time working on projects other than the one that pays their salary. Yet, when I confessed this transgression to my supervisor, he told me not to worry. I will be writing papers from our current project for years to come, he said. And, hence, will be siphoning time from future projects. It is the perpetual circle of grant-writing life.
Feed: Nature - Issue - nature.com science feeds
Posted on: Wednesday, 7 March 2012 11:00 AM
Author: Gaston Small
Subject: The postdoc dilemma
| The postdoc dilemma Nature 483, 7388 (2012). doi:10.1038/nj7388-235a Author: Gaston Small Balancing a career and the obligations of a full-time job can be deceptively difficult, says Gaston Small. |
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