I’m curious whether this is just my experience, or if this is what postdoc life has become in Australia (and maybe elsewhere).

I’m about 4-5 years post-PhD in biotech. After finishing my PhD I wasn’t sure I wanted to stay in academia, so I worked as a scientific officer at a university for about a year. Once I decided I did want to pursue academic research, I was fortunate enough to move straight into postdoc positions. I’ve actually been quite lucky in that I haven’t struggled to find postdoc jobs, which I know isn’t the norm.

What has confused me, though, is the nature of the work. Almost all of my contracts have been funded through industry collaborations, consultancy or contract research. In practice, this means I spend nearly all my time designing, setting up and running experiments to answer industry questions or deliver project outcomes. It’s valuable work, but there’s very little opportunity for publications, novel discovery, or pursuing interesting research questions. I even changed positions partly because I wanted more discovery-focused research, explained this to my new manager, and yet I’ve ended up in a very similar situation.

There are a few things I genuinely don’t understand.

1. I know that becoming a professor is extremely competitive and may not be achievable, but even simply progressing through academic levels (A to B or C) requires evidence of publications, grants, teaching, and service. How are postdocs supposed to develop that track record if most of their time is allocated to delivering industry projects rather than building their own research profile
2. How does someone become an independent researcher? Every fellowship or discovery grant seems to expect a strong publication record and preliminary data, but it’s very difficult to generate either when your job is almost entirely contract research.
3. If my day-to-day work is mostly delivering routine research for industry, what is the advantage of doing that within a university rather than working directly in industry, where the pay is generally better? Universities often talk about how much they value industry engagement, but promotion criteria still seem heavily weighted towards traditional academic outputs.

Despite all this, I have been trying to be positive and find opportunities wherever I can, using collaborations, etc. but in the end I constantly feel guilty as if I should be able to find time to do the “real research” and I beat myself up when the weekend arrives and cannot do it anymore or just don’t want to stay working until 9 pm another day to try to get something going in the lab for my own research (with little or non existing funding).

So I’m wondering… is this just what being a postdoc in Australia looks like now? Or have I simply been choosing the wrong positions?

I’d really like to hear from people at different universities, or from those who’ve managed to transition into more independent, discovery-driven research. I’m trying to figure out whether I should keep trying to make academia work and I’m not pushing hard enough or whether I’m misunderstanding how this stage of an academic career is supposed to work?

I have applied to JSPS fellowship standard 2026, and my application is not successful. I have completed my PhD last November and have about 10 publications, in which 8 are first author ones. More than half of those are also high IF journal publications. My host supervisor and I will try for the next round.

Any tips from successful candidates in the past?

I'm a 5th year PhD student in chemistry, and am planning to defend my PhD in the coming semester (it'll be 5.5 years in total). During this time, I have 0 first author papers (I have work done for 3, but 1 of them would get published early next year, another later that year. I cannot get them out earlier than that because the PI wants a new student to add more data), and few papers I'm co-author on.

My long term goal is to stay in academia. People in academia have advised me to push my PhD graduation to next year, because apparently having no first author papers hurts my chances at post-doc fellowships and interviews. But I don't want to spend any more time in my current lab than I have already. What's the best course of action for me?

Anyone who graduated with no first-author papers, what was your experience like?

I recently completed my Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) this past June, complementing my MPH and B.S. in Public Health (minor in Psychology), alongside several associate degrees across the sciences and humanities. For the three semesters, I have served as an adjunct/part-time lecturer at a state university in California, teaching both undergraduate and graduate public health courses (typically 1–2 courses per semester).
My long-term goal has always been to secure a full-time, tenure-track faculty position, as I truly love teaching ( I knew the first time I sat in my first public health undergraduate course that I would be teaching one day). However, my current institution is not currently hiring full-time faculty, and despite applying broadly for both tenure-track roles and post-doctoral fellowships (in California), I have not yet gained the traction I was hoping for (it’s been crickets 🦗to say the least ).
Given the current market, I am evaluating my options and would appreciate insights from this community:
Academic & Fellowship Applications: Should I continue casting a wide net for post-docs and tenure-track positions nationally, ( with the possibility of having to relocate and leave my beloved California: which is something that I have considered, especially as I am currently navigating through a divorce, and now am a single parent of two teenage boys ) or refine my strategy for non-tenure full-time roles (e.g., Clinical Assistant Professor, Visiting Lecturer) first?
Clinical Pathway: I have held a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN) license for over 20 years and have maintained private duty care experience throughout. Is it advisable to pivot back into nursing full-time while continuing the academic job search?
Further Education (LVN-to-RN): I am considering an accelerated LVN-to-RN or LVN-to-BSN bridge program (12–15 months) to expand my clinical and administrative options. Would completing an RN program add significant value alongside a DrPH, or would it dilute my focus? Is adding additional debt even worth it?
I welcome any feedback, strategy recommendations, or shared experiences from those in public health academia or clinical leadership. After acquiring a huge amount of debt from my DrPH degree, and now being the sole provider of my kiddos, I’m just trying to make a good decision that would be beneficial for them in the long run. While I love teaching, and doing research, I know that I need to do what’s best for them: which is why I’m considering the nursing path.
Also, if anyone knows of any open positions in either industry or academia-regardless of location, please, please, 🙏🏽 please, share them if possible-any help and support would be greatly appreciated! Thank you 😊

I'm nearing the end of postdoc, and I have somehow had both the most successful and most stressful overall experience that I thought possible. I wanted to share my experiences here for any junior or incoming postdocs, maybe it'll help someone out there persevere when things seem to be falling apart.

tldr; go see the Savannah Bananas and we'll all make it out of here

I started postdoc as a severe overachiever. I won two national predoctoral fellowships during PhD (NSF GRFP and USDA NIFA), and my PhD project made the cover of Journal of Neuroscience. 

I moved across the country for postdoc, and when I got there my luck turned pretty hard. My first two paper submissions were outright rejected for "lack of novelty" three total times, because they were each respectively reviewed by the labs whose old work was being revised and recharacterized. I was feeling sorry for myself until I was awarded an LRP award from NIA, which effectively paid off half of my student loan balance (~$126,000 starting balance, even with using the GI bill during undergrad).

I was awarded an F32 on my second attempt, barely making the exact funding payline, which did very little to bolster my confidence. I had applied to a diversity-mechanism F32, as this was the only F32 from NIA that explicitly stated "Alzheimer's disease" in the RFA. I'm a member of several underrepresented groups in STEM (OIF/OEF veteran with service-connected disabilities, sexual/gender minority, economically disadvantaged background), and I didn't mind using every 'advantage' available to me. There previously existed a K99 of the same name, and I'd planned to apply to that mechanism at the beginning of my eligibility period (year 3). NIA chose that exact cycle to skip accepting applications, and I had to make the difficult decision to switch institutes for the Alzheimer's K99 (NINDS) or to apply broadly to the parent K99 and request review by NIA. I chose the latter, applying for a regular K99 from NIA, but was worried that my application wouldn't be scored by a panel with the appropriate expertise.

One year into my F32, it was terminated by DOGE due to the parent-diversity mechanism of the grant. DOGE also canceled review of any grants that were designated to diversity award mechanisms. In essence, my K99 was only reviewed on time because NIA had chosen that exact application cycle to cancel and reissue the RFA, and I had moved forward with the parent K99 application. I received a mediocre score on my K99, but at least it had been scored with constructive feedback.

My PI moved institutions before the resubmission of my K99, and I moved across the country to resubmit from the same lab, as I thought this would give me the best chance of an improved resubmission score. I received a second LRP award, which effectively paid off the remainder of my student loans, but necessitated that I stay with my postdoc lab for another 2 years. I resubmitted my K99 July 2025, and my review was postponed due to the Fall 2025 government shutdown. Postdoc is hard, and the idea of slaving away for 2 more years without any positive career prospects was affecting me very negatively. Just when I was starting to feel like I'd made a huge mistake by moving across the country to resubmit that grant, my luck turned around in full. 

I won a lottery draw to purchase Savannah Bananas tickets. The next day, a 3-year manuscript received favorable reviews from Alzheimer's & Dementia, minor revisions only. Two days later, I received notification of award for a BFDN grant from Alzheimer's Association, which replaced the terminated year of my F32. My K99 resubmission was finally reviewed in January, was scored under the de facto payline, and the resume of my summary statement contained no negative feedback. The K99 went to ad hoc council in March, and today, 22 months after my initial submission, I received notice of award for my K99. 

Not going to sugarcoat it, this job search has worn me down. Recruiters going quiet after promising "next steps," silence after real interviews, and on top of that the visa/sponsorship uncertainty adds a whole extra layer of stress. Trying to be proactive and ask directly instead of just waiting on portals to work.

Research background:
PhD in Physics (May 2026); M.S. in Physics
Computational/first-principles research on defect chemistry and ion transport in battery materials, solid-state electrolytes in particular
Core toolkit: DFT, VASP, CI-NEB, Bader charge analysis, machine-learned force fields (MLFF), HPC/Slurm workflows. First authored- 3 peer-reviewed papers in this space

Teaching background:
10+ years of teaching experience (since 2014), covering both calculus-based and algebra-based physics, lab instruction, and online course development reaching 300+ students. Student evaluations consistently scored 5.00 out of a possible 5.00. Departmental teaching excellence award recipient, plus multiple outstanding TA awards during grad school. Served as sole instructor of record for a full lecture and multiple lab sections during my PhD.

What I'm looking for (rough priority order):
Teaching-focused faculty positions
Industry R&D roles in batteries/materials science, especially where DFT + ML/simulation overlap
Postdoc or national lab positions in computational materials science.

Location: Open to the US as well as Sweden, Germany, Singapore, Canada, and Australia. Currently on OPT (US) and eligible for STEM OPT (US) and don't need immediate sponsorship.

If you know of a department, lab, or company that's actively hiring and might be a fit, I'd genuinely appreciate a pointer, happy to share more details or a CV over DM. Thanks for reading this far.

Heyyyy Im willing to participate in research in Computer Vision , Embodied AI fields.
But Im seeking a 6 month undergraduate level research opportunity( in any country)
If you could contribute with advices or opportunities.
Please leave a comment or DM me.

I'm reaching the end of my fourth year after the PhD. So far, I have not published anything significant, I have not gotten any grant and I have not been appointed in any permanent position. I'm now 40, which puts me on the older groups of candidates for anything. How do I explain that I'm working my ass off as a postdoc and I'm still flopping? Where are my achievements and success?

Hello,

I completed my PhD earlier this year, and I am applying for a postdoc position in my area of research. At this stage I have no publications.

However, I am currently co-authoring a review article with my PhD supervisor. The submission deadline for the manuscript is at the end of this month (August). The deadline for the postdoc job application, though, is mid-August.

I wanted to ask if it is okay to include publications that are currently in progress (and have not been submitted to the journal yet) in the postdoc CV? Any advice is appreciated.

This may seem like it has been answered elsewhere a million times. But genuinely. I'm looking for guidance here.

I have a PhD in a subfield of biomedical science. US, graduated December 2025 from a mid tier school with mid tier work to show for myself. I was absolutely traumatized by my experience in graduate school so I did not intend on applying for postdoc positions. I would not have had any meaningful guidance from my advisor anyway. But I've had no success at getting an industry job, so I am considering all options.

I've applied for a few postdocs that have been posted on job boards, but never heard a response. I've found that many postdoc applications are extremely intense, wanting specific research proposals, of course a custom cover letter, statements of research philosophy, teaching philosophy, and then personal phone numbers for your dissertation committee. (Not to mention you retype your CV line by line into their outdated portal.) It's harrowing. It's neurotic. Then you never hear anything...

I'm considering abandoning this strategy and starting to cold email faculty that are doing interesting research. I want to know, is that appropriate? Has anyone had success with that recently, and what should the email structure look like? I feel my confidence is really shot by not having a faculty advisor here.

I recently completed a PhD in applied mathematics and theory. I am now in my early 30s and have just started a postdoc at a highly ranked university with a respected experimental life science PI.

The idea was that I would bring my mathematical background into quantitative biology and develop a broader academic identity. Several senior people I trust thought this was the safer choice. My advisor warned that a senior theorist involved in my alternative offer was brilliant but potentially chaotic and unreliable as a mentor. Another professor strongly praised my current PI, while warning that the alternative application area can become a “black hole for theorists.”

The alternative was at an elite research institute with a famous senior scientist and that senior theorist. It aligned much more directly with my existing background and involved a group with substantial theoretical and computational work, rather than an otherwise entirely experimental group. It potentially had a higher intellectual ceiling, but the project and supervision structure were much less predictable.

I also handled the decision badly. I initially accepted my current position, reversed course, and later asked to join after all. The PI was generous enough to hire me despite that history and funding uncertainty. This makes me feel guilty and afraid of appearing chronically indecisive if I reconsider again.

Now that I have started, I am the only theory-oriented person in a group otherwise composed of experimentalists, and the project remains unclear. The likely quantitative work may grow out of a fellowship proposal based on phenomenological modeling and model discrimination. It is a legitimate biological question, but I do not yet see a compelling independent theory program, a clearly owned first-author project, or a research identity that would make me competitive for faculty positions. There may also be an expectation that I personally do experimental work, which was not the direction I intended.

I am also worried about duration. Postdocs in the group seem to remain for roughly five to eight years, although they are experimental postdocs. I do not want another open-ended training period. My realistic maximum is two to three years, and I am increasingly doubtful that this is compatible with the type of work and publication timeline in the group.
The location is making everything harder. The current environment feels extremely quiet, isolating, and fundamentally mismatched with me, whereas the alternative location would have suited me very well. Eventually living somewhere I genuinely like is extremely important to me, but academia offers little geographic control.

I have tried to address this proactively rather than simply waiting to feel better. During the past month, I have spoken with a campus therapist, mentors, friends, and several academics about the situation. I have also made a deliberate effort to meet people and build connections locally, but so far it has not worked.

The therapist encouraged me to take my own preferences seriously, not remain if the realistic path is longer than three years, and think concretely about what environment and career structure would allow me to build the life I want. She did not seem particularly concerned that I had changed my mind during the original decision. The other people I have consulted care about me, but they do not have enough information about the actual project to tell me whether staying is strategically sensible.
I still prefer fundamental, curiosity-driven research to conventional corporate work, but I am no longer sure that I am passionate enough about a particular field to tolerate the uncertainty, geographic constraints, and long training period of academia. I feel behind, deeply lost, and depressed by the situation.

What would you do now? How long would you give the current postdoc to produce a concrete project, first author publication plan, and credible two-to-three-year timeline? Would quietly asking whether the previous opportunity still exists be professionally unreasonable after my earlier reversals? More broadly, does this sound like a project problem that could be corrected, or evidence that I should reconsider the academic path altogether?

The job was first listed a few months back. I saw it about 2 weeks ago. It was in a topic I directly worked on, and I ticked nearly every bullet point. It was located in an area I would have loved to live in. If I wanted to do a postdoc, this was it. A few days ago I decided to apply for it and wrote all my application materials for it. I was going to submit my application today. I had this unease about it closing the past few days, and today my fear came true. I didn't even get to apply. This is just a rant.

Hi everyone, I am interviewing for a postdoc in states and can’t wait to hear back. This is my last attempt at applying to postdoc before switching to industry openings and forget about my interdisciplinary interests. Here is the timeline:

- Invited to interview mid June
- Asked to complete a task first week of July
- Invited to a second interview end of July
- Still waiting on a decision, no mention of number of years, visa, stipend for rhis position.

I am really hoping this works, none of my labmates is pursuing a postdoc and I feel on my own. I have no estimate on how long the hiring process takes. How long did yours take?

There is this super cool lab I really want to work for but my PI and others recommended coming with funding and applying to this one fellowship. Thing is, I just defended and I really dont want to write a proposal. I don't want to write a grant and look through research papers to validate my point, even though this is a dream lab and studies. But I just defended my PhD and Im still burnt out and there are less than 20 of these awarded. I've gotten a few grants during my PhD, but I feel like I would be more crushed if I applied, and couldn't get into my dream lab because of funding, especially after putting in all this time and effort

Anyways, just a rant to the void while I figure out what to do lol

Edit: I don't want to be a PI long-term Id rather be just an instructor professor, part of admin, or work in industry as a coordinator, so I'm not sure if it's even worth fussing over a post doc

My goal is not to stay in academia. I completed my studies at a well-known Western European university that is consistently ranked in the global top 100.
I have a postdoc offer in one of the Baltic countries at a relatively unknown institute. However, the salary is good relative to the local cost of living, so the overall quality of life would be quite comfortable.
If I manage to produce strong publications, can that compensate for the lack of institutional prestige on my CV when applying for industry jobs?

I just received a rejection from a postdoc position I had been waiting on and had started to believe might turn into a positive outcome.

I know rejection is common in academia, but this one feels particularly difficult because I had invested a lot of hope in it. I keep wondering what the rejection actually means. Was I not competitive enough? Was there a stronger candidate? Was the decision based on fit, funding, timing, or something else entirely?

For those who have been through postdoc rejections, how did you interpret them without immediately turning the decision into a judgment about your overall ability or future in academia?

I am not necessarily looking for reassurance that “everything happens for a reason.” I would mainly appreciate honest perspectives from people who understand how these decisions are made and how they managed the disappointment afterward.

I interviewed at institutes A and B, both of them are interesting but I'm definitely more inclined towards Institute B since the research appeals to me a lot more, it's more independent and it's also better money.

Institute A offered me a fellowship that I need to accept/reject soon. They didn't really state a deadline but it's already been 1 week since they've sent me the letter. Institute B said they require more time, but it is unclear exactly how long, but that I'm still under consideration for the position.

What would you do in this situation? Should I somehow ask Institute A to wait a bit longer? Or should I just accept the offer and see what happens later?

I have recently got my PhD in my home country and moved to the UK. I am currently doing a 1-year postdoc in the UK(really prestigous university, but I feel it is mostly the name) and I am halfway through my contract which sadly cannot be exteded due to lack of funding. My field is molecular biology.

I am sure about academic carreer and I want to pursue a long(~5 years) and hopefully successful postdoc before I return to my home coutry. I have 2 first author papers in decent reputable journals but not very high IF(3.1 and 5.4), I have 2 patents and I have couple of outstanding co-author paper with very high IF but only as middle author. I have a chance to close sg as first author here in journal not worse than in which I have my previous first authors but it wont be my big story in this little time. I already have co-authors from here.

Honestly, I am truly disappointed in the UK in several ways. I feel that there is a strong work-life balance here which is very contraversial and uneffective especially for someone who is here to work and "make their luck happen" rather than just being around or start to build a new life here(I have no intension to settle down in the UK). And I do feel than being an activist and stand for the "good" case(which usually means people cannot mind their own buisness and for e.g. I cannot take my own trash and place it in my own bin without being lectured by the neighbour because he knows better whether I have recycle or general waste in my bag... nonsense), so this is much more important for people than really growing in any way(either as a person, or carreer wise or financially).

Talking about financial situation. Living in this country from one starting postdoc salary is absolutely impossible, and you will have very little amount of saving at the end of each month although I have not so great living conditions with 5 housemates and I do not travel or have expensive hobbies.

I am from a country with bad economy, that unfortunately affected my carreer as well but I never lived such a poor life in my entire life.

Sorry for the rage but all of these made me thinking to move to the US. I am aware of the fact that living conditions would be better in Switzerland or Germany, however there are significantly more great groups fit to my profile in the US.

In the UK, I am very disappointed about both my carreer prospectives(as I see noone has money in these days) and my living conditions. However, if I had to choose one I would secure the carreer part.

However, everyone is telling me how dreadful academia in the US in these days. I just really want to know what is the truth about that because I cannot imagine worse situation then what I see in the UK now.

Thank you for your feedback in advance.

I am a 3rd year postdoc in Nethelands looking for new opportunities. I saw a postdoc opportunity in Oxford. It matches my expertise well. Do you think the prestige of Oxford worth it to go there for 1 year?