5 Important Tips About How To Choose Where to Apply Postdoc
A postdoc position is a very competitive and high level of an academic appointment. And also a significant carrier step of a researcher. So, it is essential to make a strategy to get a place comfortably and in your choice. There are lots of research labs around the world related to your research area. It isn’t easy to choose, but we will discuss some useful points that will help you. Where to Apply Postdoc
Our topic is How To Choose Where to Apply Postdoc ?
But more important is that you should mentally prepare yourself for a postdoc position. You can also read the article and video related to this for finding a profitable postdoc position.
6 golden tips for finding successful postdoctoral opportunities
Now, we will discuss some critical factors which you should consider for a position where you should apply.
Location –
The first point that you should consider your geographical preference. There can be some possible restrictions or preferable choices to start your post Ph.D. research carrier. The condition can be like your family doesn’t want to leave you from your current position or any other reason. In this way, either you should convince yourself and a related person for this.
And other is the strong preference that you want to only work in some specific geo-location. Like you only want to do a European country or Canada like that. May be your choice depends on geographical reason, lab ranking based, and sometimes your close contact can influence this orientation.
This is the very first factor that you should think of to figure out your choice for Where to Apply Postdoc.
2. Research area –
Once you are sure about your geographical preference, you should think about which labs fit your research domain. This factor is significant in choosing the postdoc area. You should make a list of related labs, which are more suitable for your research area since a postdoc is related to work on a specific site on which you are already an expert. During the Ph.D. or Postdoc finding period, you should look at this. This may be depending on an available research facility at the lab/University.
It is essential to run your postdoc research smoothly, so you should think hard and make a plan accordingly for what you want to do. Find your lab, which has a similar research approach, and this is not very difficult. You can make this list during the research paper study; only you need to make a lab list somewhere like in an excel table. Also, keep in mind that don’t try to find a lab that exactly matches your research area. It is always better to find such a lab working on some exciting and related site, where setup is like what you want to do in your previous or current lab.
During postdoc, you can work in some areas different from your previous expertise, where you can implement your knowledge to do great in that field. Because now, the time is to work on the interdisciplinary field and learn new things, and with that, your expert area improves.
Also Read – Should I Do postdoc : Pros and Cons
3. PI and lab environment –
While making an initial plan for the postdoc preference lab, you need to consider the PI and lab environment. There are many ways to find it, as you can inquire about PI and lab researcher profiles on the google scholar kind of platform. It will be your third step; you can find your lab preference for a postdoc on that basis. It is always good that your PI is a well-known person in the related research field, but it should not be a necessary factor on which you should stick.
There is some benefit of well-establish PI and the new PI. As well-establish, PIs are less risky because they have already maintained lab and research track. So, it would help if you did not worry about your research idea and implementation. They can also be accommodating to get new jobs after the postdoc. They also have stable funding to carry out research expenses well.
On the other side, the new PI, they are energetic with some innovative plan. But generally, they don’t have to establish the lab, so they also look at a candidate who can help him show all these kinds of things. With the new PI, you can think with him that how to carry your research. But it is also a risk to get a new PI. Nowadays, funding agencies promote new PI to give some right funding as the first carrier to establish their research path. If you are highly motivated, then you can do great with a new PI also. To choose PI is totally on your choice, what you want.
4. Make a list of your choice-
After these, you have a good list of your lab preference by considering your interest. You can get an idea about these lists from different factors based on research literature, conference contact, your friend, or current faculty advice. During this, also try to find many labs that are working on your exciting research area.
5. Consider reputed funding –
These steps are required for directly approaching Lab PI. But there are many reputed postdoc funding there, where you have more chances to get selected. But you have to at least two times active for these all. Prepare with your full profile update and alert for these opportunities. You can get many such kinds of funding, which also we are regularly updating. In those funding, you have more chances to get postdoc positions. In this research funding, sometimes you need to find a mentor, make good research proposals according to requirements, references, etc. A reputed budget will also add a compelling line to your profile CV.
At this stage, you are now having a long list of these labs with their contact information like email address and a website link. The next step is to narrow down that list by doing some more research on this list. Enquire their papers, visit their lab website, see what research is going on, and find the lab’s rank. Also, consider this; most of the labs are not updated regularly. According to this parameter, you can reduce or arrange your list preference by lowering it or coloring it differently.
Next step- Now, you are more prepared for a postdoc position, and after these all, you are ready with a good list and prepared for the next step. Now you start applying to these labs according to your preference. First, use only 5-10 labs with full preparation like a good cover letter, research proposal, and CV. The response of the lab head depends on many factors like
- Their available research funding
- Your academic and research profile
- Their team need
- How you approach
- Your enthusiasm and working style
- Your English writing and other preparation
Depends on these, you will get a response, either positive or negative. Both positive and negative response is a good sign of your chance to get a postdoc position. If you are lucky, you will get a positive response and start preparing just after a positive response. If you get a negative response, it means you are right, and there is no problem with your profile and preparation. An adverse reaction can be possible for less available funding and other reason, but the PI is impressed with your profile. If you get such a response, try to contact that PI with your research updates and any other mean.
If you are not getting a good response, then there is some problem with your preparation or improvement in your research profile. But this is also possible that your time is not good. Don’t worry, prepare well, approach some more lab, and wait for the response. Always improve yourself, and this is a kind of flowchart. Approach – try and improve yourself. After these, no one will stop you from getting a successful postdoc. Once again, consider postdoc is highly competitive, needs to convince PI, and also needs to improve yourself continually. Once you get a chance for an interview, there’s a pretty good probability that you’ll get an offer.
Be active, and it is essential to prepare before applying for these positions. Once you are ready with a list, your chance increases more to get a postdoc position. And will help you to clarify where to Apply Postdoc.
These essential steps will help you to get a postdoc position and clear for knowledge about where to Apply Postdoc. If you have any questions regarding these all or get help from this article, you can comment here.
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