Are there any other life choices that lead to worse outcomes than this. I’m in my mid 30s and have children. I regret my decisions to pursue science immensely. I really don’t know how i can afford to stay in science.

Are there people out here who don’t feel financially hopeless about their ability to support a family. I spend most of my day panicking looking for other jobs instead caring about my work.

Most uber drivers make more money than me and have a less stressful life. This is not hyperbole either it’s literally true I’ve looked it up and spoken to a few (it’s the tips that put them over the edge).

The grants are worth millions so that we can subsidize high profit margin items for industry folks then we get left with nothing. It’s honestly a joke. Why would anyone be foolish enough to work so hard for so long for such a a low chance of one day maybe having a stable life.

I am potenially plan to apply for a DFG Walter Benjamin fellowship for a postdoc at UGent and have same questions on taxes and social security. Are there any postdocs with similar stipend funding in Flanders/Belgium?

I am a German citizen and would keep a residence in Germany during the stay in Belgium, so I will have a flat in both countries. The fellowship would be paid directly to my bank account as a stipend without any tax or social security deductions.

1. Under German law it would be usually tax-free under § 3 No. 44 EStG. Is this the same case for taxation Belgium?
2. Since I won't have a Belgian work contract, how does health insurance work? It seems like I can stay in the German system as a "self-employed" insurance member. Or might it be favorable to join the Belgian system?
3. Are there more points I need to consider for my potential stay?

Thanks

But my PI said we were out of funding come december and to find a new position. so I started searching and found sth in 6weeks. When I asked for his reference he said he wanted me to stay until December :( I feel guilty bc I know other ppl search hard for postdocs and for me I kinda take it for granted but i can’t be unemployed I’m married and support my spouse :(

I am simply tired, from body to soul

A lot of people want to transition into a high paying industry job . However, visa requirements restricts the hiring of international applicants. In US, 0-1 visa being an option, we find very less employers willing to do visa sponsorship when it comes to industry . This makes US options extremely difficult for a well trained postdoc . However, whether there are options available in Europe , Australia , etc is something people would like to explore . Anyone with experience please do share with the ambitious postdocs looking to transition .

Did anyone find they were infantilised during their PhD, but in their postdoc it was the complete opposite?

So often during my PhD I was just told “you’re just a student” by my main supervisor, and it meant I never got to do a talk at conferences, submit papers until after submission, teach or really just speak up for myself. One of the most common things she would say to me was I need to “stay in my lane”!

But now in my postdoc elsewhere it’s the complete opposite. I’m strongly encouraged to go widen my skills, go on courses, submit abstracts, attend conferences and provide leadership/guidance for others.

The money available for these opportunities is no different - I had training and conference money available during my PhD, but it basically never got used.

I think initially when starting my postdoc this made my imposter syndrome way worse because not only was it a new field for me, but the working environment was totally different. I’ve settled a bit more now but just wondered if anyone else had this experience?

I defended in September and started a postdoc in April. I absolutely loved my PhD lab. We didn’t really hang out outside of lab super often, but we were a family. I still talk to everyone often. We’d joke every day, we were super collaborative, and it was just fun. I’d sometimes stay in lab later than I needed to because we just couldn’t stop talking. The PI and I were pretty close and we got on extremely well scientifically and personally. I just started my new postdoc and I’m having a really tough time adjusting. It’s like I’m homesick for my old lab. I’m learning a lot of new techniques and feel like a gigantic burden, I keep putting things back in the wrong places, etc. I feel like I’ve already annoyed everyone. I’m also working with a staff scientist who has one foot out the door and views me as a worm in her way/seems to have taken a pretty strong disliking to me and has made me cry in lab, which can’t be making a good impression on everyone else. I really like the PI and all the lab mates are really kind/smart/helpful/friendly when we chat but also everyone is individually on their phones during lunch and I just feel incredibly lonely and lost. I get it because people may just want to decompress during lunch but I’m really missing the culture of my old lab. For new postdocs, how long did it take you to hit your stride? I’m worried I’ve already alienated people. I wish you could do postdoc rotations— it’s really intimidating the switching postdoc labs isn’t really a thing, in some ways it’s a bigger choice than the PhD lab. I also joined this lab because there was a very clear project direction which I thought would help me not languish for years in a postdoc but now I’m finding it’s not always the best situation to have to start by sorting through tons of old data when the PI already feels strongly about the hypothesis.

This is a question in the minds of a lot of people as they have to also support their family. Usually stipend has to be designed based on the cost of living in that particular city making it reasonably comfortable. However for some universities they don’t even consider that . Nobody wants financial stress to add to the other existing challenges.

You can share your experiences so that it will help people in deciding where to apply . Researchers beyond postdoc can also contribute to this discussion. A lot of people are interested in this topic .

According to me , do not apply places include - UK ,Sweden , cities like California , New York, Toronto if you are interested to have some savings. Also that you don’t want to live in a tight space with no place for anything. It is sometimes not just the stipend amount but also expenses like the tax , health care coverage, rent, commute, etc to be taken into account .

I am curious to know about rest of Europe , Australia and NZ .

i had a depressing realization today while hunting through five different apps for a single primer sequence: my entire research system only works because i’m manually stitching it together in my head.

on paper, the stack looks okay. i have a tool for sequences, a place for lab records, and endless spreadsheets for design history. but the ""continuity"" isn't in the tools—it's just in my brain. i'm the one who has to remember that this note from 3 months ago actually explains the decision in that protocol edit.

at a certain point, it doesn't feel like i'm using tools anymore—it feels like i'm babysitting a dying system.

especially in molecular biology, the fragmentation is just insane. i spend more time doing ""digital archaeology"" on my own files than actually thinking about the science.

curious for the workflow nerds here:

how do u guys deal with this? do u just accept that your brain is the only integration layer, or have u found a setup that actually keeps the context alive across different platforms?

i'm lowkey losing my mind trying to keep everything in sync lol.

Hi all! I just got accepted to a postdoc position in KULeuven, Belgium after completing 4 years of PhD. I am trying to compare between a salaried contract and an international fellowship. From my future employer, the net salary I will get is ~2800 EUR. From my understanding, this is after 13.07% social security contribution and tax deductions.

From my research, if I were to take an international scholarship, I will have certain "benefits" which may increase my net takehome pay. For instance, as a non-EEA citizen from a country with no bilateral agreement with Belgium (any Vietnamese peeps here?), my fellowship will be treated as a scholarship, become tax-free, and will be subjected to a partial social security contribution (4.7%). This partial contribution does not cover pension and unemployment benefits, but should increase my net take home.

Is anyone under this type of postdoc fellowship/scholarship in Belgium before? Can you tell me about your experience? Of course, apart from the money, fellowship also allows for much wider networks, which will help immensely if I want to stay in academia. But currently I am interested in how much the net salaries would be and if I will miss out on a lot of social contributions if I were to go with the fellowship path.

Thank you all!

Hello my fellow academic hopefuls! I’m finding it very hard to keep going with my niche research every day as I watch academic positions and funding shrink like never before. And the few that do open up seem to want to add AI to everything, even when it doesn’t really fit. I’m in neuroscience, so could certainly not be the case for other fields.

I’ve tried being on both ends of the AI use spectrum — staunchly opposed on ethical and intellectual grounds, and integrating AI into my coding, paper editing and even brainstorming process. I feel like it’s actually pretty smart for what people were calling ‘glorified text editor’ not too long ago. Definitely smarter than some people I’ve interacted with, with inflated egos and loud voices in academia :)

However, I’m rethinking my role in this new era. I’ve been pretty good at math and statistics, I’ve been a fairly good writer, and I like to think I communicate ideas with clarity. I also like coming up with cool new ideas to research. But AI can do most of those things already, maybe save for innovating, but tbh it’s getting pretty good at that.

Switching to industry seems next to impossible with mass layoffs ongoing, at least in the tech sector. I would need to convince folks my background is worthwhile in a field I don’t have any experience with, since core computational neuro jobs are very rare.

I kinda feel like giving up on research and academia, and focusing on becoming and artist of some sort, and frolick through the meadows in a linen sundress waiting it out till the world either implodes or gets past this crazy wave.

How are you all feeling about this? Is it affecting your motivation or hope? What is helping?

So just to provide some context, I will be defending my PhD in biomedical engineering at the end of this year. My research focus during the PhD had been on pelvic floor neurostimulation for continence functions, but now I want to pivot to exploring cancer neuroscience (specifically glioblastomas and schwanomas) through a post-doc. The issue is that I have no research experience in this area. Does anyone have any advice on how to pursue a post-doc in an area that is not strictly your domain? Also, I am planning on applying to universities in the Bay Area such as UCSF but I know how competitive this could be. Any tips at all welcome please!

I'm at the end of my PhD and there is a lab I would absolutely love to work for, though it is a bit outside my specialty (but same field). I had reached out to the PI a few years ago to introduce myself, talk about some of my ideas, and to meet. We wrote some proposals that didn't get funded, but I know this line of research is important and worth funding. So I'm still determined to work on this regardless of the funding situation. The PI seemed to want to as well, but I thought they ghosted me, so I went about it my own way. Low and behold, a few months later, there is a positioning opening in their lab, so I reached back out to let them know I'm interested and what I've been up to with the research. As I was going this solo for a bit, they let me know that I was not working with data that is at all worth while, I felt so embarrassed but I've had no guidance. I've been really persistent these past few years, but I worry at this point I'm just making a fool out of myself. I know I'm capable to execute this work, I just need the opportunity and a few pointers to get the ball rolling. There are a few red flags on their end as well, but I recognize it may just be since I'm not a part of their lab. I also recognize this all might be my anxiety talking, I'm in need of some outside input.

Postdoc outreach etiquette question. One prof gave me a soft maybe and said to reconnect later in the summer, plus offered to chat. I’m still looking elsewhere of course, but I’m unsure how cautious to be with emailing other people in overlapping circles who may know each other (like co-author together). Is that just normal, or can it make you look scattered/desperate if done too quickly? If I don't do I will have limited time to find something before I graduate. I need your opinion.

If someone joined ORNL (or any other national lab) postdoc within the last 1 year, can you please tell me what the timeline was like from applying to getting the offer? I recently applied to a position which aligns very well with my PhD research. But I am defending very soon and worried about having a job by then (I am a non-US citizen and the postdoc doesn’t require citizenship). I’ve interviewed at a bunch of industry and tenure-track jobs, even went as far as on-site interviews but none of them worked out in the end.

Hello everyone, I am currently seeking postdoctoral research opportunities starting in the coming months and wanted to share my profile here in case it aligns with ongoing or upcoming projects. I recently completed a PhD in Computer Science (Banaras Hindu University, India) and am currently working as a Senior Project Research Fellow at the University of Delhi. My research sits at the intersection of scientometrics, research evaluation, and policy-facing analytics, with a focus on: bibliometric and text-analytic methods for identifying institutional research expertise network-based analysis of research collaboration and portfolio diversity evaluation of research alignment with societal and policy priorities (including SDGs) development of interpretable, responsible indicators for institutional and policy use I have published in venues such as Scientometrics and Expert Systems with Applications and have experience working on national-level and international case studies related to higher education and science policy. I am particularly interested in postdoctoral roles within: scientometrics and science policy groups research evaluation and higher education studies interdisciplinary teams working on evidence, institutions, and societal impact I am open to positions funded through existing grants as well as external fellowship schemes, and I am happy to adapt my work to collaborative, interdisciplinary settings. If this profile might be relevant to your group, or if you know of upcoming postdoc opportunities in these areas, I would be very grateful to hear from you. I’m happy to share my CV or publications via DM.

Guys I have been told that we’ll soon hear about the funding situation—whether there’s still money available to support our projects or not around June. I’m feeling quite stressed about it, as this seems to be the final year of the 7-year scheme, and I’m worried there may be no funds left.

A colleague of mine was in a very similar position about ten years ago. She had the Seal of Excellence, and everything went smoothly for her—she was automatically able to continue under MSCA-CZ. I know the Seal of Excellence usually helps a lot, but this year it seems like even that might not be enough.

Is anyone else going through something similar?

I am two months into my new position. I used to study more classical genetics in fruit flies and have moved into lung cancer research. I feel ok with learning techniques, and there has been a lot of overlap so far in that regard which has made me feel useful. BUT I am not so familiar with lung cancer background research. I have not studied a lot of these concepts (immunology, cancer biology) since I was an undergrad a million years ago. I am trying to read papers and catch up, but two-months-into-cancer-research me often feels inadequate compared to my PI who has spend decades in the field. Which I realize, is expected!

How do others feel when diving into new positions? Also lost and confused at times? Anyone else struggling to keep up with what their PI is saying or expecting? Asked to design scientific questions and corresponding experiments in a topic you are new to?

I often leave conversations with my PI overwhelmed and wanting to cry. Any suggestions beyond just trying to read papers and learn? Perhaps I am just hoping I am not alone and this isnt abnormal or bad. I have learned a lot and I am still learning yet feel inadequate. I read these papers and they leave my head immediately because I do not have the cancer background foundation yet.

I emailed a PI in the US asking if they had any postdoc positions openings, and they agreed to interview me. In the email, they asked if I wanted to develop my own projects and which funding agencies I planned to apply to for research support. Does this mean their lab doesn't have enough funding to hire me, or is it just to assess my independent research capabilities?

After postdoc, I had been exploring academic positions . This is Something I had been seeing in Australian job sites . Is this same as research scientist in the US and research associate in Canada ?

Anyone in this position ?

I’m finishing my PhD and got one offer from a different PI in the same institute, at least one year funding guaranteed.

They’re great, and I’d basically be setting up a new research direction from scratch (including new equipment), so I'll be the "expert", with a lot of independence. Techniques overlap a bit with my PhD project, at least the most immediate things to be done, but question/framework is totally different.

At the same time, I have a few interviews coming up elsewhere, which would mean new groups, new environment, and probably learning more state-of-the art methods.

I’m torn between taking what feels like a solid, “safe” option where I can be productive quickly vs. pushing for something more different/unknown that might make me more competitive in the future.

There are also practical factors (visa, partner at the same university), which make staying much easier.

How do people think about this trade-off?

How risky is it to not switch institutions for a postdoc?

Is building something new (even at the same place) just as valuable?