Comments on: Lessons from a Recovering Postdoc

By: BC-postdoc

BC-postdoc — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 18:00:29 +0000

Thank you for this post- I feel that I'm not so alone anymore.

Have just told my boss that I'm leaving my current 1st postdoc after 15 months for another position. Moving from little college to bug University, great career opportunities and very excited currently. Went through 8 months of EXACTLY the internal struggle you are describing in the post. Have all the hope in the world for my new post and want to wish everyone who is still struggling good luck. So many people discouraged me from moving on but my gut feeling was that things were not right. Terrible reaction from my new PI confirmed all thins and I'm glad I got my new job lined up without his help or knowledge as I know now that he would have tried to stop me.

So far it looks like it may work out for me. Just have to endure another month.

By: san gho

san gho — Sun, 06 Jul 2014 02:19:32 +0000

Hi
I did 3 years postdoc a renowned institute of USA. But, I got pregnant after marriage. When mentor knows he starts giving so much stress and I left the lab. I am job less 15month. I attended more than 40 postdoctoral interviews and most are positive. But whenever they are getting my postdoc mentor's reference letter they are not willing to hire me. My PhD mentor is tired after writing so many positive letters.My PhD is from Other country.So when I am interviewing here in use for job they wants a letter from my postdoc mentor in USA. I requested him several time for a decent letter but he does not care. What I will do. A person /a PI is so strong and powerful in USA,who can destroy A person's whole career and make him/her struggle economically. Please suggest me how I can save myself fro this situation and have a postdoc job in usa.If I remove his name nobody is asking for job. I published 2 papers from his lab in reputed journal and more paper will come near future.
I really need a job.

By: anon

anon — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 21:44:44 +0000

I'm very sorry to hear this. There's nothing that you can do but RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN. The ideal solution is to find another professor in a closely related area who is a decent human being and will support your case. If you don't like this guy, then chances are there are plenty of other people who don't like him either.

By: anon

anon — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 21:39:27 +0000

When I started at my new laboratory, it felt like I had joined a cult. When I asked too many questions which they couldn't answer I was ex-communicated. Their loss. I'm in a much more sane laboratory now. The people here actually have individual personalities.

By: FedUp

FedUp — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:54:23 +0000

You need a good project – 2-3 of them actually – that I bet your undergrad self didn't think of. You also need money – and I also don't think you wrote a grant for them as an undergrad. You need access to reagents, and equipment and lots of other stuff that someone has to show you, or at least not hide from you. You also need a PI who is not an a** shooting down everything you accomplish/think of because it's a threat to his/her own ego, and who is not lazy either, preferring to hide into commitees rather than read the paper you wrote six months ago. YOU didn't accomplish those papers standing on thin air, you worked hard, yes, but standing on the shoulders of others. People can work equally hard while standing on quick sand and only sink deeper each day – and you'd better bet your shallow head that that's depressing.

There's two possible futures for Your Arrogance. Either you'll land a bad post-doc in which case your own fall from grace will be worse than most, or you'll be lucky again and get a good post-doc, in which case you'll end up being one of those moronic PIs that will make other people miserable. Alternatively, you could open your eyes and see what's really going on with your less lucky peers – not look down on, look at. Then again after reading all this your only reply was "hey, you are all weak-minded, lazy failures", so I won't hold much hope for you.

By: Ummmmmm

Ummmmmm — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:06:32 +0000

floR, POSTDOCS CANNOT PUBLISH PAPERS WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THEIR SUPERVISOR, you ignoramus. Do you think that you are the only one here who hasn't given blood and sweat to produce cutting-edge research? I can assure you that most here have, the difference is that not all supervisors are willing to publish cutting-edge research, especially if they are unfamiliar with the research topic, don't get along with the author, are mentally ill, or are lazy.

I have thus far had a moderately successful, two-year-long postdoctoral experience at a world-class university, and can assure you that colleagues of mine who are much smarter than me, work harder than me, and have produced better results than me, have not been so fortunate. I would be interested to learn how your imminent postdoctoral experience humbles you, especially if approached with the attitude you have conveyed above.

Good luck to you, Energizer Bunny! You will need it!

By: whatever

whatever — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 04:16:59 +0000

you are a smart-arsed idiot.

By: offended

offended — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:57:47 +0000

This is such a narrow-minded view of the situation. I thought the main theme of science was never to make judgements without evidence–which you have clearly violated here. You do not know enough about that person's situation to judge why he/she could not publish in 1,5 years. And you call yourself a scientist? Everybody shows effort, some get more than they deserve, some get less.

By: whocares,righ?

whocares,righ? — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 23:53:56 +0000

I like my position, my PI is a nice person in general, and I am also taking courses in areas that I had no background in. My PI seems to be pissed a bit but I had my own agenda coming here just like he had his own agenda. My issue is he is such a control freak and likes to micromanage which is not something I am good with. Then he turns around and expects me to mentor his graduate students. What cracked me up one time was that when I was in his office, he answered a call and told he person to call back later as he was having a meeting with a 'student'. Oh…and the salary sucks..

By: Carrie

Carrie — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 14:51:18 +0000

I hate my postdoc. I feel it has sucked away all my energy and my joy for science and left me with depression and a lack of enthusiasm. I have to get out. I am so fed up with it all.