“Getting that first post-doc” Anthony Moorman Professor of Genetic Epidemiology

Overview of session Negotiating the academic career pathway Selecting the right post-doc for you Applying for the job Questions

Academic Career Pathway

The dream

The reality

Career pathway of PhD graduates

More and more competition!

Academic Career Pathway PhD Student Research Technician / Assistant / Associate Team Scientist Post-doc Independent Researcher Fellowship Lecturer Senior Lecturer Professor Tenured Academic Position

Get a five year plan Where do you want to be in five years? Fellowship Joint application on grant Expert in particular technique / field Lecturing Industry How are you going to get? Which elements will this post-doc fulfil? What else do you need to do?

Get a mentor http://www.ncl.ac.uk/fms/postgrad/mentoring

Laying the foundations of a good CV Finish your PhD on time Publications First author > Joint first author > Second author Techniques (quantify) Basic State-of-the-art Present research at conference Spoken / Platform presentation Poster presentation International > National > Local Networking

Networking It's not what you know but who you know that makes the difference. [Anon] It isn't just what you know, and it isn't just who you know. It's actually who you know, who knows you, and what you do for a living. [Bob Burg]

Networking Make yourself known Attend conferences Talk to PIs etc in your institute Accept any invitation to meet external speakers Do “research in progress” talks. Prepare well in advance. Attend conferences Don’t be afraid to ask questions Introduce yourself to leaders in the field Ask your supervisor(s) to introduce you If you have a poster make sure to display on time and for full length of time. Be in attendance during “poster” sessions.

Faculty Fellowships These Fellowships are flexible awards aimed at highly talented and motivated scientists in the early stages of their post-doctoral research careers. Candidates will be provided with up to 12 months underpinning support to secure external fellowship funding. Level 1 - is aimed at researchers with typically 0-2 years’ active post-doctoral research experience Eligibility: You must have a PhD in the subject area, a strong publication record and be highly motivated and eligible for prestigious externally funded fellowship awards as appropriate to your level of research experience.  For Level 1 applicants, if you have not got your PhD at the time of application, you must have it by the start of your fellowship. http://www.ncl.ac.uk/medicalsciences/research/fellowship/faculty/

Goals for your first-doc? First author publications Experience of grant preparation / writing Learning new techniques/skills Teaching experience – didactic/lab-based, UG

Selecting the right post-doc “Should I stay or should I go” Plus going abroad Changing fields Technique driven Topic/Disease driven Cast net early and wide But be careful ..... Very important decision

Assessing a potential position (1) Are they .... ... leaders in the field? ... the next big thing? ... journeymen? ... the weakest link? Aim as high as possible Look up the RAE (REF) rating of university/department/unit Literature search – including citation index Money How much have they got and from where Cross reference their website from funders website

Assessing a potential position (2) Group metrics / dynamics Who is publishing as first author / corresponding author? Size of group Ratio of senior : junior staff Clinically active heads of lab Who do they collaborate with? Website PLUS publications Use your contacts to gather informal information

Preparing your CV Clear & Concise Divide into sections Publications Qualifications (including training courses) Research Skills Be honest, Quantify, Official training Other skills (e.g. languages etc) Meetings / Conferences Presentations Publications Mission / Personal Statements

Applying for a position Do not apply cold. Contact PI in advance. Ask questions about project and team. Read their papers. Try to find project application via funder website. Covering letter Write, re-write, re-write and re-write

Interview Smart dress Don’t bullshit!

Interview (cont’d) Be prepared to …. Ask some questions Give a brief interesting overview of PhD – contextualise Discuss research interests of PI offering the job What your ideal next experiment would be if there were no financial or logistical problems. Describe how did you trouble-shoot a technical problem How you approach writing your first author paper Ask some questions Research related What have former post-docs gone on to do? Teaching opportunities