Thursday, October 13, 2011

Next steps

So far in my academic career, the path forward has a well-marked trail. That doesn't mean the hike is easy. Sometimes is often quite steep or rocky, and people are falling off the side of the mountain all the time. But, the way forward is usually pretty clearly marked.

But now, the end is getting close and the way forward is murky. This is partially driven by the fact that all students are striving to get their degree, but once the degree is in hand our goals suddenly diverge in many directions. Freshly minted PhDs in my field get jobs in industry, government, non-profit conservation agencies, private consulting groups or even writing for the popular press. Each of these paths require their own path forward. However, most of us are gunning for a academic tenure-track faculty position. But that single destination can be approached from many directions. Some biologist go straight to the job, they don't pass go or collect $200. However, most would-be faculty members spend some time as a post-doc, which is like a medical doctor residency. Your a real doctor, but your still in training and still answer to an adviser, though hopefully you have a little more latitude than you did as a grad student.
But all post-docs are not equal and the ways that you get a post-doc are varied and diverse. There are research post-docs, there are teaching post-docs and there are combination post-docs. There are the big, glamorous, national agency fellowships (National Science Foundation or National Institute of Health), there are university fellowships, there are private organization fellowships, and there are research institutions fellowships. Some provide funding for 5 years, others for 6 months. Another option is to write a grant with a adviser of your choice and hope it is funded. Or, if they already have funding, you can apply for the position like you would a more typical job. Some advisers will treat you as a colleague and collaborator, allowing you to be involved in the design and planning of the research. Others will use you as a glorified lab technician and manager.

The best part is that every one of these options have different application procedures, and all of them take substantial chucks of time. The due dates for applications are also all over the calendar and some applications will be evaluated in a single month, while other programs can take more than 6 months (cough-NSF-cough). Consequently, if you are lucky or brilliant and get multiple offers, you'll probably get them at all different times. This means you'll likely have to make decisions based on very incomplete data. I know people who have turned down positions hoping for something better, but never got another offer. And others who accepted a less than ideal position because it was a sure thing, only to find out too late that they also won a dream fellowships position that they had to turn down.

You would be foolish to put all your eggs in one basket. But each basket takes time to weave. And time spent weaving baskets is time taken away from writing the dissertation. Ahhh... trade-offs, my constant companion, where have you been? It's been at least 10 minutes since I saw you last. I think my next entry should be devoted to you and you alone.