Thanks for bringing a positive and helpful contribution to TH-cam academic content. It seems many people who post academic videos on youtube are fueled by anger over bad experiences or try to offer cheat-codes and hacks rather than just provide honest, solid advice for doing good work and succeeding. Highly Recommended!
Great video, thanks! I think sometimes there is too much emphasis on first-author publications, especially for early-career postdocs. The number of papers highly depends on the lab group dynamics. Instances that influence badly a person's track record: the supervisor is not encouraging, having to work with very limited resources, lab not having a clear research direction, and others. I wish there was another metric that would capture how much a postdoc will contribute to the group. Maybe writing a (mock) research proposal?
Thanks for writing, Franja. Glad you liked the video. Yes, admittedly these kinds of complexities are difficult to assess, especially coming straight out of a PhD. I also wish there was some way to find out how much someone would contribute. There have definitely been deviations from expectations in both directions, that is, also super positive surprises. I think having people write mock research proposal is a good way to find out how someone thinks about a topic; but that still doesn't tell you if they would stick to it and persevere when it doesn't work right away, or if they finish stuff up, or if they're just going to annoy everyone in the group...
@@mrillig That's very true! I think that whether they'll annoy others in the group can be depicted through a series of questions, such as "What does solidarity in the lab environment mean to you?" or "How do you ensure there is no overlap in the use of desired equipment in the lab?" or "You put 6 volumetric flasks in a labware washer, the rest is filled with stuff that isn't yours. What do you do when the washing cycle is done?" 😂 Of course, they can always lie to make them look better. But that's what I'd want to know from a candidate.
This is a very interesting video. Thanks a lot for sharing this valuable information. I wrote down all the points you had mentioned and I'll take them all into consideration during my postdoc interview later this week.
Thank you for this great video! I totally agree with you how important lab dynamics is, which also why I wonder if you could share some tips regarding how to avoid labs whose overall atmosphere is not so great. Thanks!
Thank you so much professor. This video provides a very clear and important messages for last year Phd students. I will try to polish my skills and will try to check majority of the boxes.
Hallo Matthias! Thank you for making such informative content accessible to everyone. I had a post-doc interview last week, and I think I covered most of the essential things you mentioned. Of course, it would have been better if I had come across this before my interview.
Thanks so much Professor Matthais for this educating piece. This is very eyeopening as always. It will be interesting if you also do what to look for in a PhD student (I am a masters student though) and I see some interesting points
Let me know what you think in the comments! Did I miss something? are other things important for you?
Thanks for bringing a positive and helpful contribution to TH-cam academic content. It seems many people who post academic videos on youtube are fueled by anger over bad experiences or try to offer cheat-codes and hacks rather than just provide honest, solid advice for doing good work and succeeding. Highly Recommended!
thank you!
I have benefited from most of your videos Prof. Thank you so much for your time and efforts for making all these videos for us.🙏
Thanks for writing! Glad you get value out of the videos!
Great video, thanks! I think sometimes there is too much emphasis on first-author publications, especially for early-career postdocs. The number of papers highly depends on the lab group dynamics. Instances that influence badly a person's track record: the supervisor is not encouraging, having to work with very limited resources, lab not having a clear research direction, and others. I wish there was another metric that would capture how much a postdoc will contribute to the group. Maybe writing a (mock) research proposal?
Thanks for writing, Franja. Glad you liked the video. Yes, admittedly these kinds of complexities are difficult to assess, especially coming straight out of a PhD. I also wish there was some way to find out how much someone would contribute. There have definitely been deviations from expectations in both directions, that is, also super positive surprises. I think having people write mock research proposal is a good way to find out how someone thinks about a topic; but that still doesn't tell you if they would stick to it and persevere when it doesn't work right away, or if they finish stuff up, or if they're just going to annoy everyone in the group...
@@mrillig That's very true! I think that whether they'll annoy others in the group can be depicted through a series of questions, such as "What does solidarity in the lab environment mean to you?" or "How do you ensure there is no overlap in the use of desired equipment in the lab?" or "You put 6 volumetric flasks in a labware washer, the rest is filled with stuff that isn't yours. What do you do when the washing cycle is done?" 😂 Of course, they can always lie to make them look better. But that's what I'd want to know from a candidate.
This is a very interesting video. Thanks a lot for sharing this valuable information. I wrote down all the points you had mentioned and I'll take them all into consideration during my postdoc interview later this week.
Great, thanks. And good luck with your interview!!
I have my first interview next week and this video is a gem! Thanks Professor
Thanks so much! and good luck with your interview! :)
Thank you for this great video! I totally agree with you how important lab dynamics is, which also why I wonder if you could share some tips regarding how to avoid labs whose overall atmosphere is not so great. Thanks!
Thanks. I have been thinking about a video on this topic, actually.
Glad to find this channel. Very practical and useful suggestions. Thank you.
Thanks for watching; and glad you find the videos useful! :)
Thank you so much professor. This video provides a very clear and important messages for last year Phd students. I will try to polish my skills and will try to check majority of the boxes.
Thanks for taking the time to write! glad you found the video helpful; good luck with finishing your PhD.
Hallo Matthias! Thank you for making such informative content accessible to everyone. I had a post-doc interview last week, and I think I covered most of the essential things you mentioned. Of course, it would have been better if I had come across this before my interview.
Great to hear, thanks!
Thank you Prof. Rillig for sharing such useful information at the right time as I am going to start applying for the postdoc positions soon....😊
Thanks; glad you find the video to be helpful, and good luck!
I am lucky with your channel it is amazing and helpful
thanks!!
Thanks so much Professor Matthais for this educating piece. This is very eyeopening as always. It will be interesting if you also do what to look for in a PhD student (I am a masters student though) and I see some interesting points
Thanks a lot! good point, I will need to think about this. But many of the points are going to be similar for PhD students, I suspect! :)
Thank you, an informative video and also reminded me of the soft skills I have as a PhD, not only useful for PostDoc applications. :)
Thanks for watching! And yes, I think many people underestimate the soft skills they have - it's great that this video reminded you of this.
I really love your videos
Thank you!
Extremely helpful
Thanks very much, glad you liked it.
What to look for in a Postdoc? Nothing! Just run away from it. Postdoc is a waste of time
I am sorry you had a bad experience; unfortunately, this is not uncommon. For certain career paths a postdoc is indeed unnecessary. All the best!