Planning your postdoc

For recent PhD graduates, a postdoctoral fellowship is frequently a first ‘job’, and particularly so for those wanting to deepen or continue their research training and remain in academia.

Postdoctoral research fellowships are normally awarded, on application following advertisement, to individuals within five years of having achieved a doctoral degree. In essence, these are individuals who undertake research and gain professional research experience (often for a future academic career), under the mentorship of a host/ principal investigator.

1. Start looking and applying for these positions before finishing your PhD degree.

Postdoctoral fellowships are available globally, and offer great opportunities for a student in the final throes of their PhD degree.

2. Step outside your comfort zone.

PhD students are sometimes tempted to pursue a postdoctoral fellowship in the same department or lab they undertook their doctoral degree in. Don’t! From a career development perspective, it is usually much more useful to switch research projects, labs, groups or even universities.

3. Look at all funding opportunities.

At UCT, and in South Africa fellowships are funded through many different sources (such as the NRF, MRC and University Research Committee). These are generally negotiable up to two years, after which extension of tenure may be considered for up to a maximum of five years, and depending on available funding.

4. Find out about your status.

Within the South African framework, postdoctoral fellows are considered neither student, nor employee. They therefore qualify for tax-free status of their funding awards, which are very often administered through postgraduate student systems and granted without ‘fringe benefits’ in order to comply with SARS requirements. In universities abroad, however, this may be different; “Postdocs” are considered employees and liable for tax.

HOW TO NAVIGATE YOUR POSTDOC, ACCORDING TO FELLOW IKEYS:

“Always make sure you know what you will do next before you finish your current studies. Expand your network and make sure you ask for help when you need it.”

– SAMAR ELSHEIKH, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Canada

“See yourself as independent, even though you are part of a departmental team, and drive your own career in your special research interests. It's an exciting time of growth, enjoy it and remember to have fun whilst building your career. Exercise more and on every opportunity, even when the deadlines are looming. It helps to keep a balanced perspective on your work and keeps you healthy and away from sitting for too many hours behind a screen. An activity we are all guilty of in academia.”

– GLYNIS HUMPHREY, Postdoctoral Researcher at African Climate & Development Initiative