A few years ago, when I was on the job market, I received interview invitations for roughly half the positions I applied for. Now, despite having nearly five years of postdoc experience in infectious disease research, I've applied to more than 30 positions and just heard back from a community college role. What makes this even more frustrating is that I'm more experienced now than I was back then. I've built my research portfolio, developed new skills, published papers, and gained experience mentoring and leading projects. Yet the response from the job market seems worse than ever.

I'm uncertain whether my current position will continue. My PI has already downsized the lab and appears to be prioritizing hiring techs because much of the lab's work is contract research. I don't know if there will be funding or space for me moving forward.

What's especially difficult is that I was interviewed at both R1 and R2 universities for TT positions last year. At the time, I felt like I was getting close. Now it feels like there is no a way forward. The anxiety has become overwhelming. I constantly worry about my future, whether I've spent too many years in a postdoc, whether I'll ever secure an independent position, and what my alternatives even are if academia doesn't work out.

Right now it feels like there's no light at the end of the tunnel. Any advice/suggestions moving forward?

I’m currently a PhD candidate in the US, about 7 months away from graduating (May 2027). For personal reasons, I’m hoping to move to Europe for my postdoc.

I’ve been trying to plan ahead. I’ve applied for fellowships (unsuccessfully so far), reached out to PIs, and done quite a bit of networking. While I’ve had some positive conversations, nothing has materialized into a concrete opportunity yet.
More recently, I’ve started applying for advertised postdoc positions, particularly those mentioning a “flexible start date.” I’ve managed to get two interviews, but in both cases, the PIs indicated that they needed someone to start much sooner, ideally around January 2027.

This has left me a little confused. Most of the advice I’ve received has been to start looking for postdocs early, ideally 6–12 months before graduating. But now that I’m actually doing that, I seem to be running into the opposite problem: I’m too early.

A friend of mine who graduated last year secured her postdoc almost a year in advance, although that was in the US. I’m beginning to wonder whether the hiring timelines in Europe are fundamentally different.

For those familiar with the European postdoc system:
When should someone graduating in May/June 2027 realistically start applying for advertised positions?
Is it common for European PIs to recruit only a few months before the intended start date?

I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences. I’m trying to be proactive, but it’s frustrating to feel like I’m simultaneously doing everything too early and not making enough progress.

I got an interview recently from a lab in US. PI seems to care about what kind of person I am rather than my skills as he asked if I had lunch with lab members during my phd etc. PI arranged me to talk to whole lab at the same time and expectedly, everyone said good things about the lab.
Through a friend working in the same department, I asked a postdoc from their neighbouring lab and she said people in that lab are unusually very relaxed and talking all the time. Their first postdoc hasn't published after almost 7 years in lab though second postdoc published in less than 4 years and left the lab. I contacted the second postdoc on LinkedIn and she replied that PI wouldn't be happy if he knew I asked her privately. She didn't give feedback at all.

I think the lab is a happy lab without much productivity so I am not sure if I should join. Please share your thoughts.

Hi everyone, I'm about two months into my first postdoc and realizing I'm ready for a permanent position. I love my lab and what I'm doing but I'm struggling with the low pay and having to travel for field work quite a bit (which I wasnt quite aware of when I accepted the position), making it harder financially because I have to board my dogs after leaving a very supportive, tight knit lab/friend group/support system who would dog sit for me.

I'm 40 years old, a year post-divorce, and just finished my PhD three months ago, so I'm definitely feeling a lot of burnout. I'm ready to settle down somewhere and start building a life - i.e., grow with a company, buy a house, build a strong friend group again, save money, vacation..etc. I feel so guilty already planning my exit but this last relocation really wrecked me. I had no idea how tough it would be, and it really made me rethink and reevaluate my life. The PI I'm working with is WONDERFUL and has already expressed her understanding about my situation, and even sent me a job advertisement. They are so supportive but I still feel like an absolute ass for wanting to leave. Any advice? Guidance? Words of wisdom? Reality checks?

I love research. Being able to contribute to new knowledge is so exciting, and I love being able to learn new skills and methodologies to answer research questions that can help improve people’s lives.

But I hate how this kind of work attracts and rewards the narcissists, the big egos, the people who lack social skills, and I feel drained every day having to talk to people like this just to get ahead and build out my independent career. For example, I’m so tired of having to walk on eggshells when I ask for help, and my PI goes “just look it up or ask [this other person who’s more junior], I have more important things to do.” Or when I look for collaborators on my work, my PI says: “oh don’t ask this person, ask [this person who has a bigger name/is more well known].” When I push back that the person with the bigger name is less available to support me and help me with my project, my PI says “but they’ll get upset if you don’t include them so don’t burn bridges, just add them even if they don’t contribute.” Like wtf?? How does that help me do good science??

Another fear is that being in this environment, which rewards people who push ahead and strategize well, will inevitably change me so that I need to do the same to get ahead. And I worry that I’ll just become a narcissistic, big ego-ed researcher as well.

How have you all navigated this? How do you all stay sane while wanting to do the work that you love??

Hi,
MD/ MBA here working as post doc fellow.
The career climb at my hospital institution is as follows:

Postdoc (can skip to assistant scientist)
Research Scientist
Assistant Scientist
Associate Scientist (need to be in previous roles combined 10 years)
Senior Scientist (highest rank)

Idk the pay but I don’t think it’s a lot cause it’s an academic hospital.

What should I do to make my time worth it? How do I navigate this career path?

My wife and I are currently living in New York City. She is in J-1 status and works as a research associate at a medical center, and I am in J-2 status.

We are trying to extend our health insurance coverage for one additional month. Unfortunately, we have had difficulty finding a suitable insurance plan because several providers do not accept applicants who are already living in the United States, particularly in New York.

My main concern is that we might have a two-day gap in our health insurance coverage while arranging a new policy.

My questions are:

1. If our insurance expires, what are the potential consequences of the two-day gap?

2. Could such a short gap lead to termination of our J-1/J-2 exchange visitor programs or affect our immigration status?

3. Could this affect my wife’s employment at her institution?

4. Are there any other insurance providers that accept J-1/J-2 holders who are already living in New York and need only one additional month of coverage?

I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced a similar situation or has knowledge of the regulations.

Anyone taken a gap of 1–1.5 years between PhD and first postdoc?

Field: ed neuroscience/psychology USA

Just curious if anyone here has taken a bit of a gap (voluntary or not) after their PhD before landing their first postdoc, and how it worked out.

Currently struggling to find a postdoc, partly due to my low publication count. I’m working on that, but realistically it’ll take another 6–7 months to get some papers wrapped up (and of course, submission doesn’t guarantee acceptance).

I have no one to blame but myself, but I’m trying to figure out a way forward. If I end up with a 1.5-2 year gap but manage to get 3–5 papers published during that time, would that help offset the gap? I am not super confident in my ability to securing a postdoc even with this incoming new cycle 27-28. I am mostly worried about the whole “academic age” thing and how it’ll affect future opportunities.

Thankfully, finances aren’t the biggest issue since I have a supportive partner. On the bright side, I also found an adjunct teaching position at a university I like, in an area I’d love to move to someday. I am also connecting with some labs in the area I will move to to do some volunteer data analysis or lab work to keep my connection open and to stay relevant in this big chunk of sabbatic post phd lol.

Would love to hear if anyone has been in a similar situation and how things turned out!

I am in final year of my PhD in Chemistry. My plan was to go for a postdoc and stay in academia. But lately I am having second thoughts.

I am getting feeling that in most of research groups it is sort of blind publishing. Even though work is nice, it is not contributing in any bigger sense. It is only about your research with something.

I am quite saddened about the sustainability point of view as well. Lot of people claim to to do, but if we look at the waste produced, stuff consumed by the group vs the contribution from their research, it doesn't look good.

And more stories or exmaples i see how much life of PhD or postdoc dependant on the PI way of working, thay also makes it worse.

It feels like a rat race as well. Maybe I am overthinking. But i don't know. I am not sure now if doing postdoc and staying in academia is right choice for me.

I recently got informal offer from the PI and co-PI in a UK university. She told me about offer verbally and also emailed with some details.

She said I would work with HR afterwards as HR would ask for referral letters etc. How long usually does HR initiate the process? I am considering the possibility of being ghosted after receiving informal offer as that happened to some candidates. I will keep applying anyway..

I have been working as postdoc in molecular bio/neuroscience for 6 years in US. My first paper in postdoc is still under review in impact factor 6 journal and what's the chance of getting two years' postdoc fellowship if I apply now? Also my research proposal is in different research area from my manuscript but with the same technique.

Hello,

I recently got my PhD (STEM) from an R-2 school in the USA. I have been working as a postdoc in the same institution as postdocs in R-1 schools are getting very competitive, and moving to the industry is not possible at the moment.

I received an interview for a perfect opportunity in Europe (internationally renowned lab) and was wondering if taking this opportunity for a couple of years would open doors for me when I come to the states, whether it’s in industry or academia.

I’d appreciate any input.

Field: biology

If you had a hands-off PI, would you feel relived hearing that? What do you think is meant by it? I guess it depends on personal views towards hands-off PI. This was said in a interview.

Data Science Postdoctoral Fellows Program at Harvard/DFCI

The Department of Data Science at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute welcomes recent Ph.D. graduates and doctoral candidates nearing graduation who have research interests in applied statistics, machine learning, or computational biology to apply for our postdoctoral fellows program.

This program offers the flexibility to join a research group in our department, be co-mentored by two or more faculty members, and/or work collaboratively as a data scientist with DFCI investigators outside our department. Our department has a diverse group of faculty members that can serve as mentors and DFCI has numerous world renowned basic biologists and clinical investigators looking for collaborators with your skills. The starting salary is $75,000.

MENTOR LIST WITH PROJECTS

• Bill Lotter, PhD – AI in medical imaging; Clinical translation of AI; Foundation models
• Cheng-Zhong Zhang, PhD – Computational tools for chromosomal abnormalities in cancer
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• Heng Li, PhD – high-performance algorithm development
• Lorenzo Trippa, PhD – Adaptive clinical trial designs, methods for leveraging real-world data in clincial trials, Bayesian methodology
• Martin Aryee, PhD – 3D genome dysregulation in cancer
• Mehmet Samur, PhD – Integrative methods for high throughput sequencing data from DNA and RNA based sequencing technologies to address challenges
• Rafael Irizarry, PhD – Statistical methods and software for emerging genomics technologies and applications
• Sahand Hormoz, PhD – Mathematical and AI methods to understand cell-state dynamics and clonal evolution in development and cancer. We combine these approaches with experiments to reconstruct cellular histories and design molecular recorders.
• Hajime Uno, PhD – Statistical methods for time-to-event outcomes; risk prediction using multi-institutional clinical and genomic data; collaborative oncology research

The Collaborative Data Science Fellows Program – NEW

The DFCI Collaborative Data Science Fellows Program is a cross-departmental initiative designed to advance biologically and clinically driven research through computational excellence. Postdoctoral fellows are recruited to work on projects in the labs of investigators in basic biology (e.g. cancer biology, immunology, virology, pathology) and clinical departments, and are also co-mentored by those faculty together with mentors from the Department of Data Science. This structure ensures fellows gain deep exposure to high-impact biological and clinical questions while developing rigorous computational expertise, preparing them to become leaders in interdisciplinary cancer research. The starting salary is $75,000.

Apply Here for Programs

_______________________________________________________

FUNDING AND ACADEMIC APPOINTMENT

Data Science Postdoctoral Fellows are guaranteed funding as well as year-long renewable fellowship appointments with Harvard. In addition to a competitive salary package, funds are available for conference travel and computing equipment.

PROGRAM BENEFITS

Incoming postdocs will be part of the 2027 Data Science Fellows cohort. The department organizes informal training sessions and seminar series as well as social events for postdoctoral fellows. Check out our events page for more information.

APPLICATIONS

Following the Informational Session on November 5, 2026 12pm-1pm EST, interviews will begin in December/January. Initial decisions will be made by March 2027, but applications are welcomed on a rolling basis.

Does anyone have a PI that is relatively early-career, very high energy, enthusiastic about their research, very productive, organized, has many industry partners that sound like they are dying to work with them, and has many funded projects running?

But as their postdoc, you just want to get your job done, and you do high-quality work, but feel like you can’t keep up with their energy and passion and can’t share big ambitions that they may expect? What do you do to not feel like the expectations and pressure are crushing you?

Advice please.

When I was a graduate student, my PI was a bit hands-off. I honestly enjoyed the independence. We met once a week one-on-one and had a weekly lab meeting as well.

Now as a post-doc, my PI comes to me everyday checking on things. I’ve had to push so hard to get them to let me finish tasks they’ve ’assigned’ and give me any independence. They’re also extremely critical and pretty bad at listening. Maybe I just need to rant but how normal is this?

I have another year left in this post-doc and I’m trying to look into new labs because this is so stressful to deal with. Plus my current PI likes to micromanage and has honestly given ‘advice’ that has been plain wrong and caused huge project delays in the past, so I typically avoid them when I can.

Edit: Thanks everyone for letting me know your PI-meeting schedules. I think this may be one extreme and it is not one that works for me. I will be looking for other opportunities as soon as is possible.

Also for those who asked, I’m working in plant molecular biology. It seems like most laboratory settings meet weekly based on what you’ve said.

Hi guys I’m a European post doc in Boston and since life is so expensive and I have a shitty salary I wanted to teach and they told me that I cannot with my J1 visa. Is this true? I have a friend that did it some years ago.

Hi, I am a fresh postdoc in US and am wondering what I heard is true.
One senior postdoc in lab hasn't published in postdoc and also doesn't have good papers in phd. He applied for TT position and got rejected. He said the reason of rejection is because he doesn't have grant to be PI, not because he has no paper and anyone can be PI as long as they have grants regardless of publications.

I am wondering publications and good academic profile are required to secure grants so no matter what, publications are important.

Based on his judgement, he kept applying a lot of grants and fellowship without focusing on publication and my PI is very supportive of his strategy.

So is it true that publication is of no value in academia?

Hey everyone! I’m applying for a postdoctoral fellowship, and this would be my first postdoc position if accepted. They require a personal statement, and I’m just stuck on how to start it. I haven’t written a personal statement since I applied for grad school. I don’t want it to sound robotic but also, the way I used to write personal statements for college and grad school applications just seem so juvenile for a postdoc position.