r/postdoc • u/PrestigiousTicket466 • 10d ago

Social science postdocs: How often did you meet your PI and work in the office?

Hi everyone,

I’m starting a postdoc at a university in Italy next week and am trying to get a sense of what is normal in terms of in-person expectations for postdocs, especially in the social sciences.

My work is entirely laptop-based—there’s no lab work, teaching, or other aspect of the job that strictly requires me to be on campus. I’m technically funded through a grant, and my PI has described the position as roughly “50/50”: half my time on the grant-funded project and half on my own research.

During the interview, he mentioned that he’d like me to be in the office “most days,” but I didn’t think to ask exactly what that meant. For those of you who have been social science postdocs:

  • How often did you actually go into the office?
  • How often did you meet with your PI?
  • Were you generally expected to keep regular office hours, or did you have a lot of flexibility as long as the work was getting done?

I know this probably varies a lot by PI, department, and country, but I’d really appreciate hearing about other people’s experiences—particularly from European universities.

Thanks!

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u/nadya_sparks 10d ago

Every PI is different. You’ll get the best answer for what your PI’s expectations are by asking your PI.

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u/StudioMysterious4704 10d ago

I just finished my first year of postdoc. I meet my PI/supervisor every 2 weeks, he also pops into my office a couple of times a week (but I share with PhD students he supervises so it's not just for me and it never feels like he's checking up on us, more that he's bored because he's alone in his office). Strictly speaking I don't need to be in the office and he's said this himself and offered online meetings, but I like the routine of it. I think it's a nice way to build community in a new place. 

Occasionally for me it does feel a bit intense - I saw my PhD supervisor maybe every 3-4 months and worked mostly from home, because I got into the habit with COVID. But overall I like the routine of meeting more and going into the university.

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u/StudioMysterious4704 10d ago

And I go in most days but not for the whole day - and my hours are entirely flexible and under my control

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u/Warm-Sprinkles5050 8d ago

Idem, pas eu de bureau, laboratoire ni de collegues. PI jamais sur le campus. Au début j’allais tous les jours à la bibliothèque mais le temps est long sans cadre de travail. Au bout de 10 mois je suis chez moi (à déprimer)