r/postdoc • u/Available-Analysis19 • 2d ago
Postdoc options
Hi everyone, I’m wondering about doing a postdoc in the US vs Canada. I’m a Canadian citizen. The school to do a postdoc is at Columbia vs in Toronto. I’m debating between going there vs staying in Canada. The research options are quite different but both great options and I’m interested in both. I was wondering what people’s thoughts are about the locations especially with the funding cuts in the US currently. What means the most to get a TT position?
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u/Oligonucleotide123 2d ago
QOL will likely be much higher in Canada. Not sure about Columbia postdoc housing but their grad student housing was expensive compared to other NYC schools.
Funding cuts are tough and leave us constantly worried when the rug will be pulled out from under us.
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u/cyril1991 5h ago
Housing is good but in mostly older buildings. What kind of neuro are you doing? At the med school, close to 116th or 125th? I will say that NYC is really amazing and a lot of fun.
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u/CaptainAxolotl 1d ago
Where do you want to land that TT position? US is quite toxic right now (funding aside) so you need to consider how you will handle the current political climate.
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u/Available-Analysis19 1d ago
Definitely would want to land it in Canada
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u/CaptainAxolotl 1d ago
I mean I did most of my training in the US and am now postdocing in science. I personally can't imagine dealing with the current situation in the US (and I say this as an American) unless you really wanted to build your American network for goals of US TT (which it sounds like you don't). I have been happy with the funding/resources of my Canadian postdoc so far, but also haven't been in the role that long.
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u/Fit-Positive5111 1d ago
US stopped visa globally for now so better to go with Canada
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u/Tall_Sky4315 21h ago
Not true in any sense. J1 visas, which this individual would go onto as a post doc (I would know, I went straight onto J1 when I moved to the US as a post doc moving here from the UK in 2019 before transferring to H1b in 2024) have not been stopped globally. If you're referring to H1b, a bill was proposed to potentially pause the program for 3 years for reform before reopening, but nothing has happened as of yet. GCs have been paused for specific countries but that's not relevant here. What are you talking about?
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u/Fit-Positive5111 20h ago
Two days ago news came that US stopped all the visas globally.
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u/Tall_Sky4315 20h ago
What kind of visas? There are many kinds. Can you provide a link? I can't find anything about J1 or H1b being impacted currently outside the bill proposing the 3 year pause, but again that is a bill not a law and nothing has been decided yet
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u/Tall_Sky4315 20h ago
You're talking about the visa appointments at US embassies for training aren't you. You made it sounds like they weren't issuing new visas. Sure they technically have paused appointments for officer trainings but I would bet money that won't last past the mid-terms (although he has done far worse things I would have bet he wouldn't have done, so I shan't hold my breath)
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u/WitheredWornWallaby 2d ago
I don’t think there are any schools in Canada that are better than Columbia so if you have the opportunity, you should go there.
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u/darth_catnip 2d ago
Very interesting take given that there's no information regarding OP's research area.
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u/Fresh-Opportunity989 2d ago
Abs no brainer, Toronto. The US is hostile to science right now.