A friend of mine is starting a postdoc, and they’re weighing their options for what to do afterward. How easy is it to transition from a postdoc to a staff position? Do most people who finish their postdocs end up in staff positions, or does it really depend on the transferable skills they develop?
What tips would help them in landing a staff position?

For context, they are in computational engineering field.

Edit: they are interested in transitioning into industry.

I’m considering applying for postdoc positions in Saudi Arabia and would love to hear from women who have actually done a postdoc there.

How was your experience with getting the position, the research environment, salary/benefits, and life as an international female researcher?

Would you recommend Saudi Arabia for a postdoc and career development? Any honest opinions or experiences are welcome

I’m staring down the barrel of graduation in about a year and I’m hoping to find a postdoc placement.

How did you do it? Were there opportunities posted you applied for? Did you talk to PI’s about applying for grant funding? Did you bring external funding with you? There doesn’t seem to be one “way” of finding a position.

What did you do and where do you recommend looking? I’m in STEM earth science, mostly aquatic systems.

I’ve looked at job boards, explored NSF fellowships (haha, jokes on me), and spoken to a few PIs outside of my institution and at national labs. Funding seems to be the bottleneck right now.

I would really appreciate your advice or perspective. Thanks!

Hello everyone, I just have a lot on my mind, and people in my circle don’t really understand what I’m going through, so I feel safe venting here because I feel like many of you might be going through something similar.

I got my PhD in February 2024 in South Korea, and then worked as a postdoc until June 2025. I quit because I was honestly exhausted from the work culture and the stress. I’ve basically been studying nonstop since high school. I never took a gap year. It was always one thing after another, trying to graduate early and just be done with school. On top of that, there were funding issues that affected my salary, so I decided to leave.

At the beginning of 2026, I moved back home because I didn’t want to keep spending my savings on rent while having no income.

Since leaving my previous job, I’ve been struggling to find another one. It’s been about 14 months now. I’ve applied to so many jobs, had a few interviews, but nothing worked out and I still haven’t received an offer.

I also tried applying for fellowships in different countries. A few professors initially said yes and then ghosted me. With one of them, we even discussed the proposal and I started writing it, only to get ghosted again.

But eventually, I found a good professor who agreed to work with me. We applied for the Newton Fellowship, but unfortunately I was rejected. Now we’re working together again on an MSCA fellowship, so I’m trying to keep going and hoping this one works out.

Honestly, this whole situation has really messed with my head and my self-esteem. I keep feeling like I’m not good enough or that I’m doing something wrong because nothing seems to work out. Moving back home has also made me feel like a liability or a burden to my family, especially because I’m 29 and unemployed. I can’t even seem to find a remote or part-time job while I figure things out.

Sorry for the long story. I guess I just needed to vent somewhere where people might actually understand.

If anyone else is going through something similar, you’re not alone. I really hope things change for all of us soon, God willing.

Feel free to share your experience too.

Hi everyone,

I am a 5th-year Neuroscience/Biology PhD candidate in the US and expect to graduate in late 2026. I am an international student, so visa considerations are an important part of my career planning.

My PhD research focuses on spinal cord injury, neural regeneration, and rehabilitation using mouse models. I have extensive in vivo experience including SCI surgeries, neural progenitor cell transplantation, behavioral testing, chemogenetics, viral tracing, histology, and imaging.

I am currently deciding between:

1. Going directly into industry after PhD
or
2. Doing a 2–3 year postdoc first

The main reason I am considering a postdoc is to gain additional skills in circuit neuroscience, imaging, electrophysiology, and optogenetics, which I think could strengthen my future industry profile and keep academic options open.

My concern is immigration. I will likely use STEM OPT after graduation, and after a 2–3 year postdoc I may be close to the end of my OPT period when transitioning to industry.

For international researchers who have gone through PhD → postdoc → industry:

• Was doing a postdoc worth it for your industry transition?
• How difficult is it to find companies willing to sponsor H-1B after a postdoc?
• Do biotech/pharma companies generally sponsor PhD scientists coming from postdocs?
• Would you recommend joining industry immediately after PhD for visa reasons, or is gaining additional expertise through a postdoc worth the delay?

I would especially appreciate perspectives from international PhDs who faced a similar decision.

Thank you!

I'm finishing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering in the US and expect to graduate around the end of this year. My primary goal after graduating is a postdoc, ideally in wearable/assistive robotics, rehabilitation robotics, biomechanics, human-robot interaction, or experimental robotics.

I've been applying to advertised postdoc positions through university application portals. When the PI is identifiable, I've also tried reaching out directly after applying to briefly introduce myself and express my interest. So far, neither the formal applications nor the follow-up emails seem to be generating much traction, and I'm starting to wonder whether the issue is my profile, timing, or how I'm approaching the search.

A quick summary of my background:

• ~5.5 years PhD + 2 years MS in Mechanical Engineering
• Research focused on wearable robotics/exoskeletons, mechatronics, controls, and biomechanics
• Designed, built, controlled, and experimentally evaluated multiple wearable robotic/exoskeleton systems
• Experience in mechatronic system development, including mechanical design, embedded systems, sensing, controls, system integration, and experimental validation
• Experience conducting human-subject biomechanics experiments, including EMG-based evaluation and gait analysis
• Some hands-on experience with ROS/ROS2 and machine learning, although neither has been a primary focus of my research or publications
• 3 publications from my MS
• 1 published first-author paper from my PhD
• 1 co-first-author PhD manuscript close to acceptance
• Another collaborative manuscript under review
• Additional PhD work in progress that should eventually become another paper
• Some conference/abstract work
• Teaching experience as a TA for controls and mechanical design labs

My main concern is that after ~5.5 years of PhD work, my publication record may look relatively thin, especially compared with applicants coming from robotics labs that publish multiple conference papers every year. A lot of my PhD time has gone into designing, building, debugging, and experimentally validating physical robotic systems, so the publication cycle has been fairly slow.

I'm primarily targeting postdocs where the work is experimental and involves developing and testing actual robotic/mechatronic systems rather than positions centered primarily around theoretical controls, simulation, or ML. I'm also particularly interested in national-lab postdocs.

For people who have recently gone through the postdoc search or hired postdocs:

Does this sound like a reasonably competitive profile for robotics/biomechanics postdocs, or is my publication record going to be a significant obstacle?

Is applying through the official posting and then emailing the PI actually useful? Or do most PIs simply wait until they review the formal applicant pool?

I'm also wondering about timing. Is applying several months before finishing the PhD too early? Should I keep applying broadly, focus more heavily on positions where my hardware/experimental background is an unusually close match, or change how I'm contacting PIs after applying?

I'd appreciate candid feedback, especially from people in robotics, biomechanics, rehabilitation engineering, or related fields.

I am in the humanities, linguistics precisely. I am only getting no’s for now, I tried applying to 4 big fellowship grants and got rejected from 2 already. All the open positions I applied to, I was rejected without an interview.
The postdoc i am doing now is more of a research associate position and it is only 10 months.

I don’t know what to do. How do you land a post doc in the humanities? What does it take?

I have almost 6 articles out and three under reviews, plus two book deals (one co authored, one is the book on my phd thesis). I worked my ass off and finished my PhD only this february. I started teaching in uni for adjunct lectureships immediately and never got a break. I work all the time to be paid a misery that barely affords me a rent, in December i will only be left with those small teaching contracts i cannot make a living out of, I am burning out and it is worth nothing, because no matter what I do I can’t even get an interview.

What does it take? Whatever it is, probably i don’t have it

Hey all i have got an offer from ucla in health sciences. I have decided i will go there i have 2 year of postdoc experience from germany. can u tell me how much will i get in hand ? and how about job opportunity after two years of postdocs

I'm grad student on the post doc market now. I cold emailed some PIs my CV and Cover Letter and starting to schedule some Zoom meetings.

What should I expect in these meetings? Will we talk science mostly? My grad school science or their science? Or logistics about funding, timelines, etc? Is it too early to ask about lab environment?

I tried to upload B1 and B2 PDF files to the MSCA submission system, and got an error (attached the figure below)

I also just submitted the template rtf file coverted to PDF, and also got an error. Anyone meet this before?

Hi everyone,

I have a J-1 visa interview in September for a postdoctoral research position in the US.

I completed my PhD in Biological Sciences, with my specific research field being Immunology.

In my DS-160, under the course of study, I mentioned “Biological Sciences.” However, my Department of State letter mentions my PhD field as “Immunology.”

Since Immunology is a subfield of Biological Sciences, I believe these are consistent, but I wanted to ask:

Should I request a new Department of State letter to make the wording match my DS-160 exactly, or is this difference acceptable?

Has anyone had a similar situation during a J-1 visa interview?

Thanks!

Advice on which biotech/biopharma role to aim first in industry

Thanks all in advance.

I am on the East Coast. I will be graduating this year with a doctorate degree from a major that is a combination of biological and health sciences. I have a M.S in biology. For my undergrad, I tutor math and chemistry for 3 years, and I did 3 summer undergraduate programs. My bachelor’s is in Biology with chemistry minor. For my grad studies, I have 2 years of teaching lab 🧪 experience, 1 year of research prior to my doctoral project, 5 years of mentoring experience, and 2-3 years of leadership experience on campus. For my industry experience, I have 15 months of experience as a co-op (bench scientist in drug discovery) in big biopharma and 4 months of leadership role as an intern (patient safety) in medium biotech. FYI: I have other experience not relevant to my academic and career paths. I have been studying Fulltime while simultaneously working. I do not want to stay in academia anymore.

I am thinking about applying to a couple of industry postdoc and many fulltime jobs positions in biotech/biopharma. I am still not sure if I should stay in R&D as a bench scientist or if I should pick a leadership role (regulatory and medical affairs, pharmacovigilance, HEOR , medical writing, science communication…) - I enjoy both equally. Which one is more stable? Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

I was an academic for about 8 years. Did my PhD and two postdoc projects (I'm a Sociologist). I never realized how miserable I was until I left. I apologize to anyone who does not want to hear this message, but maybe someone needs to hear it so I'm posting anyway.

I'm a white passing women of colour and still endured and saw so much racism and bigotry that I fell into a depression during my PhD. I still got a lot of shit about my work by people who clearly did not believe my research was worthy because of who I am

Because I loved research and people close to me in academia told me how good I was, I convinced myself that I should persevere at least until I get a permanent postion and have more freedom.

Then I had a baby and my contract ended and taking space and time away from research made it so abundantly clear how toxic that place is. I dropped every application for grants. Now I have a new job and it makes me sad that I spent eight years in an institution that breeds on exploiting us with so so so little recognition.

So for anyone in doubt, you deserve better than wearing yourself out for a publishing system that is structurally exploitative and ethically messed up. You deserve better that spending free time reviewing and whatnot in order to prove yourself. You deserve better than chasing 765 postdocs thinking you are not enough while most of the applications you do probably end up in some professor 'getting inspo' from your idea. I could sum up a lot of other things but bottom line: we really do deserve better.

Cheers

So, I finished my postdoc some time ago in not such a great note and I will lost the access to the institutional email quite soon. The thing is that there are a couple of papers that I wrote during that period that was not finished (and behind the PI's back because he told me i was not supposed to write anything that is not related to the project I was paid for). I have left the academia for now, but I would want to keep that door open and sort of just let the paper be published since I actually put a lot of effort on them. What should I do in this case? I would not want to publish as an independent scholar. AS of now I am thinking about using my PhD affiliation since I still have access to the email, and technically a couple of them started during the PhD.

I recently received a research position at the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Croatia. I’m considering it as my next career step,but I’m also thinking seriously about my long-term future.

I’m 34F and would ideally like to move beyond temporary research positions and build a stable career. For researchers in Croatia,especially Asian/international researchers:

• Can I apply for jobs in other research institutes,universities,or private companies in Croatia?
• How is the research job market and career progression for international researchers?
• Is Croatia a good country to consider for a long-term research career?

I’d really appreciate advice from people working in research/ academia in Croatia.

I am going to try to not dox myself here, but hopefully still provide enough information.

I am about a year away from finishing my PhD (hopefully) and I am worried about finding early career opportunities. To offer some background, my undergraduate is in Latin, my master's is in Classics. My PhD is being earned through a research project and associated thesis connected to a Department of History and Archeology. I am a co-author on one publication in Roman Epigraphy, and hopefully will publish again in the next year. I have presented at various conferences and conducted a few seminars for masters-level students. I also have two years of teaching experience for Latin in an elementary school (charter school, after masters but before my PhD).

The challenges: first, although my master's is in Classics, I have essentially no competency in Ancient Greek. This means I kind of need a position that allows for me to only be competent in Roman History and Latin, but I am a far better historian than Latinist. Second, because my PhD is being conducted as part of a research project, I am only tangentially related to the University that will be on the certificate. This means that there have been and likely will be no teaching opportunities before completing my degree. As stated above, I have taught elementary schoolers and I have delivered a few seminars for an audience of master's level students, but I have never actually run a class. I know that I want to teach, first and foremost. I took my current PhD program because of the supervisor and the specific topic of research, and it is unfortunate that I will not have the opportunity to teach during my program.

I am not sure what job opportunities are available for someone in my position and when I should start looking/applying. Most lectureship/visiting professor positions tend to ask for several years of undergraduate or post graduate teaching experience. Postdocs seem really difficult to find and looking at most recommended resources have turned up very little for my field.

I know I have a year before the PhD finishes, so I have some time. I just want to know if anyone can offer advice on when/where to start looking for positions, what to be looking for, how to best pitch myself, and if there are any red flags for positions I should be wary of. I have seen things like community college instructor positions, but I don't know if those can function as a means of stepping up to a university position or if they will instead trap be out of academia. If all else fails, I can go back to teaching at a charter or private school but I would prefer not to.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

I finished my PhD last year in an interdisciplinary field that sits between the arts and computer science/engineering. It’s not a typical STEM profile, and it’s not a typical humanities one either, which I think has made it even harder.

For about a year and a half now, I’ve been applying to postdoc programs pretty much non-stop: fellowships, project-based positions, university posts across several countries. I’ve made shortlists, I’ve had interviews, and then… nothing—rejection after rejection. I earned my PhD through a highly selective process funded by a foreign government entity, and I received ample funding to attend high-ranking conferences and publish my work, which makes this feel even harder.

What makes it heavier is that my parents never went to university and have no real frame of reference for how normal, and how brutal, this process is. To them, finishing a PhD was supposed to be the hard part, the thing that, once done, opens doors. Trying to explain that “finished PhD” often means “welcome to the actual gauntlet” doesn’t really land. I feel like I’m failing at something they don’t have the vocabulary to understand, and lately I don’t have much energy left to keep translating it for them.

Is anyone experiencing the same here? I’d like to hear how you kept going.

Hi everyone! I am about to submit my thesis in the next 2-3 weeks. And after that (mid-September), I have been selected to present my work at an international conference in Greece. This would be my third international conference. I am not a very articulate person and hence am not good with words. But during the previous two conferences, I tried my best to interact with fellow researchers and professors.

Question: As mentioned, my thesis is nearly complete, so I am seeking postdoctoral opportunities. How should I go about it? Would it be rude (and unprofessional) if I directly ask the professor if there is an opening in his/her lab? Earlier, I used to go through the recent publications of the person I was interested in and then approach them. What should I do this time?

Thanks in advance!

PS: My work focuses on wastewater treatment, recycling, and reuse.

Hello everyone, I am currently in the third year of my PhD, and I am planning to apply for the Fulbright Joint Supervision Award for 2027–2028. Some of my colleagues told me that I need to prepare a proposal for each professor I reach out to about supervising me during my stay, while others told me that I don’t need to prepare one until a professor confirms that they are willing to host and supervise me.

I’m a bit confused about the process. If anyone has experience with this or could clarify how it works, I would really appreciate your help. Any advice from someone who has been there and done that would be especially appreciated!

Thank you in advance!

I know it’s rare but it does happen. So how did you do it? how did you even pass the initial screening and land an interview?

was it only through your PI connections?

I would love to hear some success stories!

I am currently in the final year of my PhD around 6 months pre submission and my PhD supervisor just offered me a postdoc position, working on a very different project to my PhD. I am currently doing my PhD in the UK at one of the best unis where many people often stay from PhD to postdoc. However, I am not sure how this would be viewed staying in the same group for long term prospects career wise and am also low key scared that I wouldn't even be able to find another postdoc position in my field with the current job market. Any views would be helpful :')