How to get a PhD postion/how to get a postdoc?

How to get a PhD postion/how to

get a postdoc?

Nate Bastian (Liverpool), Paul Hewett (Cambridge), Dave Alexander (Durham), Steve Smartt (Belfast), Richard McMahon (Cambridge), Markus Kissler-Patig (ESO/Gemini)

First: do you want to do it?

✤ Disadvantages:

✤ Will need to move around, at least

2-3 moves past PhD

✤ No guarantee in finding a permanent

job (may not find out until you are in your 30s)

✤ There are periods with little or no

hiring, dependent on public sector

✤ Generally lower salaries than in

First: do you want to do it?

✤ Disadvantages:

✤ Will need to move around, at least

2-3 moves past PhD

✤ No guarantee in finding a permanent

job (may not find out until you are in your 30s)

✤ There are periods with little or no

hiring, dependent on public sector

First: do you want to do it?

✤ Advantages:

✤ Job satisfaction

✤ Chance to live and work abroad - lots of travel (conferences/ workshops, etc)

✤ Flexible schedule

✤ Generally don’t have to deal with a boss (at least not directly) ✤ Job security (if/when you find a job)

✤ Responsible employers (maternity/paternity leave), part-time options, understanding of temporary leaves of absense

Where do you find a position?

✤ Nature jobs - http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/

✤ www.jobs.ac.uk

✤ Links on University astro department websites (often out of date)

✤ your own initiative

✤ US - apply to departments (not individuals) - deadlines in Nov/Dec, need GRE, physics GRE, and maybe english certificate

Your own initiative

✤ Look at university astro websites, to look for adverts, or someone that you would like to work with

✤ email them (include CV), ask about current/future positions, know

what they work on!

✤ Find out what is required to apply (tests, degrees, etc)

✤ Summer research internships look great on your CV - also a great way to become known to a group/department

Where can you go?

✤ US - deadlines in Nov/Dec to start the following autumn

✤ Other countries with high profile astro programmes that are open to foreigners:

✤ Netherlands: Leiden, Amsterdam, Groningen, Nijmegen (rolling application deadlines) - apply for specific project/supervisor

✤ Germany: IMPRS programmes in Heidelberg (December) and Munich (Nov. 15th) to start the following year - apply to programme

✤ UK: getting better, apply to individual schools, deadlines in early autumn for following year

Where can you go?

✤ Scandinavia: Denmark (DARK institute), Sweden (Stockholm, Lund, Uppsula, Chalmers, Onsala)

✤ Australia: growing very rapidly, bright future. In particular in radio/ sub-mm, mm. Macquarie, Sydney U, ANU, Swinburn, Monash

✤ Canada: Toronto, Victoria, Vancouver

✤ Spain: not much, just Instituto de Astrofisica Canarias (IAC)

✤ European Southern Observatory (ESO): 1-2 year studentship, you start and finish your PhD in your “home institute”, but spend 1-2 years in either Santiago or Munich working with ESO staff

Specific opportunities

✤ Brazil - Frontierless science (Ciencia sem fronteiras) - foreign scientists ‘register’ on a Brazilian website, and Brazilian students can apply to go there for 2 years of the PhD (funded by Brazil)

Jumping into the unknown:

What to look out for?

✤ Are the current students in the group happy? (really happy, or just won’t say something bad about their supervisor?)

✤ Are the group members (especially PhD students and postdocs) publishing?

✤ Have previous members gone on to (good) postdoc positions?

✤ Is the project clearly defined (at least the beginning)? Do you like it? Do you have the freedom to change

direction?

✤ Does the department have a clear way to handle it if you want to change topics/supervisors?

Opportunity

✤ Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Astrophysics Research Institute has one open position to work on stellar clusters, star

Opportunity

✤ Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Astrophysics Research Institute has one open position to work on stellar clusters, star

formation or stellar populations

Opportunity

✤ Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU), Astrophysics Research Institute has one open position to work on stellar clusters, star

formation or stellar populations

with Dr. Bastian and (hopefully) Dr. Gieles

✤ To start this autumn/winter or the following spring/summer - let us know if you are interested...

How to find a postdoc?

✤ AAS job register is updated on the 1st of every month

✤ Contact collaborators (especially those at other institutes), let them know that you are finishing/looking for a position

✤ Go to conferences, workshops and give colloquia (volunteer) and try to meet people that way

Types of postdocs

✤ Postdoctoral Fellowships (PDFs) - you get money to do your own research, often control your own budget

✤ Postdoctoral research assistant (PDRA - in the UK) - you are hired by someone to work (usually 50-100% of your time) on a specific project ✤ Support and facility jobs (usually ~25-33% research allocation)

~70-80% of postdoctoral positions are announced between Sept. and Dec. each year to start the following autum

First offers out generally in Jan. Driven largely by the mystical Feb 15th deadline

Fellowships

✤ Independence (defining topic, managing budget) ✤ Recognition within the community

✤ Examples: Hubble, ESO, Bolton, Zwicky, etc

✤ But....

✤ Very competitive to get

✤ You are responsible for own

Fellowships -

most deadlines Sept-Dec

✤ ESO fellowships (Santiago/Chile)

✤ Hubble/Jansky/Einstein Fellowships

✤ University Fellowships (mainly in US/Australia)

✤ Royal Astronomical Society Fellowship (RAS), in UK ✤ Canadian Institute of Theoretical Physics Fellowships ✤ Max Planck Fellowships (MPA, MPE, MPIA, etc)

✤ EU Marie-Curie Fellowships (August) ✤ etc...

Postdoctoral Research Assistants

high-profile project, can be better than a fellowship

✤ Generally are part of a group/team. Helpful supervision, support, and possibly more papers

Alternative paths after PhD

✤ problem solving, creative thinking, self-motivation, analytic/ numerical skills