A conversation with a U of Chicago postdoc

Should I become a postdoc? Here’s what I learned following a conversation with a postdoc working at the University of Chicago. He graduated with a doctoral degree in chemistry in Oct 2019.

When did you start to look for post-doctoral positions? How did it go?

I sent out my first email asking for postdoc opportunities in Dec 2018. But I was busy with my research and publication immediately from the beginning of 2019. I seriously started my postdoc finding in June, when I emailed about 10-15 professors in my field. One of them invited me for an on-site interview in Augst 2019. In the same month, I met my current advisor at a symposium in our own Chemistry department at the University of Illinois at Chicago. We had an interview shortly after the symposium. That’s how I get here.

Do you keep learning new skills/techniques or you keep applying PhD skills to your current work?

I think it’s half-half. I continue doing benchwork and collecting X-ray diffraction data myself. Meanwhile, I learned a lot about DNA binding protein during the lockdown (due to COVID19) and would learn Cryo-EM later. In fact, I decided to be a postdoc because I want to learn more about Cryo-EM.

As a postdoc, what are the things you like/dislike?

I like the fact that I can work towards my goal here at the University of Chicago at my own pace. But my PI is frugal on purchasing lab equipments sometimes so that I need to learn how to figure out a workaround.

Have you considered going to industry? What’s your next career move?

My next move is the industry. I have seen people from my current lab got into industry.

What other people do you recommend me to talk with?

Maybe a machine learning scientist from Argonne national lab. He plays tennis, maybe you should come. (lol)