Opportunities in Postdoctoral Research

Postdoctoral research isn’t just about gaining tenure although that is what many will claim in attempting to explain the growing tendency toward this path. The complexity of scientific discovery and the involvement of complex science in increasing areas of life, study, research and development and industry dictate that those who seek to be expert in their fields must undertake postdoctoral research.

Postdoctoral Research Funding

Funding postdoctoral research and researchers is often through an appointment with a salary, or by way of an appointment with a stipend or a sponsorship award and competition for these funds can be fierce.  Generally those who undertake research do so funded as postdoctoral research fellows, associates or assistants.

Postdoctoral researchers might work independently or alternatively, under the supervision of a principal investigator. This research is often a prerequisite for those who wish to obtain faculty positions with tenure within university. It is increasingly considered a mandatory requirement in some fields because competition for tenure-track positions in academia is becoming increasingly competitive.

In the past principal investigators have been accused of using postdoctoral researchers as intelligent cheap labor used to further their own careers. These tendencies have lead to a propensity of increasingly long post doctorates with little hope of breaking away. This type of authoritarian abuse of postdoctoral researchers has diminished in more recent years partly because of complaints and partly due to the growth of advocacy agencies for researchers.

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA)

The National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) is a member-driven organization that provides a voice for postdoctoral scholars in the United States. The NPA describes itself as providing a number of services for postdoctoral researchers including advocacy, community building and resource development. NPA publications available online include an International Postdoctoral Survival Guide, Toolkits for Postdoctoral Associations & Offices, an Institutional Policy Database and a Career Development Clearinghouse.

Areas of Postdoctoral Research

As research permeates more and more areas of industry, science and technology an exponential and broadening increase in career options is becoming available to the PhD. A few of the less traditional (and traditional) areas in which post doctoral researchers are in hot demand are teaching, academia, and some of the more contemporary roles of policy, writing, medical information and technology transfer.

Science policy is an occupation in which analysts or program officers manage programs and provide expertise to policy-makers. Science writing involves writing for specialty publications, for industry groups, or for the general public.  Medical Information Scientist/Medical Liaison Scientist is a job in which medical information scientists provide scientific education to physicians, educate pharmaceutical sales forces, and work with clinical development teams on study protocol, design and submission.

Technology transfer, intellectual property, patenting, and legal opportunities are steadily increasing and involve working in the combined fields of science, law and business in the area of technology transfer. For those who are still making their way up the research ladder research support and grant administration is a great option.

Other jobs of interest to the postdoctoral researchers who enjoy working with the public are bioethics where scientists play a valuable role in the dialogue between researchers and the public or science librarian. Science librarians in universities and other research facilities establish collections, manage budgets, assist scientists and help to gather and collate information.

It used to be true that only those with an interest in university tenure undertook postdoctoral research. That is simply no longer the case. In addition to the range of fascinating opportunities posed by postdoctoral research, the specialization of all fields of study require most professionals, especially in the sciences, to have very sharp and specific skill sets. Because postdoctoral research is such interesting work, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.