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OPdA Training Schedule
Coming Soon
Center for Career Education
Though geared primarily to the undergraduate and graduate student, the Center for Career Education can help you discover where individual passions intersect with opportunities, learn about the global marketplace and new economy, make informed career decisions, and achieve career objectives.
National Postdoctoral Association – Career Development Resources
This section on the National Postdoctoral Association website describes various career paths a PhD scientist may choose to follow, and provides links to various sources of information related to those careers. Be sure to take a self-evaluation or self-assessment as this is an important first step in planning the opportunities that may lie ahead.
Professional Societies
We have listed just a few but please feel free to contact us at postdocaffairs@columbia.edu to add more:
American Association for the Advancement of Science
NY Academy of Sciences
Job Listing Sites
Chronicle of Higher Education
Metro-New York/Southern Connecticut Higher Education Recruitment Consortium
Nature Jobs
New Jersey HERC
New England HERC
Postdoc Jobs
Science Careers
Top Higher-Education Jobs
Planning Your Postdoc
The relationship between the Adviser and the Postdoc is of prime importance if the postdoctoral experience is to be beneficial to both parties. Postdoctoral training is of utmost importance in the preparation of scientists for careers as scientific professionals. This training is typically conducted in an apprenticeship mode where the postdoctoral appointee undertakes scholarship, research, service, and/or teaching activities that, taken together, provide a training experience for career advancement.
Roles and Responsibilities of the Postdoc and the Adviser:
A number of organizations, recognizing the importance of this relationship, have prepared reports and weighed-in on the respective roles of the Adviser and the Postdoc. The Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP) of the National Academy of Sciences has prepared a report Enhancing the Postdoctoral Experience for Scientists and Engineers - A Guide for Postdoctoral Scholars, Advisers, Institutions, Funding Organizations, and Disciplinary Societie. The Guide addresses five primary populations, all of whom participate in the postdoctoral experience: the postdoctoral officers themselves, their advisers, their host institutions, the agencies and organizations that support them and professional disciplinary societies. It is also intended for senior-level graduate students who may be contemplating postdoctoral work. The report states that the Postdoc “has a quid pro quo relationship with the research community”. In order to enhance this relationship we are also providing, a “Roles and Responsibilities” document for both Postdocs and their Advisers.
Potential Questions to Ask before Choosing a Mentor or Adviser:
According to the above study conducted by the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy of the National Academy of Sciences (“Enhancing the Postdoctoral Experience for Scientists and Engineers”, National Academy Press, ©2000), the best time for a postdoc to evaluate a potential postdoctoral position is before signing on. It may be difficult to adjust the major conditions of an appointment once it is underway.
You may want to ask the following questions of a potential mentor/adviser:
- What are the adviser’s expectations of the postdoc?
- Will the adviser or the postdocs determine the research program?
- How many postdocs has this adviser had? Where did they go afterwards?
- What do current and past lab members think about their experience?
- Will the adviser have time for mentoring? Or should I seek out other mentors?
- How many others (graduate students, staff, postdocs) now work for this adviser?
- How many papers are being published? Where?
- What is the adviser’s policy on travel to meetings? Authorship? Ownership of ideas?
- Will I have practice in grant writing? Teaching/mentoring? Oral presentations? Review of manuscripts?
- Can I expect to take part of the project away after the postdoc?
- How long is financial support guaranteed? On what does renewal depend?
- Can I count on help in finding a position?
- Will the adviser have adequate research funds to support the proposed research?
Compact Between Postdoctoral Appointees and their Mentors
The Compact was drafted by the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Group on Graduate, Research, Education, and Training and its Postdoctorate Committee. Its intent is to “initiate discussions at the local and national levels about the postdoctoral appointee-mentor relationship and the commitments necessary for a high quality postdoctoral training experience.”
According to this Compact, core tenets of postdoctoral training include:
Institutional Commitment;
Quality Postdoctoral Training;
Importance of Mentoring in Postdoctoral Training; and
Foster Breadth and Flexibility in Career Choices
The Compact Between Postdoctoral Appointees and their Mentors details necessary commitments of both postdoctoral appointees and mentors.
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