Common Mistakes Made by Postdocs

This is a post mainly for postdocs joining my group, but may be useful for hires in any organization. I have mentored about 10 postdocs by now, so I feel I have enough data to make some generalizations. The rules stated are of course my own and specific to my research group.

1. Beginner's enthusiasm: One of the mistakes new postdocs commit in my group is to show up and start suggesting or demanding things on the first day.

   
   

   For example, I don't have group meetings. This might be unusual, as most groups I have seen have them. But I have very specific and well examined reasons for my action - I find group meetings to be very inefficient, since all but a few people are engaged at a time. Also students/postdocs get lulled into the false complacency that if they get by at the group meeting then they feel they have done enough work for the week. So I instead meet only with members when they have work to report and then only one-on-one so we can discuss the results at depth and meaningfully.

   
   

   However, postdocs often show up in my group on the first day and start suggesting that I should have group meetings (probably because they come from groups which do), or even try to start them without my knowledge. This is entirely inappropriate for a fresh hire. The people who do the hiring usually have far more experience and have thought in much greater depth about such things as how to run the group.

   
   

   Moral: Avoid making jerky movements right at the beginning. Get a lay of the land before you start suggesting/making changes.

   
   

2. Conferences: Some postdocs treat conferences as paid vacation or travel. They start jockeying for going to conferences without even being asked to go. I have had postdocs come and 'tell' me that they will be going to such and such conference.

   
   

   My rule is the postdocs do not get to decide if and when they go to which conference. I do. My decision is based on several considerations. Generally, I do not send a postdoc or student to a conference unless they have substantial results to disseminate, which means preferably a paper which has been published, or submitted to a journal, or at least submitted to the arxiv.

   
   

   But there may be other considerations as well. When a postdoc goes to a conference, they are not there just in their personal capacity, they are representing my group. I may wish for my group to be represented in a certain way at a certain conference. That may even change with time - just because a postdoc was sent to a certain conference in one year doesn't mean they get to go next year.

   
   

   Moral: If the postdoc wants to attend a particular meeting, they can always ask the supervisor.

   
   

3. Talks during vacations: Postdocs sometime feel they can present the research they have been performing in my group at certain institutions (often their alma maters) while they are on vacation, without asking me for permission.

   
   

   This is not appropriate. While they are in my group, again since they are still representing my group, they need to ask me for permission to present our work since I am the principal investigator for the grant that supports the work.

   
   

   Of course, I usually have no objections to such dissemination, but on some occasions I might. This might be due to previous history with the institution, or if I know some severe critic of the work might be present and pose problems for the speaker, etc.

   
   

   Moral: Always ask.

   
   

4. Conflicts with other postdocs and students: Where there are human beings there will be conflict. I have sometimes had postdocs schedule meetings with me to complain about other students and postdocs.

   
   

   My policy has consequently evolved to explain to the postdocs right at the beginning of their stint that if they end up creating a disruption with another colleague, I will likely remove both of them from my group. Unfortunately, I have to use such deterrents as I have no bandwidth for disruptions.

   
   

   More to the point, I explain to them that as human beings we are almost programmed to disagree and it is part of their professional duty to learn to get along with their colleagues in a productive manner (i.e. handle disagreements in a professional manner).

   
   

   Moral: Keep the drama for your mama.

   
   

5. Academic credit: Postdocs are usually under tremendous pressure to publish, so they can be competitive. Unfortunately, this sometimes takes the form of political haggling for academic credit. I have seen postdocs quarrel for the right to be first author on a paper, or even presenting a graduate student's work as their own.

   
   

   My rule is to explain to them that if everyone in my group performs their job well, there will be enough of the academic pie to go around. We can generate more research and more papers for everyone.

   
   

   Moral: Stand up for your rights, but be generous.

   
   

6. Post-postdoc: Some postdocs continue to collaborate with me after they leave my group. This is wonderful, but after having worked extensively with me on a topic, one day they suddenly declare they are going to write a grant on it by themselves.

   
   

   This is certainly not forbidden, but they need to know it comes with certain implications. If they want to continue collaborating with me then they need to discuss the contents of their proposal with me so we can ensure there is no overlap or conflict. This ensures we will not be producing the same results in parallel, or asking for money for the same physics from two different agencies while collaborating.

   
   

   On the other hand, if they want to work independently, and not discuss their grant plans with me, then they become a competitor. They no longer have access to collaborate or consult with me.

   
   

   Moral: You can't have your cake and eat it.

   
   

   Summary

   
   

   Postdocs should work closely with their advisors to figure out the rules of the academic game and not make decisions that could hurt their own careers, and possibly those of others.