Postdoc expectations

My expectations of postdoctoral associates:

  • Take advantage of opportunities to collaborate, teach, and do research as long as it is a means to meet your fundamental objectives.
  • Work diligently on your main project and meet deadlines and provide deliverables
  • Communicate effectively
  • Write… That is how we all are quantified. For better or worse. As a postdoc you are entering the production writing realm. That transition from Ph.D. to postdoc is critical. Recognizing that nothing is perfect and your coauthors are there to help is a significant difference from Ph.D. and postdoc.
  • Ask questions and clarifications. I recognize I can throw out jargon, call me on it!
  • Contribute to the overall lab dynamic (e.g., interact with lab members, collaborate on projects)
  • Take opportunities to learn new skills as long as it is a means to meet your fundamental objectives.
  • Develop and refine your workflow.
  • Annotate your code, your most important collaborator is your future self. Make it easy for your future self to figure out what is going and and what needs to be done.
  • Develop a system to keep track of your to do list. Could be paper, could be digital, the objective is to minimize the likelihood of something falling through the cracks.
  • Back up everything!
  • Finish up your dissertation work! Communicating your Ph.D. research is important and your commitment to your Ph.D. advisor is one you should keep. Therefore as long as it does not interfere with meeting deadlines or providing deliverables for the project that is paying your salary then get that material out!
  • Teach me about new things! Learning from others is probably one of the neatest things we get to do as academics.

What you can expect of me

  • Help provide the opportunities for you to meet your fundamental objectives (e.g., teaching, analysis, publication, collaboration)
  • Work with you to devise plan to meet your fundamental objectives
  • Teach you new and advanced skills that will improve your competitiveness for future jobs
  • Provide you with network introductions that can potentially improve your competitiveness for future jobs