What Every Postdoc Needs To Know

Thinking of starting a postdoc? Want to know how to move on from a postdoc? Or simply want to make the best of your postdoc years? Being a postdoc is not a career ... but it can be the pivotal point in the making of one. This friendly, practical, and occasionally humorous guide to all things postdoc combines the three authors’ vast experience of postdoc careers and personal development.

This is a guide to developing, advancing and furthering yourself and your career. In working through exercises, learning from the experience of others (including the trials and tribulations of the authors), and seeking out information, we hope you will consider what success means on your own terms. In its pages you will find advice on:

• Choosing the right postdoc for you
• Maximising your postdoc contract for personal and professional goals
• Selecting and attaining your next career step (academic or otherwise)

Your postdoc is part of the journey towards a range of career destinations; from an industrial R&D specialist to politician, from lecturer to spin-out Chief Executive, and this book is designed to help you get there. Providing indispensable advice on UK-based postdocs for national and international students, it is perfect for those making exciting transitions (student to postdoc, postdoc to the wide world of careers beyond) or for those who simply want to take their postdoc up a gear.

Readership: National and international postdocs, student to postdoc, postdoc to a career, or for those who simply want to take their postdoc up a gear.

"It is not only the perfect 'user guide' for any current or aspiring postdoc, but it should also, I believe, be required reading for those academics with postdoc management responsibilities." -- Professor James Stirling, Imperial College London

"The workbook style is really effective and encourages people to read it with action in mind." -- Dr Nigel Eady, King's College London

"It covers all the right areas and all the kinds of questions I hear a lot, with a good overview of things as well as specifics and practical advice." -- Dr Elizabeth Adams, University of Glasgow

"A mighty work! I think it is much needed." -- Dr Bill Dunn, University of Oxford