Applying for postdocs: does size matter?

And of course it does! Not because I am a guy (haha), but the size of a lab is one of the major factors determining the atmosphere of lab. While bigger (and usually more famous) labs usually indicate good funding in general, it does not guarantee that you are swimming in money and have unlimited resources. In a lab that has 20+ postdocs, very often one project is done by more than three or four people. Hence the resources are divided and you may have to fight for it. Even worse, when it comes to publications, you may have to share co-authorship among two or even three people, and there may be a bitter fight of who comes first in the list. In a way, you are not only competing against other labs who are working on your subject, but also the people in your own environment! Also, your supervisor will not have time at all for guidance, you are pretty much on your own. Imagine the lab meeting schedule in a 20+ postdoc lab! You won't have one for every six months probably!

It basically all boils down to what type of person you are in a working environment. If you are a natural "fighter", then a bigger lab will be good for you. If not, and you need more help from your supervisor, perhaps a smaller lab with 3 or 4 postdocs (plus some students) will suit you the most.

A good link for postdoc interview questions

Here is the link from Nature magazine

http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/2008/080515/full/nj7193-424b.html

Interviewing for postdoc position (2)

So here are some of the questions that I think are important and often missed (special thanks to my colleague Kelly who gave me lots of advice):

1. (To the PI) Will I be able to work on what I have been doing in your lab when I start my new lab? Need to ask this because some PIs are not as generous as you have thought, esp. for the new ones because they are usually more insecure. That's why working for a really big/famous lab could be great in this sense, because usually the PI doesn't really care if you take away some of his/her stuff.

2. (To the people working in the lab) What kind of adjectives would you describe your PI/lab environment? Would you say collegial, competitive, supportive, fun, serious, generous, ... ? The trick is to give them some adjectives to choose, and throw in some negative ones among the good ones, so they won't feel alarmed when they give you the bad ones. If you don't give them any words, more likely they won't say much, or will give you the standard empty phrases like "it is okay, it is good..etc"

3. (To the PI) Will I get maternity/paternity leave? Obviously this doesn't apply to everyone (not me for sure!) but believe it or not in this age there are still assholes out there who is totally against female scientists who want to have a family/babies!

4. (To the PI) Do you support people going to conferences? For this, it is not just about monetary support (chances are you will have your own travel allowance), but also whether he/she will let you take some time off to go to a conference. I know some PIs are not really keen on sending the trainees out to a conference, but would rather go him or herself!

事君數，斯辱矣；朋友數，斯疏矣。

其一。
我的老細（博士導師）也算是奇人一個。我每次email新主意，她也當透明，或者更甚，當面即踩。但妙在過了一段時間之後，又會好似發現新大陸般將我的主意據為己有。雖則理論上博士生的所有資料都歸實驗室，但係口頭上俾番些少credit我，俾我開心一日都好丫。

其二。
入太廟，當然是每事問；同理，入實驗室，也應每事問。但幾位新來的博士後，懶得問，或者他們認為冇問題，自己能解決。好心提意見，又當耳邊風。
幸好我很快便會離開，不然我會發癲。

Interviewing for postdoc position (1)

Usually when you are applying for postdoc, you will be asked to give a talk at the institute/university. This is pretty standard so I won't dwell on this point.

What I would like to point out is that it is not just they interviewing you, but also you interviewing them. In a way, once they have invited you for a talk, they pretty much want to have you in their labs. The interview is more like a chance for you to see if you like their research environment/city/etc.

So do spend more time/effort to ask questions about the lab, and their research philosophy. Equally important is the people that will be working with you..are they nice? supportive? or competitive? Do you think you will click with those guys? There is no right or wrong in this kinda stuff..everyone is different. So go with your gut feelings..if you don't feel right, it probably isn't right for you, even if the lab is world-renowned.

If you have the chance, it is actually a very good idea to ask the people who has just worked in the lab previously. They are in a better position to say whatever they want, esp. bad things about the lab.

And of course it goes without saying that you should be familiar with the work of the lab....that means you should have read all the new papers from the lab, and the relevant background information....

On selecting paper for journal club

Three words: Nature or Science.

Another three words: Papers with Previews.

Corollary:

If you want to torture your audience, pick Cell, etc.

If you want to put your colleagues to sleep, pick papers with western blots only.

If you want to put your colleagues to sleep for eternity, pick papers with electrophysiology only.

On the importance of a paper

The importance of a scientific paper can be best quantified by the number of the dublicated copies of that particular paper on your desk.

corollary:

The importance of a scientific paper can be further quantified by the number of times that you have re-read it, often without knowing that you have read it ten thousand times before until you saw another highlighted copy of the same paper lying somewhere on your desk.

Applying for postdoc: the letter

Most of the time the PIs that you want to work for don't really know you that well, even if you have talked to him or her a couple of times before. So how do you write the first email to him saying that you want to work in his or her lab? What I have done is simple, it is so simple that maybe it is not really worth mentioning: I just tell him/her what I am asking for in this email (two lines), my PhD project (a short paragraph), why I am interested in his/her work (a couple of lines), and then conclude by saying something like visiting his/her lab. I kept it really short and simple, because these people probably have tons of emails everyday and they don't really want the story of your life. Most importantly, attach your CV. That's probably the first thing they want to see anyway.

A language problem

So I have been thinking, should I continue to write in Chinese or what. It takes a longer time since I don't have a proper software to write in Chinese. So I guess for now I will write mostly in English, although I do like to um swear in Cantonese! haha.

That's it for today. I think I may continue my ranting soon since a lot has happened in the lab! So stay tuned! (I am assuming someone is reading this..probably I am wrong! haha)

Milestone

I have just finished my thesis intro! yay!
Well, it is too long (according to my boss), but at least it is done!
About freaking time!
Now it is the fun game of referencing....ugh.