The Philosophers' Cocoon

4 responses to “Tips for applying to postdocs?”

1. Michel

   August 18, 2023

   (1) You don’t have to have the same research interests, but you do need to be able to make a case for why you want to undertake the fellowship under their direction. Part of the rationale will, of course, target departmental resources you’d have there, but it’s quite important to be able to make the case for that person at that university. So they should be someone for whom you can make a convincing case that you’d get a lot of value from working with them.
   (2) You aren’t at all–except that your dissertation is your best piece of evidence for how prepared you are to undertake this next project, and how quickly you can bring it to fruition. So if you can’t point to it, that weakens your case. That weakness can be offset by other stuff, of course, such as publication and presentation history, etc.

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2. T

   August 18, 2023

   I’ve faced similar problems here in Canada. My area is metaphysics and I plan to apply to the SSHRC postdoc. I’ve managed to find someone who can supervise me at a Canadian institution. The specific issue I’m planning to look at is not in my potential supervisor’s interest. But my proposed research applies certain metaphysical topics that are, and that’s all that matters.
   As far as how constrained you are, I think that depends on the nature of the postdoc. For example, the SSHRC postdoc stipulates that the research can be in connection with the dissertation but must not simply be about disseminating research from the dissertation. It has to be novel research. So, perhaps look closely at what the requirements for the position are that you are applying for.

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3. Tim

   August 19, 2023

   Here’s a comment on research post-docs. Many research post-docs are funded through a grant. The people who got the grant normally want the grant to go well so that they can apply for subsequent grants, and cite the success of this grant for why they should get the next grant. Grants have a variety of expected outcomes. But one standard expected outcome is publication. So a person whose research area is too far removed from the grant topic is not a strong candidate because they are less likely to publish on the topic and contribute to the overall success of the grant.
   There are other types of post-docs (e.g. teaching ones, non-grant back research ones). But for grant-based research post-docs, there’s a strong incentive to hire people who clearly fit the research of that grant.

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4. Tammo

   August 21, 2023

   At least in Europe, I would say that there are three basic types of postdocs:
   (A) Fellowship schemes where you apply for your own funding, e.g. the MSCA scheme
   (B) Research postdocs within existing research projects, e.g. someone has an ERC project and hires postdocs for it
   (C) Limited-term faculty positions
   With respect to (A), it is usually decided by reviewers or an independent panel who gets the fellowship. You can discuss your application freely with your intended supervisor, because they are not involved with that decision (and would likely be happy to get a “free” postdoc if you are successful). I suspect it is not all that important to have a project closely tied to your dissertation here, mainly because you would not be under suspicion of “tayloring” yourself to the needs of a department/project here. Similarly, it might be alright to have a supervisor who doesn’t work on exactly what you want to work on, but it would be important that their knowledge can somehow help you substantially in pursuing your project. (They will likely be asked to write a letter of support about you, so it would also be good if they know and like your work.)
   Type (B) postdocs are more constrained, because the people who got in the money for the project want someone who can contribute to it (see also Tim’s comment.) Here, I think you need some evidence that you actually want/can work on the issues relevant to the project. If not, it may look like you are actually interested in something else, and are just trying to make yourself look like a better candidate by making up research interests you haven’t actually pursued/don’t intend to pursue.
   Type (C) positions are very hard to predict, because many aspects may influence the decision. Some departments (or chairs who the position is associated with) want someone that does the same kind of work they do, some want someone who does something complementary to it. Teaching needs can also be a factor here. Fortunately, these are also the quickest applications to write, because you can use most of your “standard” materials. (By contrast, type (A) applications are extremely work-intensive, you will have to write a long project proposal that you can’t really ever reuse elsewhere.)

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