Speaker 1: Hey there, so postdocs are a very critical career stage and what are my 10 best tips for postdocs? Number one is about productivity, because that's got to be central, at least if you are more into the academic track. You gotta make sure that your productivity is good and that it's of high quality. So how do you do that? I think two ways. First of all, prioritize output, which means if you have a choice of a task that leads to an output versus one that doesn't, choose the one that leads to an output. This is sometimes easier said than done, but I think many days in my day, the way I structure my workday, for example, I prioritize the output and sometimes the decision becomes pretty clear what to do then. And the second piece of advice there is diversify what you can do. Like if all of your output depends on, let's say, complicated field experiment, lab experiments, or greenhouse experiments that take a long time to set up, to analyze, and then to write up, I think you should add to your portfolio also other types of papers. For example, perspective paper, viewpoint paper, opinion papers, maybe review papers, and maybe if you're so inclined, systematic mapping, bibliometric kind of analyses, or even formal meta-analyses. The advantage of that is that while an experiment is running, you can already work on these other outputs, so you can parallelize your workflow and that inevitably leads to higher productivity. Second advice is invest in connecting with people. I think that cannot really be overstated. It is so important to have your network of friends out there in science. Such a network of collaborators is just invaluable for all kinds of things that you encounter in your academic life really, and I've made other videos on this topic. So what do you do? Well, be a good team player, of course, and build strong relationships. This also means that if you're asked to collaborate with somebody on their project, make sure you deliver on time, make sure you over-deliver rather than under-deliver, just be a good colleague. Third, pivot your skills to align with your future goals, which means that you need to reflect on what your future goals are, of course. If it's in academia, make sure that you also, for example, move to collect some teaching experience because many academic positions will ask for your teaching experience and now is the time to get it. If it's more in industry or entrepreneurial futures that are on the horizon for you, then make sure you take the relevant courses, for example, so that you have the background. If you're going to be more into science communication, then now is the time to low-level start on a blog or a podcast and just try things out and try to find your voice. But the point is, whatever it is that you would like to do afterwards, now is the time to really shift gears and make sure that you acquire the skills and the initial experience that make you a great candidate for that path. Next, of course, is, maybe this should have been first, maintain a very good work-life balance and you should understand that being passionate about something like about science and research, of course, it's good to be passionate about it, but you need to understand it doesn't protect you from burnout. So take it easy when you need to, take breaks when you need to, and also remember that breaks are great for creativity. Invest in a solid online presence. It doesn't need to be super fancy. It can basically just be your GitHub repository or it can be one of those simple templates that you can get everywhere for free or you can piggyback on your Orkut page, whatever it is, just make sure that you have a simple online presence with a link to your CV and some of your papers and your other social media presences. Because when you apply somewhere, people are going to inevitably look you up, they're going to Google you, and so make sure that they find a page that actually has relevant information about yourself. The next one is, I think, very important and that is, you know, postdoc is very often a time that's a bit stressful because it's sort of often an in-between kind of position. You're still finishing up your stuff from your PhD, you're trying to get on top of the project you're currently doing, the same time you have to be on the lookout for what are other maybe more permanent job opportunities. So I understand it's stressful, but in this phase, it is still important to just sit down and think about what is your own basically scientific voice, what is the thing that is uniquely you, your approach, what do you want to be known for, what is the niche you want to carve out for yourself. That is very often, you know, of course, guided by your passion and enthusiasm for something, but it is also part strategic, and I think it is very important to just sit down and figure out what that is for you. This also includes moving towards carving out a niche for yourself in your host lab that is different from what your host lab does or your PI does, and you got to remember many times a postdoc is also a move towards greater independence, independence from your PI, and so, you know, in order to do that, you need to move in a certain direction, and that needs to be very carefully thought through, needs to be communicated about, of course, also if it's compatible with your current assignment, but it also may mean that you are maybe looking at some side projects that you can do in addition to your main assignment, so you can position yourself for this direction that you want to be known for. Funding is, of course, very important. I think it will help you irrespective of whatever direction you're going to go afterwards. If you can show and present evidence that you have been successful in the acquisition of funding from some kind of competitive call, it could be also small kind of funding, could be departmental funds, it could be travel funds, could be funding for a workshop or for a small exploratory grant, whatever it is, if you can show that you could basically put down ideas on a piece of paper and be convincing enough so that somebody's going to give you money, that's going to help you a lot. So, I think it's important to get that experience, talk to your PI, they're going to probably be quite experienced with funding acquisition, and also maybe take some of the opportunities that offer themselves to contribute to grants that they are writing, so you get some of that experience. I think it's also important to just be open, to scan the horizon, to be prepared for the unexpected, and the way you're going to do that best is just if you read fairly broadly. It can be just magazines, I've gotten some ideas from reading just some news magazines, or by looking at web pages, or by reading some books outside of your subject area, just read broadly about things that interest you, and give serendipity a chance, basically to help you discover some unexpected links that weren't there before. But that can only happen to you if your mind is already working on something, and if you're open to that input. Tools can be all kinds to achieve this, you could go to workshops that are slightly outside your field, you could go to conferences that are not right in your comfort zone, online conferences for example also, you could visit other labs, you could also collaborate with artists locally to get some completely new perspective. There's many things you can do, but the most important trait for you to have is to be open. We all have weaknesses, and your postdoc is one opportunity to work consistently on some of your weaknesses. Of course that requires some critical self-reflection of what those weaknesses are in the first place, maybe it's public speaking, maybe it's writing, maybe it's statistics, maybe it's making figures, whatever it is for you, chip away at that very consistently over a longer period of time. It doesn't require a lot of investment, but it requires a persistent continuous effort, just carve out a little bit, maybe every day or every other day, to improve on that thing that limits you, and the effects over the course of two or three years, typical length of a postdoc assignment, and also longer, will be astonishing if you stick to that routine. And the final one is leadership. As a postdoc you are basically in a position where you're transitioning to a role of greater leadership, and you can already start with that during your postdoc. In fact most people will expect you to do that, which means take responsibility for example for mentoring others, could be PhD students, could be other new postdocs, could be master student or bachelor students, so take that responsibility. It could be to take over some teaching responsibilities, giving guest lectures for example, could be taking responsibilities for writing some of the grants, some of the grant, you know, admin, for example, writing reports, so you may also be partly already expected to do that, but it's also a way to take on responsibility. Another great way to showcase that you are willing to take on responsibility is if you engage in professional organizations in your field, like the society for something rather, and take on some role there. That's clearly visible as a line in your CV basically, and it shows you are engaged and you're willing to take on responsibility. And what that basically means is just be a positive influence on others, help others along their path, this is what leadership basically is, and as part of that work on your communication skills, because that is going to be required and essential. Well that's the list, my 10 most important pieces of advice I would give a postdoc, I hope you found that useful. If you have any other pieces of advice that you would add to that list, by all means let me know in the comments, and with that thanks for watching, see you in the next video, bye.