Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The first 100 days of your postdoc

A standard by which US presidents are judged is by what they achieve in their first 100 days. The benchmark is the first hundred days of FDRs presidency where he began the New Deal.
I believe I once overheard Piers Coleman say that he thought new postdocs should produce a paper in their first 100 days in order to gain momentum and to position themselves for their next job.
This seemed a little extreme to me and almost impossible for many projects. But perhaps that is the point! You should not embark on ambitious projects (especially developing complex new software and building new equipment).

I aim for my postdocs to have submitted a first author paper within 6 months of starting. Most have and I think this has helped build confidence and momentum.


  1. Hi Ross,

    Always enjoy reading your blogs. I do indeed tell my grad students that when they leave to start their postdocs the first 100 days are crucial for setting up the momentum of their research with a concrete project. In a way, a postdoc is even shorter than the presidency, because the next campaign starts earlier, which is why students shouldn't be in a mad rush to finish their Ph. D., because once you start your postdoc, the clock starts ticking. You don't have to have a polished, finished piece of work after 100 days, but your new research project needs to be well underway. Its often better to have a modest goal, just to be sure that you can get something moving ahead within 100 days. Ideally, you try to establish a research portfolio, with a spectrum of projects
    ranging from the short, doable ones, to the longer-term, bold and wilder ones. Think about those bold big brush stroke projects but get a few of the smaller ones moving during the first 100 days.

  2. Hi Piers,
    Thanks for taking the time to record your actual views, rather than people hearing it as hearsay from me! Your advice sounds wise and balanced. Hopefully it will be helpful to many.