tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post6739321501281237429..comments2024-03-27T21:23:40.339-04:00Comments on Chemjobber: Science: Professors report difficulty in recruiting postdoctoral fellows Chemjobberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15932113680515602275noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-44175059276879812602022-07-11T12:06:40.228-04:002022-07-11T12:06:40.228-04:00I'm not sure that's entirely true, but I&#...I'm not sure that's entirely true, but I'm genuinely not sure. <br /><br />If you're a college student who becomes an MD, you're looking at graduating at 22, taking 4 years of med school, and then at least two years of residency. So your family med doc is done at ~28. But surgeons and other specialties do a lot more training. Of course, they get paid a lot more than the GPs, etc. <br /><br />The median age at graduation for Ph.D. chemists for 2020 was 29.6. Tack on a couple of years of postdoc, and you're looking at 32. <br /><br />Long story short, I'm willing to believe the MDs are done first, but I think it's a closer run thing (i.e. 1-2 years). NOW, the real problem with this comparison where PhD chemists lose out is in the starting salary comparison: <br /><br />From a recruiting firm: "The 2021 Review indicates an average starting salary for family medicine physicians of $243,000, up from $240,000 in 2020, an increase of 1%. This is only a minor increase from an average of $239,000 as reported in the 2019 Review and an average of $241,000 in 2018."<br /><br />Cheers, CJAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-75794446385555594992022-07-11T11:22:22.440-04:002022-07-11T11:22:22.440-04:00I suggested a BS-level staff scientist because the...I suggested a BS-level staff scientist because the salary is closer to that of a postdoc, but more staff scientists in general would be a good thing. I'd love to see mandatory postdocs go away; our field is asking way too much of people by keeping them from starting their adult lives until their thirties. Our peers who go into medicine are finished their residencies and starting their careers while 30-year-old chemists are often stuck in student mode.KTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-88147799934148711992022-07-10T14:37:33.717-04:002022-07-10T14:37:33.717-04:00@KT: No reason that some of those staff scientist ...@KT: No reason that some of those staff scientist positions can't be for PhDs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-31570812481270496982022-06-16T15:18:24.227-04:002022-06-16T15:18:24.227-04:00Since PIs develop the budgets for their grant prop...Since PIs develop the budgets for their grant proposals, serve on the review panels charged with choosing proposals for funding, and sit on the university committees that set institutional funding guidelines, it seems like there is a lot PIs can do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-18216475706350768552022-06-16T15:02:42.400-04:002022-06-16T15:02:42.400-04:00They could be hiring staff scientists instead of c...They could be hiring staff scientists instead of crying about the funding going unused. A postdoc will only stick around for 1-2 years, while a BS-level staff scientist will continue to gain experience and likely become more productive than a PhD who's still figuring out how to order supplies, where the bathrooms are, etc.KTnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-54137360886607951522022-06-16T10:39:15.408-04:002022-06-16T10:39:15.408-04:00I share a postdoc off a grant through my co-PIs in...I share a postdoc off a grant through my co-PIs institution, and I have money for a second funded by my institution. My shared postdoc line has a minimum of $51k whereas my institution maxes out at $45k. That's just not enough to live on, especially when I cannot offer moving costs. Grants are a problem, but this is just salary compression that hurts all of us. The best way forward is unionizing faculty and demanding salary increases at all levels to be competitive with industryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-41151276026011987382022-06-16T06:17:00.039-04:002022-06-16T06:17:00.039-04:00I bypassed the postdoc treadmill after finishing m...I bypassed the postdoc treadmill after finishing my PhD because, in Australia at least, the prospect of an indeterminate number of years of 12 month contracts followed by relative unemployability was not really attractive given that I wanted to buy a house. The average salary I've seen for postdocs in Australia works out to about $59k USD, but there's not much room to move from there.<br /><br />I work in a contract environmental testing lab (soils, waters, air), starting post-PhD on what works out to $40k USD per year. We've hired at least half a dozen fresh PhDs and about 3-4 with substantial postdoc experience as entry level laboratory technicians in the past couple of years (I started as one of those). Most of them after a year or two get bored and leave chemistry altogether. I'd like to know what the figures are in Australia for PhD chemists finding a permanent full time job in research whether in academia or industry, because from my perspective it seems pretty dismal.peptoidnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-61479757918910348082022-06-15T21:34:00.755-04:002022-06-15T21:34:00.755-04:00I have a post doc position for $55k with benefits....I have a post doc position for $55k with benefits. In an affordable location. Made about the same living in an unaffordable location. Not sure what a PI can do when grant budgets don’t increase beyond inflation. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-87273197707268214382022-06-15T15:51:06.459-04:002022-06-15T15:51:06.459-04:00I am glad to hear that professors, assistant or ot...I am glad to hear that professors, assistant or otherwise, are struggling to fill postdoctoral positions that offer absurdly low pay and benefits. The ad for the postdoctoral position mentioned in this article (https://careers.insidehighered.com/job/2411969/post-doctoral-fellow-genetics-and-biochemistry) does not even specify a salary range. While the NIH recommended ranges are already low, I know spring 2022 Ph.D.s from top-10 departments who were offered postdoctoral positions at below $50 K salary! What a joke. Faculty should be on the front lines demanding better funding for postdoctoral salaries. Instead, the wring their hands as funding agencies balk at livable salaries for Ph.D. researchers. And we wonder why our national research enterprise is losing ground on the world stage?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com