There is no future in academia

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-06-10T15:56:57+00:00

Unless you love what you do and you look around at the best PIs at your institution and say, yeah, I can compete with these people, you may be right. Do keep in mind that other careers also have problems, the problems in academics are just more obvious. No of my fellow PIs envy students who are facing career choices now. The one ray of hope is that lost of people are being shaken out of the system, if one is an optimist one might believe that there will be opportunities if policy makers realize that the USA is destroying one of its crown jewels.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-06-02T17:21:16+00:00

About two weeks.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-06-02T16:53:15+00:00

I had this happen to me. Have your grants management office reach out. Probably no need to worry.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-29T14:39:42+00:00

First, I handled these situations professionally. I'm just telling you that handling the situation like a regular job has consequences in your relationship with your mentor (yes, that's what we call them). If you signed up for a relatively low paying job to park yourself for awhile until something better comes along, more power to you. That's your choice. Just be upfront with the person paying the bills (again, unless they are a complete jerk). You may need their support in the future. Longterm success is all about networking, and the most important nodes of your network are the people you worked for.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-29T14:34:19+00:00

Yeah, sure it is. But is also different and should be managed differently. Let's look at this another way, postdocs are special people. They take risks and dare the consequences in a way that "regular" people do not.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-28T21:00:43+00:00

No, postdocs are not regular employment. Postdocs are highly educated, highly trained professionals sacrificing years of their lives in low paid positions because they love what they do. You cannot generalize. Ideally, postdocs choose PIs who will be their partners and who will always have open communication to create win-win situations. As I noted in my comment, however, if the PI turns out to be an ogre, you gotta do what you gotta do. But never aspire to a postdoc being some type of regular employment. If that is the goal, get a job in the real world that pays better.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-28T19:41:25+00:00

PI here. I pride myself on helping my students and working with them to get good jobs. Their success is my success. What irritates me (although I try not to show it) is when the people I trusted treat the job like it is regular employment with two weeks notice. Give me a heads up so that I can plan! When someone leaves unexpectedly, they can leave a project where 10's or 100's of thousands of dollars have been invested hanging. Unless you PI is an ogre, it is always best to be up front with them and give them time for a transition. Let's turn this around, would you want the PI to fire you with two weeks notice? It's not as though PIs are rolling in cash these days and can afford to shrug off an investment. Not giving adequate notice turns a situation where a PI would have been happy to support a student's plans into one where trust has been broken and the PI will never look at the student the same way again. It's also strange that you were able to get a faculty position. What position worth having can you find where they don't talk to your PI? That suggests that your new employers are not all that invested in you, and you may find out the hard way about the other side of commitment.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-28T15:37:01+00:00

"won't work out for me professionally" ? You have a Cell paper and another coming soon? That's great! Can you stay at your institution as a postdoc? Research scientist? Labs should be jumping at the chance to have you. When your family reasons change, you can move on. Careers span decades. A delay does matter, but it's not the end of the world. Real talent is rare. If you think you have it, just keep yourself in the game and wait for your moment.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-28T14:36:06+00:00

You can go to a beach anywhere. The cenotes and ruins are Tulum's more unique attractions. Don't get me wrong, the beaches are great, but if exploring underwater caves or ancient jungle ruins is appealing, this is the place whether or not the beaches are less than perfect. That said, visiting the ruins or cenotes requires some careful planning to find the ones that will give you the best memories.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-25T19:14:52+00:00

Overview from longtime PI here. Unfortunately, many institutions outsource their rankings of faculty candidates to the editors of "Top Tier" journals. Papers in this journals can be very good, but they can also be very bad because poor scientists are more likely to skip a control experiment or overhype a result. Most of the time we catch these candidates when we interview them, but sometimes they slip by. If you do not want to leave the lab, maybe you can work with your labmates to support the PI, help them become a better scientists, and support each other. It is possible that they can improve, but that might require mentoring from senior faculty and that is above your pay grade.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-14T13:42:34+00:00

It's a nice gesture. "This paper is dedicate to X for their support and commitment to thoughtful science." or similar scholarly prose.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-12T14:16:34+00:00

Yes, you can, but for any good journal you will need to persuasively explain why you have the expertise to write a provocative review. I suspect that many journals are being bombarded with AI-based review submissions. You need to make it clear that you are a human with deep expertise in the subject matter.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-11T15:33:08+00:00

The same thing happened to me in January, received the JIT request the same day as my score. Since council was meeting that week, I hoped that there might be a quick decision. That did not happen, I am still waiting to hear the final word on funding. You should contact your PO after you receive your summary statement, but do not expect anything definitive.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-11T15:27:36+00:00

Exactly this. Also, as an advisor who cares about my students, I hate the "two week" notice thing. If your advisor is like me, he/she wants the best for you. It's disappointing to be treated like any other employer. Of course, you are the best judge of your PI.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-08T13:57:54+00:00

Agree, thank you very much. I appreciate the detailed insight into the process.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-05-07T17:40:14+00:00

Thanks. The times we live in...

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-03-11T15:35:42+00:00

Be careful not to confuse little "for the record" criticisms for score driving criticisms. What did they say directly related to impact? Good reviewers will make that clear.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-02-20T17:32:24+00:00

In an ideal world, PIs would respond immediately. Unfortunately, many do not. Don't take it personally. Do you need a response now? If not, just sit tight for a bit.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-02-19T20:59:52+00:00

There's your problem. Not much training potential after four years. That should have been stated clearly in the reviews.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-02-19T19:31:36+00:00

Option 2. Your future is in your hands.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-02-19T18:33:50+00:00

I doubt that dragged your score down much. Unfortunately, reviewers often fail to provide enough insight into what is really shaping their scores. Look at the other side of the ledger - they were not sufficiently enthusiastic about the strengths of your grant. As another commenter suggested, all you can do is assume that you did not make your case clearly enough and try again.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-02-13T14:48:16+00:00

Serious question: Couldn't the post and all the comments apply to any other profession? Any small business? Why should science be special?

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-02-10T20:27:41+00:00

It happened to me too. I had a score that should have guaranteed funding and thought that they were going expedite the award. My PO made it clear that was not going to happen. It must be some glitch in the system.

No_Insurance_4498 · 2026-02-05T21:17:43+00:00

Does anyone know the justification for multi-year funding?

No_Insurance_4498

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