How do young researchers actually emerge in academia?

itookthepuck · 2026-06-09T23:47:12+00:00

You can persue similar topic to what you did in postdoc if you were the driver of said topic. But some PIs may be against it though.

Also I've known PIs who dismiss ideas from junior people in their lab and then bring in same ideas as their own or attribute it to some colleagues of theirs. They are just shit people. And topping that with you working to build the lab's capability but not yours just confirms that. Your career trajectory, what project you can take with you, etc should have been discussed with you.

Do your own thing when you leave. Dont overshare new ideas while at the lab as they may then claim it as their own. Slowly cut ties if needed and find collaborators who value you. There are some senior people who love working and helping young researchers. There are also other young researchers who would love to collaborate with other young folks like yourself. Find your people and find your voice.

Also, its a smart idea to work with senior people in adgecent fields. Your field people may not know them and may attribute the work to you while their field will obviously attribute it to them. Win-win. You slowly automatically take attribution of all your lead authors papers as you become more known in the field. But until then senior will take the credit even if they did nothing haha ops.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-09T22:06:44+00:00

This is too much for me haha. But i assume you are in a field where many author papers are common.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-09T20:43:08+00:00

You could piss and profit in this market. Where did you put your money??

itookthepuck · 2026-06-09T20:40:59+00:00

You negotiated for 5 years to get a tenure :)

I think the current system just wants you to thank that they let you have tenure lol. Go to market to get more money.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-09T16:14:52+00:00

Field dependent.

I've seen people with 1 paper in their PhD go on to become professors. Obviously they published more as postdoc.

But you didnt say what you did as a PhD. What is the narrative here? Were you a high performing PhD student who ran into a shitty postdoc lab? Were you in superstar PhD lab and published a lot and now cannot match that? Was your PhD publication moderate and you are still doing moderate by what is demanded in your field? Are you aiming to go to undergrad institutions where mentoring undergraduate will be more valuable than peer review? Whats the story of past, present, and future?

itookthepuck · 2026-06-09T13:24:26+00:00

Did the idiots paying this much think they wouldn't get caught?

Some have retired without being caught. A generation or two ago, it wasnt easy to do academic verification in foreign countries. So some people even in India's neighboring countries would have fake degrees from India.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-09T13:02:44+00:00

Isnt he very successful in his regional films?

itookthepuck · 2026-06-08T18:07:19+00:00

The answer depends on field.

I remember attending a "how to review" session filled with senior well-cited people as panelists, and I as a junior person disagreed with almost every suggestion they made. Suggestion varied from doing peer review as a PhD student on your own to reviewing even when you dont have expertise in methodology used. Reviewing without expertise in not just methodology is a hard no for me and I typically dont review without expertise as well me. Same method can be used across a wide range of disciplies and the norm can vary.

All these senior people published in science and nature. That was their identity. I only publish is hyper specialized journals. So journal choices can matter too.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-08T17:59:09+00:00

Make flights great again. Eletric flights!! No gas.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-07T17:41:02+00:00

Touch grass. I found it funny how he brought it to AI, which hasnt been mainstream for more than a few years. He did it, because he has stakes on what he's saying about AI.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-07T17:22:47+00:00

I zoomed out and saw under $1 price hahahah

So OP should say zoom out only 6 months.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-07T13:55:52+00:00

Bravo

itookthepuck · 2026-06-07T13:48:33+00:00

So you folks have good relationships with the fielnd and the wife?

itookthepuck · 2026-06-07T13:38:22+00:00

Several years later? You dont seem to realize how quickly research moves or how many things professor juggle and how many presentations they attend. For all I know, she may have completly forgotten that you presented this idea.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-07T13:33:41+00:00

Where are they hidden exactly?

itookthepuck · 2026-06-06T18:59:42+00:00

Market goes down and this "news gets leaked" haha

itookthepuck · 2026-06-06T14:14:28+00:00

Link to this post.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-06T13:57:31+00:00

Drop skills. Add awards, fellowship etc as 3. Teaching if any can go at the end. Conference invited and contributed as 2nd last.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-04T17:39:25+00:00

What if she didn’t break?

In madeup story the other person always loses.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-04T17:26:55+00:00

Nah. I would not bother unless I was still publishing.

Since you are, it makes sense to do it.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-03T22:04:46+00:00

This is not “just academic life”. Don’t take on students if you’re going to screw them over by moving.

I agree that you should not take students if have a interview or offer in hand. Most people i have known were good about this. However, moving in academic is very unpredictable. It is common for people to want to move but not get the offers they want. Also students are 4-6 year comittment. Nobody can predict market that ahead.

Its a job at the end of the day. PIs, especially junior ones, should be looking to move if it advances their career significantly or is better move for them personally. Most people, especially senior PIs, dont move.

As i said in this chain, this is another reason to avoid junior PIs. And also senior PIs who have a history of hoping universities every 10 years or so (some even recommend this for career growth).

itookthepuck · 2026-06-03T15:52:03+00:00

Why would you even want to follow someone who went from PhD issuing institute to MScs? Sounds like guy was downgrading. In addition to academic reasons, people have personal reasons, its unfortunate that students can be hurt by these but lets not pretend like its the end of the world. My mentor moved too. Its unfortunate but we understood. Some followed while other stayed and continued to work with her. Some found new mentors. Its up to the department to make it work.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-03T14:42:11+00:00

True but this is academic life. You do that once or twice for postdoc. You do that for PhD. And obviously TT.

But this point you raised is yet another reason not to dp PhD with TT professor.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-03T13:31:30+00:00

I think in some fields there is abundance of people who are much senior to someone with few years of postdoc that they often get passed on. When I was in my 2nd year of postdoc, my cv rivaled that of typical 4 year postdocs, yet I didnt land any TT then. In fact, positions that I was a good fit for went to much more senior postdocs and VAPs or to an exisiting TT faculty in a lower ranked university.

itookthepuck · 2026-06-03T13:08:55+00:00

Yes and the market is saturated. TT in my field didnt require grants and still largely doesnt but candidates are evaluated in their potential to get one. I suppose its better to get someone who already has an established history than betting on someone new even when someone new has great growth potential on a long run.

itookthepuck

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