Mentoring Resources
Best Practices for Finding the Right Postdoc
Roles and Responsibilities of the Postdoc and the Adviser
Compact Between Postdoctoral Appointees and their Mentors
Best Practices for Finding the Right Postdoc
The relationship between the adviser and the postdoc is of prime importance if the postdoctoral experience is to be beneficial to both parties. Therefore, when choosing a Postdoc you need to find a Postdoc that will be the right fit for your lab, not just the right fit for your research but also the right fit with your work ethics and your mentoring style.
Best Practices
Have a face-to-face interview with a perspective Postdoc. If that is not possible then a video conference is a good alternative.
When contacting the applicant’s references make sure to get feedback on the applicant’s work ethics, communication style, and how he/she had handled stressful work situations or research set-backs.
Discuss your expectations about the Postdocs role in your lab and the responsibilities that you expect the Postdoc to take on.
Discuss your work ethics and your mentoring style with the perspective Postdoc.
Have a colleague and/or current Postdoc in your lab interview the perspective Postdoc to get a second opinion.
Resources
"At the Helm: A Laboratory Navigator” by Kathy Barker.
Barker gives practical advice on how to interview and select technicians, postdocs, and students in addition to training, motivating, and mentoring them. She also touches on how to deal with the toughest personnel issues: fixing communication problems, resolving conflicts, helping lab members’ deal with stress and depression, keeping up lab morale, and knowing when to let someone go who isn't working out.
“Making the Right Moves” by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute
and the Burroughs Wellcome FundThis lab management book includes a chapter on recruiting, screening, interviewing, and evaluating applicants.
Roles and Responsibilities of the Postdoc and the Adviser
A number of organizations, recognizing the importance of this relationship, have prepared reports and weighed-in on the respective roles of the adviser and the postdoc:
The Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP) of the National Academy of Sciences has prepared a report that addresses five primary populations, all of whom participate in the postdoctoral experience: the postdoctoral officers themselves, their advisers, their host institutions, the agencies and organizations that support them and professional disciplinary societies. It is also intended for senior-level graduate students who may be contemplating postdoctoral work. The report states that the postdoc “has a quid pro quo relationship with the research community”.
In order to enhance this relationship we are also providing, a “Roles and Responsibilities” document for both postdocs and their advisers.
Internal Resources
External Resources
"Making the Right Moves: A Practical Guide to Scientific
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs was created, in part, to provide administrative support to postdocs, faculty and administrators in all facets of a postdoc’s experience while at Columbia. We hope to be a starting point to identify resources available to you while hiring your postdoc, the resolution of any problems that you may have, and of course, a resource for your postdoc.
Please do not hesitate to contact Lily Secora, Director of Postdoctoral Affairs at postdocaffairs@columbia.edu. You can also reach OPA by phone at 212-305-4073 if you have any questions or concerns with respect to your postdocs.
Compact Between Postdoctoral Appointees and their Mentors
The Compact was drafted by the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Group on Graduate, Research, Education, and Training and its Postdoctorate Committee. Its intent is to “initiate discussions at the local and national levels about the postdoctoral appointee-mentor relationship and the commitments necessary for a high quality postdoctoral training experience.”
According to this Compact, core tenets of postdoctoral training include:
- Institutional Commitment
- Quality Postdoctoral Training
- Importance of Mentoring in Postdoctoral Training
- Foster Breadth and Flexibility in Career Choices
The Compact Between Postdoctoral Appointees and their Mentors details necessary commitments of both postdoctoral appointees and mentors.