PostDoc Discussion Forum

I have already submitted the thesis for examination. I am wondering whether it is possible to start e-mail potential postdoc supervisor and start the postdoc while waiting for PhD viva.

I have heard that a year before you expect to finish is a good time to start thinking about it (supervisors have said "you need to start thinking about it now"). Why is this? Does the application process take much longer than a normal job?

Sorry for hijacking this thread - but it is on topic at least.

Hi, yes you can start a postdoc without having had your viva. I did this and so did several other people I know.

Tudor, I don't know why they say this, because in reality once you get a post doc they want you to start asap and if you are nowhere near finishing your thesis they will probably give the post to someone who is. For most positions you just need a CV and a cover letter, and it's a standard month until deadline and then month wait to hear back for interview date within a month. This is for biology though - it's obviously different in other fields.

I think when you start applying depends on your financial situation. Ideally, I would have started in between submission and viva and be writing up my papers at the same time. It wasn't fun having to start a postdoc because I needed the cash when I had just finished (not even submitted) my thesis. It then took me a year to write 3 papers in evenings and weekends after work (which to be fair, is still quicker that most).

Same, except they refused to upgrade me after I had been awarded the PhD. I was told this was at the whim of the supervisor and she was known to be tight. One of the many reasons I left the contract early. Loyalty and respect needs to go both ways. If they didn't value me as an employee, then why should I value them as an employer?