In this post, we define Different Types of Postdoctoral Jobs. As a fresh PhD graduate or a Postdoctoral researcher, finding a Postdoc position is sometimes tricky and stressful.

After a PhD, what are your options for continuing your academic career as a Postdoc Researcher?

In particular, if your current contract is close to ending, your visa is expiring, or you are very concerned about your future. No matter what is the reason, you might ask yourself how on the earth I can find a Postdoc?! If any of the mentioned is your issue, continue reading this post.

Different Types of Postdoctoral Jobs

Before applying for a Postdoc, it is important to understand the different types of Postdoc positions available and figure out their differences. We can in categorize the postdoc possibilities into three main categories:

Individual Fellowships
Postdoc Positions
Self-Funded Postdoc

Let us explain each of these categories and then provide you with some hints and advice on how to find a relevant postdoc in each group.

Individual Fellowship

Individual Fellowship which is also known in some countries as scholarship or bursary is a type of Postdoc where the applicant (PhD holder) apply to a funding body to get a level of financial support to work on a proposed project for a limited period of time. In this case, the candidate should first the funding body which offers postdoc fellowships. Among the different types of postdoctoral jobs, individual fellowship is the most prestigious one. The next step is to find a Professor, supervisor or a research centre that agrees to host the postdoc.

Please note that in most cases, hosting a Postdoc under these schemes does not cost anything to the host institute or there is very little cost (read the relevant funding body instruction to find out more). The next step is to propose a research subject that is in line with your previous experience and has a great match for the host professor’s expertise. The general expectation is that you propose the research project and the host professor just verifies that. Then, you will start writing a proposal which can be between 3-10 pages depending on the funding body. The length of the proposal is not an optional factor and is dictated by the funding body. Therefore, you should carefully read the “Application Guideline” for each fellowship to make sure that the lengths, contents and objectives of your proposal are in perfect alignment with the goals set out by the funding body. Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship is among the most respected fellowships. If interested, read our earlier post about the MSC-IF.

Postdoc Supervisor or Mentor

Your prospective supervisor (host professor) will probably comment and provide you with feedback, but drafting the proposal is your job! If you have gone already through these steps, you can read about proposal writing here. Then, you will submit the proposal to the funding body for assessment. In general, similar to a peer-review journal publication, your proposal will be assessed and judged by anonymous referees. If it meets the requirements of the funding body and most importantly if it is scored the highest among the proposals, you will be offered the fellowship. In some cases, there is also an interview step beside the proposal application. In those cases, you will be shortlisted based on the score of your proposal and will be invited for an interview with the selection committee of the funding body. If your scores on both steps are among the highest, you will be the Fellowship Holder! In general, the assessment stages of the fellowships could take between 5-and 12 months. Having considered the time for finding the idea, writing the proposal, finding the right host and coming to an agreement with the host, the whole procedure can be even much longer. So, make sure to start the procedure right and start your proposal writing well ahead of the ending of your current contract or PhD (if you are still doing the PhD). Our advice is to start the procedure at least a year before the time you want to start your Postdoc. So, if you want to do a Postdoc a few months from now, this is not certainly an option fr you to read the next type of Postdoc below (Postdoc Positions). In short, this type of postdoc is a very competitive, rather long procedure and you are expected to compete with many qualified postdocs around the world.

No doubt that getting a foot on a postdoc job through the fellowship is the most difficult way to secure a postdoc but it is the most prestigious and valuable form of a postdoc. It means, that if you can get through these steps and be able to attract the funding, your path to the next step of your career, in particular in academia, is much easier. The major advantage of this type of Postdoc is the high level of independence as you are working on your own project and idea. So, most of the time, you can be the corresponding author of the papers coming from your research alongside your supervisor.

Postdoctoral Positions

This type of Postdoc is very similar to short-term jobs. Here, the host professor (your prospective supervisor or mentor) has already received funding from a funding agency or a company or any other sources. So, your jobs are this time much easier as you should only convince the host professor that you are the best-qualified person for that position. The procedure is very straightforward as you have to apply either directly to the host professor by email or through the job portal of the host university. That very much depends on the host institutions and most of the time, the latter is the case.

You can find some guidelines and hints on:

The major advantage of this type of Postdoc to Postdoctoral Fellowship explained above is the fact that the time between your application and start of your job can be as little as two months. The reason is very simple. The funding is already secured and the only stage between your application and getting the job is your track record and the interview. So, if you can do the interview right and are selected, you can start the post rather quickly.

In contrast to the Postdoctoral Fellowship explained above, if you are hired through a Postdoc Position, you will have almost no independence and are expected to follow the advice and wills of your supervisor or mentor. Therefore, you cannot generally be the corresponding author of the paper out of the project. In many cases, you will have other duties than research such as co-supervision of undergraduate or PhD students or teaching assistant responsibility.

Self-Funded Postdoctoral Positions

As the name suggests, this type of Postdoc is equivalent to buying experience with your pocket money! The procedure is as follows, you either have your own funds (your savings for instance) or you receive grants or support from your current employer. A typical example of that is for researchers or academics in developing countries who receive funding from their universities to spend abroad one or two years earning new experiences and knowledge and get back to their institutions at the end of the Postdoc. We call this type of postdoc “Irregular Postdoc” as there are no defined rules for that and it solely depends on the hosting institute regulations, and the agreement of the applicant and the host professor. For instance, in Germany or France, you are not expected most of the time to pay any money besides your own personal cost to do a self-funding postdoc. But in the UK or US, it is common that you pay some money as bench-cost or laboratory access or etc besides your own living expenses.

You can find all the available Postdoctoral research positions in different countries here.

Postdoc Positions in Europe: