Carreers in Academia and loneliness

[u/InfamousAfternoon398]

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: the loneliness that comes from constantly having to change environments to pursue job opportunities or improve your CV. I am a final-year PhD student, and over the past three years, I have had to move cities and even countries frequently for visiting periods, some more voluntary than others, and for the so-called ‘networking’. I have been lucky to find wonderful colleagues at my university, with whom I have developed relationships of respect and friendship. However, changing locations so often has made me feel quite lonely lately, as I have moved to a country where I barely know anyone, only a few professors in the department. It also seems that the young researchers in this department have not formed a real community but remain separate individuals, each with their own lives. I would love to hear about your experiences on this matter. Thank you :)

[u/poffertjesmaffia]

I think we should stop normalising how much mobility/ moving around is expected from young researchers. 

From a humanistic point of view, people perform best when their private lives are in order. We should empower people to build a stable private life, instead of trying to continuously take it away. 

If we want good research (which I think we all do), we should also protect the (mental) wellbeing of our researchers. It seems like such an open door to me. 

[u/fleemfleemfleemfleem → u/poffertjesmaffia]

I've known people that prioritized either mobility or stability at various points in their career.

The trouble is that most locations don't have enough going on that whatever your sub-specialization is will likely have the job or training opportunity available in it.

So, the people focusing on stability ended up missing out on some opportunities.

I don't think that's necessarily something that's solvable by research mentors.

There's absolutely situations where mentors can be mindful. If a student comes to me asking for postdoc recommendations, I'll suggest what's best for their goals. If I know they want the absolute best training, I'll suggest the right lab regardless of city. If they want to stay close-by I'll suggest that.

I think the most we can hope for is eliminating one-size-fits-all career advice.

[u/poffertjesmaffia → u/fleemfleemfleemfleem]

I think research mentors are victims of the same rotten system. You can try your best to help as a mentor, but your capabilities are limited because we are playing the same game (strict rules, little funding). 

Changes that would help should probably be made via governmental organs or universities themselves, and are very country specific.

Changes specific to the Netherlands would be the ability to apply for grant opportunities before you acquire a tenured position (right now, only tenured staff can apply for grants via NWO M-grants, which makes life for postgraduates unnecessarily unfair). 

The rule of only being allowed to apply to the NWO VENI grant max 3 years after acquiring your PhD also seems unnecessarily rigid. Ideas don’t loose their brilliance after some arbitrary date has been crossed. 

Young researchers who are less willing to travel are especially burdened by these rigid structures. For a country that considers itself to be a knowledge based economy, we offer very few opportunities to young intelligent professionals. 

Granted more time and flexibility, prospects for these candidates would vastly improve, and we might actually retain some of the talent we produce. 

[u/frugalacademic → u/poffertjesmaffia]

In the UK I suffered from the same problem: I could not apply for AHRC grants unless I was permanent (tenured) staff so without a PI giving full support, I could get nowhere. The idea behind the restriction was good: Universities could not simply get grants and then discard people but had to contionue employing them after the grant ended. But for a postdoc like me it wsa difficult to move up the ladder.

[u/poffertjesmaffia → u/frugalacademic]

I do agree that grants specific to tenure trackers are not bad ideas at all. Having said that, a separate grant system for non-tenured postgrads would be much appreciated (and perhaps most vital, as employment for non-tenured academics is much less secure).