Ep. 0 - Welcome to PhinDing Answers! transcript

[JINGLE:

What, who, why, when, where? This is PhinDing Answers.

Music: Eggy Toast - Lose your head]

OLAYA: Are you about to finish your PhD?

PETER: Or are you a recent graduate with your shining title in hand?

OLAYA: Or maybe a current postdoc uncertain with what you’re getting from your experience?

PETER: In this podcast miniseries PHinDing answers (with a PhD) we talk about some of the many options for PhD degree holders and how doing a postdoc is just one of those options.

OLAYA: Is it the right path for you?

PETER: And what is a postdoc anyway?

OLAYA: Why should you do one? In this podcast former postdoc host Dr. Olaya Fernandez Gayol and Dr. Peter Myers address the questions around the postdoc position with a panel of guests, spanning career stages, choices, and geographical locations. Let’s find some answers together.

[JINGLE]

OLAYA: Woohoo!

PETER: Weeeee!

Both: Hello everyone!

OLAYA: My name is Olaya Fernandez Gayol. I’m currently a Content Specialist at bioRxiv and medRxiv. These are preprint servers handled by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, open science for the win!

PETER: Woo.

OLAYA: Yes, I did My PhD neuroscience in Barcelona, finished 2017 feels like ages ago, in Spain and there I even created my own transgenic mouse. Isn’t that amazing?

PETER: Aw.

OLAYA: It’s pretty cool. We can, you can ask me questions about it.

PETER:

OLAYA: After that I did a three-year postdoc at Columbia University and there, I spent a lot of time, probably more than I wanted to, poking tiny holes in mouse brains. One thing I realized while I was doing my postdoc, is that some postdocs are treated like technicians in their supervisors projects, and they’re not really encouraged to be very independent. Others might have supervisory roles on their projects, but then they’re completely focused on the research and they have little going on professionally or personally. Also we are very underpaid for our level training, cuz like at that point we already have like 20 years behind us.

PETER: True that.

OLAYA: And... So why do we do it? But like we all know that academic positions are so few and hard to get for the number of people who actually have a PhD. [PETER: Yep] Are we just masochists?

PETER: Yes

OLAYA: I knew I did not wanna go down that path. So what I did during my postdoc, was that I was a very, and I mean very involved with the postoc association at Columbia. And then I became really passionate about career development for scientists and opening people's minds about discovering all the careers that you can pursue as a PhD holder. And hence, this podcast was born. I saw this as an opportunity to leverage the network I had built and then reach many, many more people who might benefit from hearing a variety of experiences related to a postoc and what you can do with it. One of those people was Peter and he's not only currently involved in postoc affairs at WashU, St. Louis, but he's also an experienced podcaster. Win, win for everyone.

PETER: That’s very kind of you to call me and experienced podcaster, but…

OLAYA: I think it’s the truth.

PETER: I guess it, it is true. I do have a podcast that's been running for over almost two years, something like that. I don't know. [OLAYA: Wow]. Anyway, hello everyone. My name is Peter Myers and as Olaya alluded, I am currently a Program Manager for the office of post-doctoral affairs at Washington university in St. Louis, as we noted, I am also a podcaster and that's actually a true crime podcast called "Try trial again."

OLAYA: I was on it, trytraumatized by the Ohio turnpike.

PETER: My bad. So when Olaya approached me about this idea around talking about postdocs and what a postdoc is for a podcast I had to jump in because it's actually very similar to an idea I had once pitched to my partner and podcast partner as something that would be fun to do. It got shut down initially. But then, when OLAYA approached me, I was like, yes, this is what we're doing, cuz I think it's important. [OLAYA: Yay]. So I'm very excited that my dreams are finally coming true.

OLAYA: You’re welcome.

PETER: I appreciate it. You’re like the tooth fairy or a fairy godmother. So I guess in terms of my postdoc experience or how I got to where I am right now, it’s an odd story maybe, but we’re going to give it a try. So here we go, grew up in a small, tiny town in upstate New York, decided to go get a bachelor’s in physics and studio art. Then I became a certified yoga instructor, moved to New York City during a financial crisis and became a massage therapist and personal trainer to pay the bills. I then enjoyed life in New York City for six years, decided touching bodies and asking people to do better squats was no longer interesting in my life. So I decided to get a movement science PhD at WashU. After studying Parkinson’s disease, I moved into a neurology lab for my postdoctoral training and then became Program Manager at the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs here at Washington University because it turns out I really like to organize and design things, rather than write manuscripts.

OLAYA: Wow.

PETER: Yep.

OLAYA: Just wow, Peter

PETER: That's my life story in a sound nugget.

OLAYA: And that could be a podcast in… in its own.

PETER: Not sure how many people would listen, but maybe I’ll try it. So Olaya, what is it that we’re trying to do here?

OLAYA: So we’re trying to explore the postoc experience from different angles and personal stories. So we have put together an awesome roster of current and past postdocs and an academic administrator who was also a postdoc herself. And we will be talking to Kaela Singleton, current postdoc at Emory University, she’s interested in launching her own lab. Upasana Roy who’s currently a postdoc at Columbia University, she wants to pursue a non-research career so we are gonna get that outside of academia angle as well. We’re also talking to Serena Tucci an assistant professor at Yale University as a career in academia representative. Also Jenny Bratburd, who’s currently an outreach coordinator at NASA Health and Air Quality Applied Science team.

PETER: So fancy.

OLAYA: And finally Ericka Peterson, Executive Director of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at Columbia University, as sort of that administrative side of things. All episodes revolve around the classic journalism 5Ws: what, who, why, when and where, with a lot of sidetracks. This is specific to each guest we, we did go off topic for a little bit in each episode, we will find out what a postdoc is, what they do, who is a postdoc, why you should do or shouldn't do a postdoc, when to do it and where, which is very important as you'll find out. Through our guests' personal journeys, we will try to extract themes and tips that might help you decide whether a postdoc is a good move in your career and how to make sure you get the most of it should you choose to do one. We also want to encourage all of you listening to let us know about your experiences, whether you're thinking about a postoc or you're currently doing one. We'll have have a final episode where Peter and I will recap, reflect, and also share some of the stories that you send us. So make sure to write to us at [phindinganswers@gmail.com](mailto:phindinganswers@gmail.com) or contact us on Twitter [@phindinganswers](https://twitter.com/phindinganswers). And remember, we spell that weird with a P-H-i-n-D.

PETER: With all of that said, we should also note that even though a lot of these questions are general and can apply to postdocs anywhere in the world, our hosts that’s you and me, Olaya, and all of our guests are based in the US. So we recognize that their personal experiences are tied to the US, are very US centric, but we’re sure that they can also be useful to anyone out there in the world who is trying to find some answers. Also, we should probably note that all of our conversations were recorded in late 2021, but the lessons are timeless so don’t let that stop you from learning from these conversations. Also, I guess, so that no one gets sued here. We just want to be clear that all of the opinions expressed in this podcast, by the hosts, by the guests, they are simply personal statements. They are personal opinions and they do not represent the opinions of the institutions at which they work. So don’t sue us. Thanks.

OLAYA: Please.

OLAYA: One final piece of housekeeping. We will be releasing each of our episodes every Saturday, starting next week. And again, remember, there will be a final episode after we talk to each of our guests where we will gather listeners’ comments and reflect on the themes we have discussed across the mini-series. We hope you enjoy our show. For now, you can visit our website at phindinganswers.github.io. That’s P-H-I-N-D-I-N-G-A-N-S-W-E-R-S dot G-I-T-H-U-B dot I-O. You can also follow us on Twitter @phindinganswers, again: P-H-I-N-D. And subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to your podcast. See you soon!

[MUSIC: Eggy Toast - Lose your head]