What is a postdoc, and why do so many newly minted PhDs treat it as the default next step when faculty jobs feel distant and industry roles feel uncertain? If you have just defended your dissertation, you are likely encountering postdoctoral roles in job ads, conference conversations, and funding calls. Yet the term can mean different things across disciplines, countries, and funding systems, which makes decision-making harder than it needs to be.
This guide defines the postdoc in practical terms, explains what postdocs actually do day to day, clarifies who benefits most from a postdoctoral appointment, and provides a field-tested approach for finding and securing strong opportunities. It is written for academic researchers who want clarity, not mystique.
A data point to anchor the scale: in the United States, the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) reported 65,850 postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health fields in 2023, up 4.9% from 2022. A roughly comparable UK proxy (not a one-to-one match) is HESA “research only” academic staff, which totaled 50,155 in 2023/24 across UK higher education providers.
What is a postdoc in plain language?
At the simplest level, what is a postdoc? It is a time-limited research appointment undertaken after completing a doctoral degree (or an equivalent terminal degree in some fields). It is designed to deepen your research expertise, expand your publication and funding record, and position you for a next-step role, often a faculty position, research scientist role, or industry research track.
The most important part of that definition is not the job title. It is the underlying function: postdoctoral training is a structured period of advanced research development that is intended to produce measurable scholarly outputs and career capital.
What does “postdoc” mean operationally?
In operational terms, what is a postdoc?
A research-focused role after the PhD
Usually hosted in a lab, research group, institute, or center
Often funded by a grant, fellowship, or institutional line
Structured around outputs: papers, preprints, datasets, software, patents, proposals, and presentations
Time-limited, typically measured in months or a few years rather than decades
In many systems, a postdoc is explicitly temporary. For example, NIH Kirschstein-NRSA policy limits postdoctoral fellowship support to three years, even though many postdocs are funded through other mechanisms.
How long does a postdoc last?
If you ask five researchers “what is a postdoc,” you may get five answers partly because duration varies by discipline and country. In practice:
Many postdocs run 1 to 3 years per appointment.
Some fields normalize 4 to 5 total years across one or more postdoctoral roles.
Some institutions impose caps. Stanford, for example, describes a five-year cap on postdoc training time (including time at other institutions).
The right duration is not “as long as possible.” A postdoc is most valuable when it is tied to a specific development plan and a clear exit strategy.
Core definition: what is a postdoc meant to accomplish?
A postdoctoral role is best understood as an investment period. The institution receives skilled research labor; you receive accelerated professional development, mentorship, and the chance to build a research identity beyond your dissertation.
If you are still asking what is a postdoc supposed to do for you, the most credible answer is: it should change your trajectory. That change should be visible in your CV, in your network, and in the kinds of roles you can realistically win next.
Key duties and roles
Postdocs do not merely continue their PhD work. Strong postdoctoral roles widen scope and raise standards. Typical responsibilities include:
Designing and running studies (experimental, computational, archival, or field-based)
Owning a project pipeline from hypothesis to dissemination
Writing and revising manuscripts, often at high volume
Contributing to grant writing, budget planning, and reporting
Mentoring graduate students, research assistants, and sometimes undergraduates
Building research infrastructure (codebases, protocols, lab automation, datasets)
Presenting at conferences and representing the group externally
Common focus areas often look like this:
Lab work and instrumentation
Data analysis, modeling, and reproducible workflows
Manuscript production and peer review
Grant applications and fellowship submissions
Mentorship and team leadership
In other words, what is a postdoc in day-to-day terms? It is a research job with an unusually high expectation of scholarly output and professional growth.
A realistic example (illustrative, not a real person)
To make the concept concrete, imagine a physics PhD who joins a top research university as a postdoc. Over two years, they publish several papers, build a collaboration across two labs, co-write a grant proposal, and leave with a clear research niche and senior-letter writers beyond their PhD advisor.
This kind of outcome is common in strong environments, but it is not automatic. What is a postdoc worth depends heavily on mentorship, project design, and whether your outputs are visible and portable.
Who benefits most from a postdoc?
You should not do a postdoc because it is common. You should do one if it is the best available mechanism to reach your next role.
So, what is a postdoc for, strategically? It is for candidates who need more research independence, stronger publications, or a clearer professional narrative to compete.
Ideal candidates
Postdocs are most common in:
Life sciences and biomedical research
Chemistry and materials
Physics and astronomy
Engineering and computer science (especially academic tracks)
Psychology and cognitive science
Quantitative social science and interdisciplinary data science
Some humanities areas where postdoctoral fellowships provide protected writing time
A postdoc can also be useful for scholars who are changing subfields, moving into a new method (for example, adding causal inference, advanced microscopy, or machine learning), or repositioning from a niche dissertation topic to a broader research program.
Career benefits that matter to academic researchers
When postdocs work, the benefits are concrete:
Publication velocity increases because research time is protected relative to many teaching-heavy roles.
Collaboration expands because you are embedded in a larger network and shared infrastructure.
Methods sharpen because you are exposed to advanced tools, workflows, and quality norms.
Funding literacy improves through grants exposure and, ideally, co-writing.
However, you should treat these as hypotheses to test during your search, not promises.
A blunt reality check on academic outcomes
If your implicit reason for asking what is a postdoc is “will it lead to a faculty job,” you need to see the structural constraints. Large-scale analyses consistently show that many postdocs do not remain in academia long term.
For example, an Inside Higher Ed summary of a study covering 45,572 researchers across 19 disciplines reported that 41% of postdocs end up leaving academia, with publication patterns during the postdoc years associated with later outcomes.
Separate evidence also suggests that tenure-track transitions are limited for recent cohorts. A PLOS One analysis reports that fewer than 20% of new graduates and postdoctoral researchers from 2010 to 2013 cohorts transition to tenure-track positions, depending on field and cohort definitions.
This does not mean a postdoc is a mistake. It means the decision must be made with eyes open, and with a plan that supports multiple outcomes.
Actionable takeaway: decide whether your field requires it
If you are still asking what is a postdoc relative to your field, use this decision shortcut:
If your target role is tenure-track in lab-based STEM, a postdoc is often expected.
If your target role is industry R&D, a postdoc may help in some subfields, but it can also delay industry-specific skill accumulation.
If your target role is teaching-focused, a postdoc may be less valuable than direct teaching experience and instructional evidence.
If your field values books or long-form scholarship, a postdoctoral fellowship with protected writing time can be highly strategic.
Steps to get a postdoc that strengthens your research career
Once you accept what is a postdoc in career strategy terms, the next question becomes practical: how do you obtain one that is worth your time?
Public listings matter, but many postdocs are filled through networks, timing, and direct outreach.
Start with:
Nature Careers and Nature Jobs listings
AcademicJobsOnline (common in some disciplines)
Society job boards (for example, ACS, APS, IEEE, MLA, or discipline-specific associations)
University and institute postdoctoral offices (often maintain internal postings)
Funding calls that require a host (for example, MSCA, EMBO, or national fellowships)
Then add the hidden market:
Conference conversations that identify who is growing, hiring, or newly funded
Advisor and committee introductions
Direct outreach to principal investigators whose work aligns with your next-step research narrative
If you only rely on public listings, you are competing in the noisiest pool.
2) Build a short list based on research fit and mentorship quality
If you are serious about what is a postdoc that pays off, prioritize:
Alignment with your future research program, not only your dissertation topic
Evidence that the group publishes regularly and fairly distributes authorship
A mentor who has placed postdocs into roles you want
Access to infrastructure, data, and collaborators you cannot easily obtain elsewhere
A helpful test is this: can you describe, in one paragraph, how this postdoc changes your scholarly identity within 18 months?
3) Prepare the core materials
Most applications require:
A CV tailored to the subfield (include preprints, code, datasets, and talks)
A cover letter or research statement that explains fit and immediate contribution
Two to three references, ideally including your PhD advisor and at least one external collaborator
For research-intensive roles, your writing sample or published work matters more than generic enthusiasm. Treat the packet as an argument that you are already operating at the next level.
4) Use targeted outreach (a high-signal cold email)
Many candidates avoid direct emails because they fear rejection. Yet targeted outreach is often how strong matches are made.
A strong message usually includes:
One sentence on why you are writing (specific to their work)
One sentence on your research identity (topic plus method plus outcome)
One concrete idea for a project or synergy
A link to your best paper or preprint, and optionally your GitHub or portfolio
A clear ask (for example, “Would you be open to a short call to discuss postdoctoral fit?”)
This is not a mass email exercise. It is a precision instrument.
5) Negotiate like a professional, not like a supplicant
When you receive an offer, remember what is a postdoc legally and financially can vary. Some postdocs are employees (salary plus benefits). Others are fellows (stipend, sometimes different benefit rules). Your negotiating targets should include:
Salary or stipend level and annual increases
Health insurance and retirement eligibility
Research and travel funds
Conference attendance expectations
Computing support and access to core facilities
Authorship expectations and project ownership
A formal mentoring plan and evaluation cadence
On compensation, NIH’s NRSA stipend schedule is often used as a reference point in the United States. For FY 2025, it lists $62,232 at 0 years of experience, rising to $75,564 at 7+ years.
Daily life as a postdoc: what to expect
It is easy to ask what is a postdoc and imagine it as “more freedom than a PhD.” Sometimes that is true, but the daily rhythm is demanding.
Typical schedule and workload
A common pattern is:
Mornings: experiments, lab coordination, or deep work blocks for analysis
Midday: meetings (group meeting, one-on-ones, collaborator calls)
Afternoons: writing, code, manuscript revisions, grant drafting
Evenings or weekends: overflow, conference prep, peer review, mentoring check-ins
Work hours can be intense. An OECD evidence review summarizing Nature’s global postdoc survey reported that only 9% of postdocs do not work beyond contracted hours, while about 65% work at least six extra hours per week.
The implication is not that you should accept overwork as inevitable. It is that you should evaluate lab culture and expectations before you join.
Common challenges
If you are asking what is a postdoc because you are worried, your concerns are rational. Common friction points include:
Pay that is modest relative to education level
Uncertain timelines for “independence”
Visa and mobility constraints for international researchers
Ambiguous authorship and project ownership
Limited institutional power compared with faculty
On visas and composition: in the NSF NCSES data, temporary visa holders constituted 57.9% of U.S. postdocs in science, engineering, and health fields in 2023. This is one reason immigration policy, sponsorship norms, and mobility constraints are central realities of the postdoc system.
Rewards and perks that can be real
Despite challenges, postdocs often value:
Research focus with fewer non-research obligations than many staff roles
Access to elite infrastructure and collaborators
The chance to publish in higher-visibility venues
Skill acceleration through dense, high-level feedback
A stronger narrative for funding and future hiring
Again, what is a postdoc worth is strongly conditional on environment.
The postdoc career equation: outcomes, risks, and how to manage them
A postdoc is a bet: you accept constrained pay and temporary status in exchange for higher future option value. You should therefore evaluate it like an investment.
So, what is a postdoc in economic terms? It is a human-capital investment with uncertain returns.
The earnings question is more complex than people admit
Some researchers assume postdocs always increase long-term earnings. Evidence suggests the picture is mixed.
A PLOS One analysis reports that postdoctoral experience can be associated with reduced average yearly earnings over long horizons, with each additional year of postdoctoral experience associated with a reduction in average annual earnings, reflecting early-career opportunity costs.
An NBER working paper finds heterogeneity by sector in the biomedical PhD labor market: it reports a premium in academic non-tenure-track research when skills align, and a penalty in industry when task mismatch is high.
The practical takeaway is straightforward: if your likely exit is industry, you should design your postdoc to build industry-relevant task capital, not only academic outputs.
Common next steps after a postdoc
Most postdocs do not move into tenure-track roles immediately, and many do not move into them at all.
Typical pathways include:
Tenure-track faculty roles (field- and country-dependent, often highly competitive)
Research scientist or staff scientist roles in academia
Industry R&D (biotech, pharma, AI, energy, advanced manufacturing, consulting)
Government labs and policy roles
Nonprofit research institutes
Scientific operations and research software engineering
Entrepreneurship, especially in applied fields with translational potential
If your question is what is a postdoc relative to “staying in academia,” incorporate the base-rate reality that many postdocs exit. A report summarized by Inside Higher Ed found 41% leaving academia in the studied population.
How to thrive in a postdoc: a practical framework for academic researchers
If you decide to do it, treat the postdoc as a managed project with explicit milestones.
When people ask what is a postdoc success, the best answer is not “work hard.” It is “ship outputs that travel with you.”
Set a 90-day plan
Within your first 90 days, aim to lock:
Your primary project and a secondary, lower-risk project
Authorship expectations and target venues
A weekly writing block that is non-negotiable
A reproducible workflow (version control, data management, documentation)
A professional development plan (teaching, leadership, grant writing, industry exposure)
Build a publication pipeline, not a single paper
A common failure mode is to chase a single perfect paper for years. A better strategy is to build a pipeline:
1 flagship project with high impact potential
1 to 2 mid-scale papers that are publishable within 12 months
1 lightweight output stream (methods note, software release, dataset, review)
If you are still asking what is a postdoc, consider this: in many hiring systems, your postdoc is evaluated less by effort and more by visible outputs and independence signals.
Treat funding as a skill, not as luck
Even if you do not plan to become faculty, learning to pitch work is valuable. During your postdoc:
Co-write at least one proposal with your PI
Apply for at least one fellowship or small grant
Maintain a living “grant narrative” document: problem, gap, innovation, approach, feasibility, impact
Professionalize your mentorship role
Mentoring students is not a side task. It is evidence of leadership.
Use short, structured check-ins
Teach reproducibility and documentation as norms
Set boundaries that protect both your work and theirs
A decision checklist: should you do a postdoc?
If you have read this far, you likely want a crisp summary.
Ask yourself:
What is a postdoc expected to do in my field, and is that expectation real in my target departments or employers?
Will this postdoc materially improve my publication record within 18 months?
Will I gain methods, data, or infrastructure that I cannot access otherwise?
Does the mentor have a track record of placing postdocs into roles I want?
Am I comfortable with the opportunity cost, given evidence that postdoc earnings returns can be mixed across sectors? NBER+1
Do I have a clear exit strategy that does not rely on a single job outcome?
If the answer to several of these is “no,” then the right move may be a different research role, an industry position, or a fellowship that provides stronger autonomy.
Conclusion: what is a postdoc, really?
What is a postdoc in the most useful sense? It is a structured, time-limited research appointment after the PhD that can accelerate your research identity, expand your scholarly outputs, and improve your competitiveness, provided the environment, mentorship, and project design are strong.
It is also a high-effort period with real opportunity costs and uncertain academic outcomes. The data suggest that many postdocs leave academia, and tenure-track transitions for recent cohorts can be well under 20% in some analyses.
If you choose the postdoc route, do it deliberately:
Network early and continuously.
Publish consistently, with a pipeline rather than a single long bet.
Build a portable portfolio (papers, code, data, methods, leadership).
Plan your exit strategy from the start, and revisit it every six months.
If you want, I can also draft a discipline-specific version of this guide (life sciences, engineering, social science, or humanities), including a tailored postdoc search strategy and a postdoc evaluation rubric.
