Are you within 12 – 18 months of finishing your dissertation?

I know that’s a hard question. And you can’t really know with any certainty. Do you feel like you are approaching the end of this process?

Have you considered a post-doctoral fellowship?

Even if you are closer to finished or have already defended your dissertation, you may still be eligible. Read on. It’s not too late.

What is a post-doc?

A post-doctoral fellowship is a way to dedicate a year or so post-PhD to really establishing your program of research without the extra challenge of also trying to establish new teaching responsibilities, and participate fully in collegiate governance.

Now that you have a good sense of what your doctoral dissertation is about, you can start thinking about where you want to go next with your research.

• What are the big questions that interest you?
• What specific questions are arising out of your doctoral research that could be explored further after the dissertation is finished?
• If you were to examine more sources or collect more data to investigate those questions, what would those sources be?
• Are there any skills that you need to pursue your research questions that you didn’t gain during your doctoral research?

Pondering these questions will not only help you frame a solid post-doctoral fellowship application, but will also help you put a firm boundary around the doctoral project.

If you know what you will do next, you will be less tempted to squeeze extra stuff into your doctoral dissertation. And that means actually finishing it.

Defining a next project

A post-doctoral fellowship is only 12 to 24 months in duration. That said, it is 12 to 24 months when you are primarily focused on research. You have no teaching responsibilities nor any significant service obligations.

The project needs to be more than just getting publications from the dissertation out, though you will also be doing that during the tenure of your fellowship. It needs to advance your program of research and make a significant contribution to knowledge. Not earth shattering or paradigm shifting, but a contribution none the less.

You can frame the project in relation to the big questions that drive your research, but you need to focus on one specific question that you are going to investigate during the fellowship. Initially you are likely to think of this in terms of what you want to do — data you want to collect or analyse, an article you want to write — but you then need to ask yourself why you want to do that. What contribution to current debates in your field do you hope to make by doing the proposed research?

Finding an institution and supervisor

If you start planning early, you have lots of time to research possible supervisors and institutions. And to build a relationship with the researcher(s) that you want to work with. That researcher might also have a strong positive contribution to make to the design of your post-doctoral project.

If they turn out to be the kind of researcher that is looking for disciples rather than collaborators, you have time to change course and find someone whose approach suits you better.

Other sources of post-doctoral funding

In your search for a good place to work as a post-doctoral fellow, you may also discover other sources of post-doctoral funding.

The supervisor you would like to work with might have access to internal funds at their institution. Or they might have a research grant that could be used to fund a post-doctoral fellowship. Or they might be preparing to apply for a research grant with an objective that could include your project. It might be possible to work together on the supervisor’s grant proposal and include funds for a post-doctoral fellow in the budget.

This last option does not have to mean a loss of autonomy. It is not uncommon for a SSHRC Insight Grant proposal to have 2 or 3 specific objectives under the main objective. One of those specific objectives could be a discrete project that contributes to the more general objective but is your project. Working on a project like this could also give you opportunities to mentor undergraduate research assistants or masters students, under the guidance of the principal investigator.

In addition, working with an established researcher on an Insight application is great experience for you that will serve you well when you do get a tenure-track position.

You have choices

Although the circumstances are not always of your own choosing, you do not have to relinquish control of your future to those circumstances.

If research is important to you… If you want a career in which research plays an important role… Then you need to define your research program and prepare yourself to take advantage of opportunites that arise.

Clarifying your research goals and building relationships with people who can help you achieve them is an important first step. Even before you have finished your doctoral dissertation.

This post was originally published Nov 23, 2009. It has been edited.