What is a postdoc ? What s the difference with a doctorate?

The answer below is something I found online, so let's share it.

A postdoc is also a doctorate. The difference is that a postdoc is a transitional position, and a PhD is a degree.

A Ph.D. is the highest level of the degree. Flipping through the "Cihai", you can find a clear explanation. "Cihai" has not yet been included in the entry of postdoctoral fellows.

As early as 1876, Hopkins University in the United States set up a research program to fund young scholars to engage in research. Because several of the young people who initially received the grant had already completed their PhDs, some called them postdocs. Another theory is that it was not until the 60s of the last century that the position of postdoctoral fellow officially appeared, which was prevalent in North America.

In the United States, after obtaining a doctorate, with a few exceptions, the vast majority of people must go through the professional research stage of a postdoctoral degree before they can be qualified to teach at a university. Professors who have the ability to apply for research can recruit postdoctoral fellows by placing advertisements. The relationship between a professor and a postdoc is the relationship between an employer and an employee.

Postdoctoral fellows who are hired by professors are expected to work together on research with professors, can publish together**, and sometimes teach students on behalf of professors. The salary and tenure of the postdoctoral fellow shall be determined by mutual agreement. Some postdocs have been doing it for more than ten years.

China began to implement the postdoctoral system in 1985. They are selected and recruited by institutions of higher learning or scientific research institutions from among young people who have just obtained their doctorates. After the postdoctoral stage, it is expected to officially enter the university or research institute.

China has also set up postdoctoral workstations or postdoctoral circulation stations. The term of postdoctoral work in the station is generally two or three years. Recently, it has been reported that Guangdong was the first to propose that "the form of postdoctoral system should be diversified", and some enterprises have also set up postdoctoral workstations.

According to my personal experience, a postdoc is a Ph.D. who has not yet found a job after graduating and continues to engage in research at the doctoral station.

A major way to make some money.

Post-Ph.D. is a temporary job position, not a degree.

The best people in the faculty market don't need to do a Ph.D. to get an assistant professorship directly.

There is a graduation **, a defense, and a graduation ceremony for the doctorate; None of these postdocs, he doesn't need to pass any audits, and there is no closing ceremony.

If you have completed your PhD and failed to defend your Ph.D., you cannot claim a PhD on your resume, which is deception. But after you do a PhD, even if you quit after only one month, you can still write about the one-month post-PhD experience on your resume. In principle, both the employer (school) and the employee (post-doctorate) can terminate the contract, and you don't have to worry that if you leave early, you won't get a postdoctoral degree, because there is no postdoctoral degree at all.

Basically, no one will go to another school to study for a doctorate in the same major after getting a doctorate in a certain major from one school, because this kind of behavior is meaningless. However, many people will change schools to do the second round of post-doctoral studies after the first round of doctoral studies is full; This is not because they like to collect post-doctoral titles from different schools, but because they can't find a formal teaching position, so they have to continue their academic careers as doctoral students.

In the United States, postdoctoral students are paid a bit more than doctoral scholarships, but they are not very much. For example, the Penn Mathematics Doctoral Scholarship is now about 30,000 yuan a year, while the postdoctoral scholarship is close to 60,000 yuan. However, the taxes that PhD postgraduates need to pay are also much higher than those of PhDs (PhD fellowships do not need to pay taxes, TA needs to pay taxes, I remember that it seems to be more than 2,000 a year, and the tax deduction caused by the Sino-US tax exemption agreement has been deducted for the first 5,000 dollars of income; I haven't asked specifically about the postdoctoral tax, but it should be relatively high), and the deduction is not much more than the doctoral scholarship.

First, the identities are different. Doctorate (as well as master's and bachelor's) degrees are degrees obtained after studying in the university as a student, obtaining qualified grades and passing the ** defense. After obtaining the doctoral degree certificate, in order to further in-depth academic research, the doctor can apply to enter the postdoctoral mobile station.

The state has given good support to the establishment of postdoctoral mobile stations in universities in terms of material equipment and research environment, and researchers who enter the postdoctoral mobile stations must go through strict screening before they can become postdoctoral fellows. Postdoctoral fellows are engaged in research as teachers and enjoy the corresponding treatment of teachers.

Second, the relationship between a postdoc and a supervisor is different from that between a doctoral student and a supervisor. The relationship between doctoral students and their selected professors is a teacher-student relationship, and their research direction must be affirmed by the supervisor and the supervisor will judge and revise their doctoral **, and doctoral students will be given part of the living allowance by the university, and there is no formal salary income; The relationship between the postdoc and the selected professor is a cooperative relationship, and the postdoc is a regular staff member of the university or research institution where he or she is located, and enjoys a certain standard salary package. Therefore, postdocs do not live on the research projects of their co-supervisors, and the remuneration they should receive for participating in the project is a bonus rather than a salary.

Third, the field of postdoctoral research must be interdisciplinary. The first-level discipline of postdoctoral research cannot be the same as the first-level discipline during the doctoral period, that is, it cannot stay in the original field and continue research, but should be studied in a new field, which is difficult to imagine. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that postdocs are interdisciplinary compounds.

In addition, in terms of treatment: the file relationship of postdoctoral personnel is filed with the Ministry of Personnel of the People's Republic of China, and they can flow freely in the country after leaving the station, and the state gives special preferential policies for this; Doctors, on the other hand, are not treated like this.

A PhD is the highest degree, which means the highest level you can get as a student (in some countries, PhD students are also in a working position, such as Germany). Postdoctoral fellowship is a kind of working or semi-working experience after graduating from a doctoral degree or obtaining a doctoral degree. A postdoc is not a degree, just an experience.

In developed countries, that is, the origin of postdoctoral fellows, many doctoral students find it difficult to find a fixed job position after graduation, and if they are ready to strive for a fixed job position, they go to the unit they want to go to (usually a university or other scientific research institution) to engage in certain research work, and this experience is postdoctoral. In our country, it is almost completely changed, and it is more like a kind of postdoctoral education in form, which is to enter the so-called postdoctoral workstation and issue a certificate of experience after leaving the station. You have to figure out one thing:

The highest degree in almost all countries, including ours, is a doctorate, and a postdoc is just a work experience (although it is more like an education in our country, it is still classified as work experience).

Ph.D. and postdoctoral are both degrees, but Ph.D. is the next level above master's degree, post-doc is the next level above Ph.D., and postdoctoral degree can only be obtained after obtaining a doctorate.

A postdoc is a workstation for each topic for the doctorate.

Postdoctoral degree refers to the work of doctoral students in scientific research institutions in colleges and universities after obtaining a certain degree. Postdocs are talking about having a job, not just a degree. Many people always think that postdoctoral research is the next stage of doctoral education, which is the most erroneous idea.

Some people who have completed their Ph.D. do not want to go to some public institutions or enterprises, so they will choose to do scientific research. After making the results, they quit and have the title of postdoc. There is no way to serve as an associate professor in the school with your own research results, but you can have a postdoctoral fellow.

There is a clear difference between a postdoctoral fellow and a doctorate, a postdoctoral fellow is a position, and a doctorate is a degree. Everyone chooses to look for a job after finishing school, and a postdoc is an ideal level. Postdoctoral fellows must have research results in order to have a foothold in the university.

It is necessary to publish some core journals on a regular basis, because only in this way can people learn more experience. After graduating, I also came down to look for a job, so the definition of the two is different. <>

No matter who chooses a postdoc, there will definitely be a certain amount of anxiety. A postdoc is not a stable position, and there is no way to stay in the school if you do not make achievements for a period of a few years. Postdocs are very tired, not only to publish a large number of **, but also to do a variety of scientific research results.

The requirements in universities are very strict, and some people may be discriminated against by their background. After completing the postdoc, you can choose to study abroad so that you can enter advanced research. <>

In general, don't be stupid enough to tell what a doctor is and what is a postdoctorate, the two are not talking about the same aspect at all. No matter what kind of education you have, you must find a career you like, so that you can work happily. A person will make important choices at all stages of life, but this aspect of education must not be forgotten.

A doctorate is a degree, while a postdoc is actually a job, and some people will not immediately look for a real job after graduating from the doctorate, but will engage in a certain amount of research work in a scientific research institution or doctoral mobile station, and this job has a time limit, such as one year or two years. At the end of the deadline, the doctor had to leave the rover and take this short work experience with him before looking for a job.

Many people think that a postdoc is also a diploma, that is, after completing a doctorate, they will conduct further research, so that they will look more knowledgeable. In fact, this is not the case, postdoctoral is equivalent to a relatively short-term job, but some doctors are unwilling to enter the society so early, or want to add a luster to their resume, they will go to some research institutes or doctoral stations to engage in some research work after graduation, so that they can make their resume more beautiful. Many fresh graduates don't want to look for a job, so they will take the three branches and one support, which is also a short-term job that will not let you work for a long time, and it is similar to a postdoctoral fellow.

Being a postdoctoral fellow is actually better, because your workplace is a scientific research base of a university or a research laboratory of a research institute, you will know a lot of scientific research experts, so that your network is broader. After expiration, you can ask these bigwigs to write you letters of recommendation, and then recommend you to work in universities or enterprises, which can also double your worth. There are also some people who have no way to become an associate professor in a university in their own major, so they will follow the academic experts to publish some ** and get certain results, so that they will have more help when they are professors, and they will also make colleges and universities more recognize your academic qualifications.

So postdoc is just a buffer stage, which is completely different from PhD.

It is more difficult to graduate with a doctorate, because you have to complete a ** as thick as a book, and you have to consult a lot of materials, so it is not easy to train a doctorate.

Doctoral degree refers to the highest degree, and postdoctoral degree refers to the work position of engaging in scientific research in colleges and universities or research institutions after obtaining a doctorate; The main difference is that a PhD is a degree, and a postdoc is not a degree, but a piece of work experience.

Postdoctoral is just a general term for students who continue to engage in related scientific research positions after obtaining a doctorate, and the specific title can be project leader. The Ph.D. is just a student who has to obey the teacher's orders, and the postdoc is higher than the Ph.D. in status. And the doctor can get funding and guidance from the boss, but the work of the postdoc is more like a small boss, you can apply for projects, and the boss is more ** than seeking guidance.

So if you're already a postdoc, it means that you've reached the ceiling of your studies and you're ready to work.

Statuses are different.

The Ph.D. is a student, and the postdoc is already a staff member, so you can't live in the school, and the school doesn't provide accommodation, but if you are doing research in the school, then you can live in the dormitory. So after completing the master's program, you can apply for a Ph.D. and then become a doctoral student. However, doctoral students have no possibility of continuing their studies after graduation, and can only work in some doctoral mobile stations, which are postdoctoral fellows.

Postdocs are not students, and they can already apply for projects on their own, and they can work with their bosses.

The treatment of the two is not the same.

The treatment of doctors is relatively bad, and they have not yet graduated, but are just waiting to graduate. But if you've already graduated, but your academic qualifications are PhDs, and PhDs are postdocs. But if you continue to engage in related scientific research, it is a postdoc, which is also better.

After all, the treatment of the school is very good, working in the school, being able to eat in the canteen or living in the dormitory, you can save a lot of living expenses. And the postdoc is paid, so that he can maintain a basic life, rather than just having some allowances and no salary.

Summary. In fact, the difference between a doctor and a postdoctoral fellow is not very big, and everyone should work after graduation, and they can't gnaw at home. If you become a doctor, then the employment space will become larger, and there will be more choices.