RESEARCH CAREER. On Monday, April 12th, the seminar series Career Talks kicked off with the theme ‘How to find, fund, and survive an international postdoc.’ Approximately 50 individuals participated, with researchers who recently completed an international postdoc sharing their experiences in a panel discussion.
The seminar began with Office Head Ellen Rydberg discussing the support that the Sahlgrenska Academy’s Reserach Support Office can provide to researchers. Following this, research advisor Erik Pålsson summarized why international postdoc stays are crucial for research at the Sahlgrenska Academy and presented the guides, Post-doc survival guide and Post-doc funding guide, developed to assist researchers interested in pursuing an international postdoc.
Sharing international experience
Next, participants had the opportunity to hear from a panel comprising three researchers who had completed postdocs in the USA and Australia. The panelists included Kristina Johansson, who completed a postdoc at the University of California San Francisco, Magdalena Claesson, who conducted research in Australia at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) Berghofer and the University of Queensland, and Mattias Svensson, who pursued his postdoc at the La Jolla Institute of Immunology and the University of California. Also on the panel was HR coordinator Johanna Gustavsson from the Department of Clinical Sciences, who addressed questions regarding, among other things, URA agreements during stays abroad.
Crucial experience
Erik Pålsson moderated the seminar, posing questions to the panelists who shared their experiences in seeking funding, planning for an international postdoc, and relocating abroad both with families and as single individuals. The audience also learned about the advantages and disadvantages of traveling with personal funding versus applying for a postdoc position at the host institution. The panelists were also asked about how they found their supervisors and research groups and how early they began planning for their postdoc.
All three researchers on the panel also viewed their postdoc experience as crucial for their continued research careers and as an experience that allowed them to grow both as researchers and individuals.
Career Talks is a seminar series aimed at young researchers and doctoral students to support them in their career choices. Career Talks has been operated since January 2024 by the Sahlgrenska Academy’s research support department.
If you would like to suggest a future topic for Career Talks or have any questions, please feel free to contact the Research Support Office at research.support@sahlgrenska.gu.se.
BY: JOANNA LARSSON
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