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how to become an academic?

do you do degree then masters/PhD then postdoc then become a lecturer?

I wondered because I always wanted to do at least some of that

Is it hard to get a postdoc?
You've said it yourself there, that's usually the route to becoming an academic.
Original post by mathsboy01
do you do degree then masters/PhD then postdoc then become a lecturer?

I wondered because I always wanted to do at least some of that

Is it hard to get a postdoc?


In STEM the usual route goes PhD -> 3-4 years Post Doc -> individual fellowship -> junior academic, those last two steps are the "difficult" ones, fellowship positions (which demonstrate you can win funding and run your own research program) tend to have success rates of 50:1 or worse. A permanent academic position for a junior lecturer will a have similar level of competition, so while it's not impossible, it's important to know the process is very demanding and not that may PhDs will make it through to a permanent academic position in the end. That's not a bad thing for most people however, new PhDs are also "product" for a university and many of them will move on to industry, national labs etc and do really interesting work there and often continue publishing.

How hard is it to get a post doc, thats very field dependent and needs a match between your skills and someone with an appropriate grant.

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