Post-doc

In May 2017, we moved from Montreal to Calgary and I became officially a Post-doctoral Fellow in the lab of Dr. Marie-Claire Arrieta at the University of Calgary.

My postdoc was, in a nutshell, a great, very busy, and humbling roller-coaster.

This is the moment in my academic career that I started to consider myself as reaching the level of an independent researcher. I mean, I am still learning a lot and probably will all my life, but in my head I am now owning to it. And this is a vertigo-like sensation.

Being a postdoc in a young lab meant being involved in pretty much everything which is great and exhausting at the same time. I think it is also very good to give you an idea of what are the hurdles of starting a new lab and starting to mentor highly qualified personal. Getting the first few grants. Training the first students. Getting the first results. Establishing the first few protocols. Applying for the first time to a real research position.

I am very grateful for my colleagues and PI and for what I have learned during this time.

So, hopefully I will write soon a more coherent description of my postdoc experience. In the meantime, I will refer you to this great post describing how to find the best postdoc position for you: https://naturemicrobiologycommunity.nature.com/users/15756-paul-carini/posts/31731-postdoc-musings

Cheers,

Isabelle