Different Research After your PhD?

[mc1208]

Hi, this question has been bothering me for quite some time. I just went through rotations in labs and I didn't find anything that was specifically in my field of interest.  I really want to work with pathogens and research mechanisms of pathogenicity, however that isn't much of an option at the one school I was accepted to. I am currently just starting work in lab doing a lot of genetic work on non pathogenic organisms, which while the work itself is fine, I feel like what i'm doing really isn't significant in any way.  I was wondering if it is possible to finish my PhD and then go on to do research on this topic or am I going to be stuck in the specialization of my PhD?  

[Canis]

This is a great question. Part of the problem is just that you are best able to write about the research you have done. I had this issue with my MA, when applying to PhD programs I could really only write convincingly about my MA research. you'll have the same issue when applying for post-docs and for jobs and for teaching positions.

[TakeruK]

Maybe it depends on the field, but many of my previous supervisors are currently doing fairly different things now (and are known as an expert in completely different things) than their PhD theses. It's often kind of fun for us to look up our profs' old PhD thesis titles and go "What? He/She did that???". 

 

I think most people will generally not go too far from their PhD expertise for a postdoc at first as you generally leverage your PhD expertise to gain a postdoc position. But as a postdoc you have much more independence and many people will start dabbling in other subfields during their postdoc (or if they are on a fellowship and is completely independent, you might be able to do whatever you want!). 

[fuzzylogician]

This may depend on the field, as mentioned, and I think a lot of it also depends on the person. There are people who always seem to have diverse interests and projects going on, and there are people who tend to do one thing at a time. The former people tend to continue to diversify their research after they obtain their PhDs, and that sometimes means getting into very different subfields than their dissertations. The latter people will often continue to work on similar projects to their dissertation and grow in ways that naturally follow from that. I can think of people in my field who have had a major shift in their research interests after their PhDs and I can think of others who always seem to go back to the same kinds of problems. I honestly think it's more about what your personality is like than anything else. The trick is to be able to "sell" yourself as someone working in the new field, which can be a challenge as a postdoc or a new faculty member, but if you have a track record of growth and change it helps. Once you do get a tt job, in principle no one can force you to do certain kinds of research and not others (ignoring the obstacles that may be there--depending on how supportive your department it, and also ignoring concerns about how long it would take you to get funding if you need to first learn new skills, and ignoring certain courses which may still be part of your job description even if you move into a new subfield). Similarly for postdocs - you could try and get a position in a lab (or with a mentor) that does very different work from your PhD. I personally think it's an asset to have a more diverse skillset. Depending on the postdoc you may be required to work on a certain kind of project, but I imagine that it would be possible to learn other things in your "spare" time. If you are lucky enough to get a no-strings-attached postdoc, that's of course even better and you can work on whatever you want. 

[victorydance]

A Ph.D. program in essence is to train you the proper methodological and analytic background to perform research. What you choose to do with that expertise, i.e. what questions you pursue, is pretty much completely up to you. Load up on methods training as much as possible while you are a grad student.

 

Yes, by default you will become an expert in subfield-subfield X because that is what is required to write a dissertation. However, this does not mean you are stuck to that vein of topic or inquiry your entire life. As long as you have a strong methodological background, you can shift your interests either not at all or quite profoundly. 

[bsharpe269]

The problem with switching areas is that you may not have the skills necesary to do research in your area if your phd is with a different focus. This is why it is SO important to apply to schools that have professors doing what you want to do. It sort of sounds like you didnt research well enough before hand or ended up with an unfortunate situation where all of the professors who you wanted to work with left the school or dont have funding.

 

I think that the best thing that you can do at this point is it get involved with whichever lab can give you the skillset that you need to do your future research. Then when applying for postdocs you can get involved with something closer to your interests. Like everyone else said, You dont have to stay 100% in the same area for your entire career. The important thing at this time is that you are developing the skills you need to a researcher in your area.

[Arcadian]

I didn't really know what I wanted to do when I started grad school. I just recently figured out my true research interests in my 3rd year of a PhD. It is generally related to my current research, but not exactly. They are both within "cognitive science" broadly speaking, but I am looking to pursue a different line of research for a post-doc. In other words, I'm not really interested in following up my dissertation work directly. Is that OK?

Edited April 3, 2014 by Arcadian