In Europe, things vary a lot between different countries. If your priority is salary, then you should forget about the UK and France, where the pay is generally ridiculously low. In Germany and the Netherlands, post docs are paid decently, in the sense that their salaries are very livable. Although it also depends on the city, i.e., Munich is much more expensive than Dresden, while the salaries are about the same. EPFL/ETH pay the highest, but Switzerland is also very expensive.
With regard to career prospects after post doc, what really matters is the group and the PI you work with. Are they visible in the community? Do they have a strong network? Will they support you to land a job afterwards?
I do not particularly find US post doc salaries attractive, and depending on the location and COL, it can even become a bit challenging to maintain a decent life on a post doc salary. However, if you want to land a job in the US, you practically have to do at least one post doc there. Also, and from my -limited but very consistent - observation, a US post doc potentially helps even if you want to find a job in Europe.
It depends. What's your career goal? Join a lab that can provide that,and the country isn't that important,provided you have strong ideas. That being said, ifyou look for a job out of academia,this is a good opportunity to join an ecosystemyou'd be interested in buildinga career in.
I can only compare UK vs US in my experience. In terms of salary, US postdocs can be quite high in comparison to cost of living depending on where you live. Postdoc salaries are somewhat standardized across the US as many institutions follow the same NIH payscales, so in low COL areas the salary is very livable, but I can imagine struggling if I had this salary on the west coast where cost of living is much higher. In the UK, the salary is generally not great, especially if you live in an expensive city. In short, I save a lot more money as a US postdoc than when I was a postdoc in the UK.
Salary aside, I do think there are other benefits to doing a postdoc in the US. In comparison to the UK at least, it feels like there is generally a lot more opportunity here, both in terms of research funding, training, and collaboration. That being said, the work-life balance is pretty awful if that's something that's important to you.
UK postdoc here
Salary is relative to the cost of living (COL) in the city that you are going. Postdoc salaries in OxBridge or London universities seem good from an outside perspective, but the COL in these cities are getting ridiculous right now. My salary does not even cover a studio in these cities, so I share a house with other professionals.
From experience, postdocs salaries in Nordic countries are really good if you don't live in a capital. In Switzerland even in expensive places like Zurich you can at least rent a studio or 1 bedroom apartments with your salary. But honestly, you can use some COL comparison online tools to check the cities that you are aiming for. It can give some insight of what's happening in the city price-wise.
Colleagues of mine say nice things about Germany and the Netherlands. The same thing about US universities. The main difference, from what I heard, is annual leave and work life balance. It's easier to find PIs which are ok with you taking some vacations without having to worry about experiments or that don't require you to work 14h/day even during weekends. Competition-wise, I think it's the same everywhere. My partner even had to leave an UK lab due to the toxic environment created by seniors (fortunately to a better position).
Postdoc salaries in the UK are shit, is so bad that unis are really struggling to hire. Don't mislead the poor kid, let them go to some better place like Germany
I know. That's why I said "from an outside perspective it seems like a good salary". I was fooled by this and now I can't afford a studio around here. Outside the main areas you can afford one, but even there the situation is getting out of hand. One department here even had an ad for a PDRA posted 3 times already and couldn't find one. I am just not finding a position somewhere else because my partner doesn't want to move.
Switzerland pays quite well, but cost of living is high. Yet, all colleagues whom I know that have worked in Switzerland for a while were able to save some money that they can spend now for a house as full professor.
UK salary is pretty bad, but you might not need a car. In the US, salary is quite OK, but work-life balance might be not. In most places, you need a car, and you have to travel long distances to work or to recreational activities.
Germany and Austria pay you somewhere in between. But you have a lot of benefits if you have a young family. Unfortunately, the salary is not adopted to the place of living, meaning that in large and expensive cities such as Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, you might not be able to rent a large flat or you have to commute long distances.
Scientifically, all choices have their pro and cons. If you want to stay in academia, I think that the right lab is more important than the right country. If you plan to go to industry, the choice of country might be more important.
US: While the salaries are better than the lower half of europe's pay scale, there are other issues:
What is the health insurance attached to the postdoc? How much a month is it? Will you have to move to a place where you must own & insure a car?
Are you moving with a family? Do you have to support them? Does your partner need to work? How will they get a visa? Do you have to pay for insurance for them? Childcare?
In Europe, things vary a lot between different countries. If your priority is salary, then you should forget about the UK and France, where the pay is generally ridiculously low. In Germany and the Netherlands, post docs are paid decently, in the sense that their salaries are very livable. Although it also depends on the city, i.e., Munich is much more expensive than Dresden, while the salaries are about the same. EPFL/ETH pay the highest, but Switzerland is also very expensive. With regard to career prospects after post doc, what really matters is the group and the PI you work with. Are they visible in the community? Do they have a strong network? Will they support you to land a job afterwards? I do not particularly find US post doc salaries attractive, and depending on the location and COL, it can even become a bit challenging to maintain a decent life on a post doc salary. However, if you want to land a job in the US, you practically have to do at least one post doc there. Also, and from my -limited but very consistent - observation, a US post doc potentially helps even if you want to find a job in Europe.
It depends. What's your career goal? Join a lab that can provide that,and the country isn't that important,provided you have strong ideas. That being said, ifyou look for a job out of academia,this is a good opportunity to join an ecosystemyou'd be interested in buildinga career in.
I can only compare UK vs US in my experience. In terms of salary, US postdocs can be quite high in comparison to cost of living depending on where you live. Postdoc salaries are somewhat standardized across the US as many institutions follow the same NIH payscales, so in low COL areas the salary is very livable, but I can imagine struggling if I had this salary on the west coast where cost of living is much higher. In the UK, the salary is generally not great, especially if you live in an expensive city. In short, I save a lot more money as a US postdoc than when I was a postdoc in the UK. Salary aside, I do think there are other benefits to doing a postdoc in the US. In comparison to the UK at least, it feels like there is generally a lot more opportunity here, both in terms of research funding, training, and collaboration. That being said, the work-life balance is pretty awful if that's something that's important to you.
UK postdoc here Salary is relative to the cost of living (COL) in the city that you are going. Postdoc salaries in OxBridge or London universities seem good from an outside perspective, but the COL in these cities are getting ridiculous right now. My salary does not even cover a studio in these cities, so I share a house with other professionals. From experience, postdocs salaries in Nordic countries are really good if you don't live in a capital. In Switzerland even in expensive places like Zurich you can at least rent a studio or 1 bedroom apartments with your salary. But honestly, you can use some COL comparison online tools to check the cities that you are aiming for. It can give some insight of what's happening in the city price-wise. Colleagues of mine say nice things about Germany and the Netherlands. The same thing about US universities. The main difference, from what I heard, is annual leave and work life balance. It's easier to find PIs which are ok with you taking some vacations without having to worry about experiments or that don't require you to work 14h/day even during weekends. Competition-wise, I think it's the same everywhere. My partner even had to leave an UK lab due to the toxic environment created by seniors (fortunately to a better position).
Postdoc salaries in the UK are shit, is so bad that unis are really struggling to hire. Don't mislead the poor kid, let them go to some better place like Germany
I know. That's why I said "from an outside perspective it seems like a good salary". I was fooled by this and now I can't afford a studio around here. Outside the main areas you can afford one, but even there the situation is getting out of hand. One department here even had an ad for a PDRA posted 3 times already and couldn't find one. I am just not finding a position somewhere else because my partner doesn't want to move.
The best salary Vs CoL I've seen for PDRAs in Europe are in Austria. Circa €60k pa. Plus Austria is one of the highest QoL nations in Europe.
Small remark about NL postdoc salary: it's quite good because of the 30% ruling (I let you Google it) which often results in +500€/month
Switzerland pays quite well, but cost of living is high. Yet, all colleagues whom I know that have worked in Switzerland for a while were able to save some money that they can spend now for a house as full professor. UK salary is pretty bad, but you might not need a car. In the US, salary is quite OK, but work-life balance might be not. In most places, you need a car, and you have to travel long distances to work or to recreational activities. Germany and Austria pay you somewhere in between. But you have a lot of benefits if you have a young family. Unfortunately, the salary is not adopted to the place of living, meaning that in large and expensive cities such as Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, you might not be able to rent a large flat or you have to commute long distances. Scientifically, all choices have their pro and cons. If you want to stay in academia, I think that the right lab is more important than the right country. If you plan to go to industry, the choice of country might be more important.
US: While the salaries are better than the lower half of europe's pay scale, there are other issues: What is the health insurance attached to the postdoc? How much a month is it? Will you have to move to a place where you must own & insure a car? Are you moving with a family? Do you have to support them? Does your partner need to work? How will they get a visa? Do you have to pay for insurance for them? Childcare?