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[dilettante]

I made a post last year in here complaining about my hard supervisor who is bossy and verbally abusive. It has been more than a year since that post, and I'm still working in the same lab. Part of the reason I didn't leave in last year was because my project was just about to start producing data and publications. I am now at a point of submitting a manuscript to a very high-profile journal in natural science, and I am very happy for that. I am the first author on it, but another postdoc who started working with me in the middle of the run and contributed about ~10-15% (percentage stands for the number of figures he generated over the total) is going to share the first authorship (his name appears after mine - i hope this makes sense). I am not comfortable with having him sharing the first authorship, but the bossy boss insist I should add him by claiming these two contribute equally to the work - but it's so obviously unequal! What are your faculty members' opinion on co-first authors on a paper? do you think they share 50/50 credits?

Another issue that I have with the other postdoc is: he wants to work with me side-by-side on the same ongoing project, but I don't like working with him on MY project. Should I make my thoughts clear to him and the boss now? I am sure I can finish the project all on my own, I don't need collaboration with anyone in the lab. I don't want to give him another co-first-author gift on my other new papers to come. Am I too selfish or I have the right mindset as a postdoc who wants be eventually independent?

Since neither the boss nor I have changed their personality, I sometimes can still feel the tense between boss and me. But I have never confronted him for my own good. On the optimistic side, I am still expecting to finish two more (first-authored) manuscripts by the end of this year, and hopefully they will hit on journals with IF's around 10. Quite a few friends of mine told me that I should be ready to look for a faculty position if I will have three first-authored good papers by the end of my third year of postdoc study. But I am not sure about this, because I always want to learn some new or unique technologies that would allow me to develop a research direction/field as a principal investigator (PI). The techniques I have been using is very traditional research methods, I don't think I will be competitive with my present skillset. For this reason, I am also thinking of changing to an established lab to learn some new technologies, instead of seeking professorship after my first postdoc study. My question is: should I do another postdoc or should I try to find a faculty position?

Thanks for your input!

[merinoblue]

Dilettante, how long is your postdoc for? 2 years? 3 years? You won't be there forever.  It's a stepping stone to a long-term career, usually an academic research career.  You're probably aiming to be a PI w/ your own lab, from the sounds of it. You're there to get publications, acquire new skills & techniques, and to build your network. So look at these conditions as something to put up with, to get what you want and need to be successful in the long term.

Your mantra re: publications should be: get 'em out, get 'em out, get 'em out.  That is, don't waste precious time and energy quibbling or worrying about co-first authorship. You're a first author? Great! Get it out, and move on.

Re the other postdoc who wants to work with you on your project: maybe you need to clarify who's boss, and the division of tasks and labour, but why not welcome collaboration? It's a lonely world as a researcher. It's kind of nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of, who understands your work. I work with investigators who are really isolated and would dearly love to have colleagues geographically close to them, to share ideas with. Their collaborators on their grants are often in name only--they don't show up to comment on proposals at grant time. It's maddening for them. Welcome the collaboration from this postdoc. And: remember that the people you collect now (that's how i look at it) in your networks may become invaluable colleagues and friends down the road. Don't turn down an offer or interest in collaboration at this stage of your career. You may regret it later.

I can't answer your third question.

Bully for you for sticking it out in your lab with a difficult supervisor. You are keeping the bottom line in mind, which is to acquire the training, publications, and networks you need to march off and be a successful PI. This determination will serve you in the long run, as will persevering with a difficult boss. It's okay to let go of some credit now to achieve your goals. You'll have plenty of opportunities for first authorship and deciding who you collaborate with once you're established as a PI.

[leobloom]

I don't think it would hurt to diversify your applications portfolio so that it would include both postdocs and faculty positions. The big caveat, though, is to do your homework and build a strong package for these latter ones. Depending on what you have in mind for your future, the next postdoc (research-intensive, fewer perks) and the TT job (more teaching and service) may mean two ramifications which ultimately may meet again down the road. Depends on many factors like your tolerance for uncertainty, willingness to teach, authorship and PI ambitions, need for money, family status, job market situation etc.

[macaroon]

Another issue that I have with the other postdoc is: he wants to work with me side-by-side on the same ongoing project, but I don't like working with him on MY project. Should I make my thoughts clear to him and the boss now? I am sure I can finish the project all on my own, I don't need collaboration with anyone in the lab. I don't want to give him another co-first-author gift on my other new papers to come. Am I too selfish or I have the right mindset as a postdoc who wants be eventually independent?

Hard-sell him on a spin off project and then take all the credit for the ideas in the end. 

[anon99]

Along a similar line as macaroon;s idea, can both of you come up with a project that emphasizes both of your areas of research?