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[jasondavid]

thanks jimdixon, very helpful post. How bad is the weather though? I'm just curious ...  ;)

[mingus]

thanks jimdixon, very helpful post. How bad is the weather though? I'm just curious ...  ;)

Be sure to bring a large stock of prozac.

[totoro]

thanks jimdixon, very helpful post. How bad is the weather though? I'm just curious ...  ;)

It's not as bad as Sweden :)

The climate in London is very similar to Seattle except that the rain is spread more equally around the year. Manchester = Vancouver and Paris = Portland. Compared to the US northeast it is much milder in both winter and summer but dark and gloomy. Little sunshine in the winter. NYC is on the same latitude as Madrid and Rome.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

I was only in  England as a postdoc (and later as a visiting scholar), so I don't have a rounded perspective here, but one very nice aspect of the UK is that it is fairly small and therefore easy to travel to other schools for collaborations or conferences.  The tea is also very good.  My colleagues there generally seem more relaxed on a day-to-day basis than they would be here in the US.

As far as research activity, remember that "Russell Group" is a funny designation that started when a few people got together in a coffeeshop and decided to create a designation that would include themselves; unless I missed something, there are no objective criteria for membership.  The "weaker" group members have less research activity than many US universities whose rank is closer to 100 than to 20. - DvF

[mingus]

thanks jimdixon, very helpful post. How bad is the weather though? I'm just curious ...  ;)

It's not as bad as Sweden :)

The climate in London is very similar to Seattle except that the rain is spread more equally around the year. Manchester = Vancouver and Paris = Portland. Compared to the US northeast it is much milder in both winter and summer but dark and gloomy. Little sunshine in the winter. NYC is on the same latitude as Madrid and Rome.

And note that it will not be easy to distinguish between winter and summer.  You might get the odd hint, such as the Metereological office telling you that it's a BBQ summer when it's 19 degrees C, but that's about it. 

[seniorscholar]

I remember my first winter in Manchester: I was anxious most of the time until I realized it was because the sun never rose above the housetops across the street from me. Once I figured out the latitude and realized the sun was behaving normally and was not dying, I felt much better.

[runwithscissors]

I feel the need to shamelessly promote the UK, seeing as I am now relatively safely ensconsed in a lectureship at a UK Russell Group University (not a top-10).

My experience of postdoctoring in the US was lousy, partly becuase postdocs are not considered real jobs, and partly because the person in charge of the grant was an unpleasant character. Though I am in the social sciences not engineering my lecturing salary is about £37,000 - working out to $57,676 - though I don't have to worry about things like health insurance. Given that the median household income in the UK is around £21,000 I don't feel underpaid, though as other posters have said, the UCU have negotiated a fixed salary scale so engineering is not paid better than English or Philosophy in spite of rather obvious market forces. I love the culture of my current northern city, the closeness of everything, and the academic lifestyle which is very much more 9-5 than in the US. You are far less likely to suffer the inanities of the tenure process and the backbiting bull**** of departmental politics because staff movement is far greater and there is rarely the problem of tenured deadwood making all the decisions.

All of that said, depending on which engineering discipline you are in, it is important to choose the right university and the right department. Look at the track record of senior lecturers and professors in receiving EPSRC grants and the overall RAE of the department, as this will greatly influence your future success. That said, despite cut backs there really isn't a shortage of grant money for engineers. I even have EPSRC funding and I'm a social scientist. 

[drpaulynomial]

Hi all, Thanks so much for this stimulating and helpful thread. I'm in a somewhat similar position to the OP (thanks, jasondavid!). I received my PhD in an engineering field from an elite US school in 2009, just finished a prestigious fellowship at the Nat'l Labs, and recently interviewed and received an offer from (what I've now learned is) a top-10 RG school; I'm supposed to make a decision about the rest of my life by next Monday. I have a similar consternation about whether I should take this offer or wait for the US hiring season (which was my original plan). I was offered a starting salary at the top of the Lecturer range, although this is less than my postdoc salary, in absolute terms.

I have one specific question that no one has addressed regarding research funding (though it may be too specific). I have made many connections with DOE funding sources in the states. Is it possible to remain connected to those (or similar) sources while abroad?

Also, jasondavid, have you found any other resources helpful for your search -- specifically regarding things like tax rates, cost of living, etc.? Or maybe more intangible measures like a "happiness" factor (for lack of a better phrase)?

[scotia]

I'm supposed to make a decision about the rest of my life by next Monday.

This is not a decision about the rest of your life. This is a decision about whether to accept a job now. There will be lots of other decisions throughout your life that determine your path. Most of the people I know have worked at more than one university, and several have worked in more than one country. People have crossed from Europe to the US, and others have come in the opposite direction. Some have crossed both ways. Keeping some perspective might be helpful.

[totoro]

I think it is hard to go back to the US though of course it happens and I did it (from Australia to the US) though it took a 2 year search to land a job.

[jasondavid]

I think it is hard to go back to the US though of course it happens and I did it (from Australia to the US) though it took a 2 year search to land a job.

It might be harder but, since you already have a job, I guess you don't have that much of pressure.

[daniel_von_flanagan]

It might be harder but, since you already have a job, I guess you don't have that much of pressure.

But "harder" is why it is a momentous decision.

Anyway, I have an easy answer for this particular choice: if the OP is American he should go to England.  If he is British he should go to the US.  The reasoning is: you get one life in life, you should maximize the amount of different stuff you do in it. - DvF

[totoro]

I think it is hard to go back to the US though of course it happens and I did it (from Australia to the US) though it took a 2 year search to land a job.

It might be harder but, since you already have a job, I guess you don't have that much of pressure.

I searched in the last year of my 5 year contract in Australia and then for one year when I didn't have a job. So there was a lot of pressure... This was in 2000-2002

[expatinuk]

If you want to come to the UK and then return to the US you need to make sure that you keep your contacts in the US current.

I've been in the UK since 1998, and have twice been head-hunted to return to the States. I'd go if the decision were entirely up to me, but since I'm married my spouse has a say in the matter and he doesn't want to live in the US... LOL