Hi all,
I applied for a postdoc position back in June (15th June was the deadline) but still haven't heard anything from the university I applied to. It is now 8th August... should I consider myself out of the running, or could this be due to applying over the summer? I contacted the PI I would be working with and he still seems enthusiastic about me visiting the lab and meeting the researchers there, and seems keen on working with me. That's a good sign, right?

I guess what I'm asking is what has the application timescale been like for others applying for postdoc positions? I should also mention that the position was an "open position" and the start date is negotiable.

Many thanks in advance!

Elizabeth

You contacted the PI after the deadline, or before?

I would ask whether the position was still under consideration or not. Usually you hear back pretty quickly after the deadline (days/weeks).

Hi Treeoflife,
I contacted the PI before the deadline and we developed the proposal together. I then contacted him again last week to check if he'd heard anything in the evaluation process. He said that he hasn't yet but that it seems like a lot of the staff are still on holiday. This seems a reasonable explanation, but nearly 2 months is a very long time to be in the dark (I think at least). As mentioned in the original post, he was still very enthusiastic and positive about my application when we spoke last week.

I'm just really confused about how long the process is taking...

ok then, I think in this case it's ok. Things take forever in academia. I would just wait for longer. Keep applying elsewhere though.