u/Thick-Flan7650

By random chance, I saw in my FB feed a self-congratulatory post from a “recent” PhD Biochemistry graduate from UP Manila (Dr. Joshua Angelo Hermida Mandanas). He claims that he is an expert in bioengineering (and other fields) and upon looking at his publications, nothing came obvious that he has had experimental experience in these areas to be called an expert. Most of his papers were either textbook sections or reviews. If I will be blunt, his dissertation was pretty meh! The papers and techniques were very basic that it would be desk rejected immediately in mainstream journals. Nothing wrong with self congratulations naman, what irks and cringes me is yung masyadong binida ang sarili nya to an audience who are relatively naïve to the topic. Do you see a different perspective?

I know this might read rude but I am really entering a phase of feeling uneasy as to how my career is progressing now. I am now in my 9th year as a postdoc and wish to ask the community for insights and advice. I wonder if there are postdocs/researchers here who have been with the PI for more than 5 years? What made you decide to stay? Was it passion? Lack of options? Did you try becoming independent yourself? What happened? Care to share your story?