Is Post Doc Funding More Accessible Than Graduate Scholarships?

[tgt]

The following idea occurred to me:

It seems very hard to get scholarships into Primary and Secondary schools because everyone goes for them. And also very hard to get scholarships for undergraduate because of the small number of them avaliable and small number of universities. However, it's much easier to get graduate study scholarships mainly because not many people go for them and more are given. Does this trend continue for post doc positions? It would be salary instead of scholarship in the case of post doc but same sort of thing. Would it be even easier for docs to get funding for their post doc research to the point where almost any doc can find a position somewhere in the world?

 

[Locrian]

However, it's much easier to get graduate study scholarships mainly because not many people go for them and more are given.

Correction: It's hard to get graduate scholarships, but very easy to get assistant ship positions that sound a lot like undergraduate scholarships. The big difference, of course, is that assistant ships turn out to be fairly cheap labor for universities (though maybe not for society), while scholarships aren't.

In my discussions with people who were trying to get, or had gotten, postdocs, how hard it was to get them depended heavily on their area of interest. The theoretical HEP physics people found it borderline impossible, while some others (especially experimental materials/matter types) had a relatively easy time. My sample size is fairly small, but I'd be surprised if it didn't hold.

 

[tgt]

Correction: It's hard to get graduate scholarships, but very easy to get assistant ship positions that sound a lot like undergraduate scholarships. The big difference, of course, is that assistant ships turn out to be fairly cheap labor for universities (though maybe not for society), while scholarships aren't.

In my discussions with people who were trying to get, or had gotten, postdocs, how hard it was to get them depended heavily on their area of interest. The theoretical HEP physics people found it borderline impossible, while some others (especially experimental materials/matter types) had a relatively easy time. My sample size is fairly small, but I'd be surprised if it didn't hold.

What do you mean by assistant ships? Are they for people with doc?

What would cheap labour involve?

 

[DyslexicHobo]

What do you mean by assistant ships? Are they for people with doc?

What would cheap labour involve?

In most schools that offer grad programs, you can fund your graduate tuition by working as a teacher's assistant part time, or helping out with research on campus.