Science > Physics > Postdoc on thermal detector technology at University of Minnesota
| Topic: |
Science > Physics |
| User: |
"TedJob" |
| Date: |
21 Dec 2006 02:12:03 PM |
| Object: |
Postdoc on thermal detector technology at University of Minnesota |
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University
of Minnesota, Twin Cities seeks a post-doctoral researcher to focus on
thermal detector technology.
Requirements
Qualified candidates must have a PhD in Electrical Engineering or
related field. The program requires extensive experience with
microfabrication and MEMS technology. Additional experience with optics
and infrared systems is highly desired. The position is initially for
one year with possible extension for a second or third year.
Responsibilities
Design, model, fabricate, and test MEMS-based thermal detectors. This
will include construction of IR optical equipment, vacuum equipment,
and low noise electronic measurement systems.
The position is open immediately. The University of Minnesota is an
equal opportunity educator and employer
Application detail at: http://www.tedjob.com/job_detail.php?id=8468
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| User: "Greg Hansen" |
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| Title: Re: Postdoc on thermal detector technology at University of Minnesota |
21 Dec 2006 07:56:59 PM |
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TedJob wrote:
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University
of Minnesota, Twin Cities seeks a post-doctoral researcher to focus on
thermal detector technology.
Requirements
Qualified candidates must have a PhD in Electrical Engineering or
related field. The program requires extensive experience with
microfabrication and MEMS technology. Additional experience with optics
and infrared systems is highly desired. The position is initially for
one year with possible extension for a second or third year.
Responsibilities
Design, model, fabricate, and test MEMS-based thermal detectors. This
will include construction of IR optical equipment, vacuum equipment,
and low noise electronic measurement systems.
The position is open immediately. The University of Minnesota is an
equal opportunity educator and employer
Application detail at: http://www.tedjob.com/job_detail.php?id=8468
When have postdoc positions started requiring "extensive" experience in
ANYTHING? It's a training position, it's continuing education. If you
want someone with extensive experience, hire a contractor.
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| User: "Ken Muldrew" |
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| Title: Re: Postdoc on thermal detector technology at University of Minnesota |
22 Dec 2006 01:17:23 PM |
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Greg Hansen <glhansen@tcq.net> wrote:
When have postdoc positions started requiring "extensive" experience in
ANYTHING?
Because after 3 or 4 postdocs one may have developed "extensive"
experience? Or maybe all those EEs in industry doing microfabrication
that suddenly realized their higher calling and went back to grad
school are now graduating and they will obviously take this
prestigious academic position rather than go back to schlepping for
industry.
It's a training position, it's continuing education.
Insert gratuitous Hanson response: ahahahaha...
If you
want someone with extensive experience, hire a contractor.
This project is going to take a year (with a possibility of a second
or even a THIRD year!). There is no way a contractor could do it in
the week and a half that the money would last for.
Ken Muldrew
kmuldrezw@ucalgazry.ca
(remove all letters after y in the alphabet)
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Postdoc on thermal detector technology at University of Minnesota |
22 Dec 2006 02:19:02 PM |
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In article <458c2dfb.183534721@news.ucalgary.ca>, (Ken Muldrew) writes:
Greg Hansen <glhansen@tcq.net> wrote:
When have postdoc positions started requiring "extensive" experience in
ANYTHING?
Because after 3 or 4 postdocs one may have developed "extensive"
experience? Or maybe all those EEs in industry doing microfabrication
that suddenly realized their higher calling and went back to grad
school are now graduating and they will obviously take this
prestigious academic position rather than go back to schlepping for
industry.
It's a training position, it's continuing education.
Insert gratuitous Hanson response: ahahahaha...
My feelings exactly.
If you
want someone with extensive experience, hire a contractor.
This project is going to take a year (with a possibility of a second
or even a THIRD year!). There is no way a contractor could do it in
the week and a half that the money would last for.
As I was told many years ago, when asking if it is not a waste to
employ a post doc doing primarily technician's work (I was young and
naive then), "But we couldn't afford hiring a technician".
Mati Meron | "When you argue with a fool,
meron@cars.uchicago.edu | chances are he is doing just the same"
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| User: "Timo A. Nieminen" |
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| Title: Re: Postdoc on thermal detector technology at University of Minnesota |
26 Dec 2006 02:17:14 PM |
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On Fri, 22 Dec 2006, wrote:
kmuldrezw@ucalgazry.ca (Ken Muldrew) writes:
Greg Hansen <glhansen@tcq.net> wrote:
When have postdoc positions started requiring "extensive" experience in
ANYTHING?
Because after 3 or 4 postdocs one may have developed "extensive"
experience? Or maybe all those EEs in industry doing microfabrication
that suddenly realized their higher calling and went back to grad
school are now graduating and they will obviously take this
prestigious academic position rather than go back to schlepping for
industry.
It's a training position, it's continuing education.
Insert gratuitous Hanson response: ahahahaha...
My feelings exactly.
(a)
What? Three years of experience doesn't count as "extensive", though it
can be enough to be a genuine expert in the field? I suspect "extensive"
means "actually done it", while "some experience" would mean "read about
it".
Perhaps all they want is a postdoc who did a PhD in microfabrication, with
some optics. We'll produce a graduate with this experience in another two
years. Perfectly reasonable. Given standard job ad language, especially.
(b)
Yeah, right, take off 4 years of productive work and earning, and then a
50% pay cut on top of that to enter academia. Those who would do this
never entered industry in the first place. Still, 50% isn't so bad. The
difference between industry pay and academic pay is even bigger in law.
And there's even industry employment in law, at least for the lucky 25% or
so!
(c)
Training???? I thought it was all about cheap labour. Since when has there
been anything about actually _training_ the serf^H^H^H^Hpostdocs?
If you
want someone with extensive experience, hire a contractor.
This project is going to take a year (with a possibility of a second
or even a THIRD year!). There is no way a contractor could do it in
the week and a half that the money would last for.
As I was told many years ago, when asking if it is not a waste to
employ a post doc doing primarily technician's work (I was young and
naive then), "But we couldn't afford hiring a technician".
(d)
Postdocs here are actually decently paid, and have decent conditions.
35-50K, bosses will be happy with 40 hour weeks. I contemplated postdoc
work in Korea, but at 1,000,000 won/month (about US1K) - although some
deals include acccomodation - it wasn't very attractive. I've only heard
bad things about US postdoc work, mainly about the long hours expected.
But that's from people in parasitology, so I don't know whether
_everybody_ expects 80 hour weeks from their postdocs.
(e)
The postdoc takes the job with gratitude, even if it's technician-work.
Beats unemployment.
--
Timo Nieminen - Home page: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/
E-prints: http://eprint.uq.edu.au/view/person/Nieminen,_Timo_A..html
Shrine to Spirits: http://www.users.bigpond.com/timo_nieminen/spirits.html
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Postdoc on thermal detector technology at University of Minnesota |
26 Dec 2006 03:09:56 PM |
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In article <Pine.WNT.4.64.0612270602270.1336@serene.st>, "Timo A. Nieminen" <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> writes:
On Fri, 22 Dec 2006, wrote:
kmuldrezw@ucalgazry.ca (Ken Muldrew) writes:
Greg Hansen <glhansen@tcq.net> wrote:
When have postdoc positions started requiring "extensive" experience in
ANYTHING?
Because after 3 or 4 postdocs one may have developed "extensive"
experience? Or maybe all those EEs in industry doing microfabrication
that suddenly realized their higher calling and went back to grad
school are now graduating and they will obviously take this
prestigious academic position rather than go back to schlepping for
industry.
It's a training position, it's continuing education.
Insert gratuitous Hanson response: ahahahaha...
My feelings exactly.
(a)
What? Three years of experience doesn't count as "extensive", though it
can be enough to be a genuine expert in the field? I suspect "extensive"
means "actually done it", while "some experience" would mean "read about
it".
Perhaps all they want is a postdoc who did a PhD in microfabrication, with
some optics. We'll produce a graduate with this experience in another two
years. Perfectly reasonable. Given standard job ad language, especially.
Something that should be remembered here is that it is not uncommon
for the ad to be sham. It is often the case that there is already a
postdoc candidate lined up (through informal networking) but existing
rules require the position to be openly advertised. In such case the
ad will be formulated so as to assure that nobody (other than the
person you're have available) will fit. Whenever you see and ad with
lots of adjectives and stipulations, that's probably the case.
(b)
Yeah, right, take off 4 years of productive work and earning, and then a
50% pay cut on top of that to enter academia. Those who would do this
never entered industry in the first place. Still, 50% isn't so bad. The
difference between industry pay and academic pay is even bigger in law.
And there's even industry employment in law, at least for the lucky 25% or
so!
(c)
Training???? I thought it was all about cheap labour. Since when has there
been anything about actually _training_ the serf^H^H^H^Hpostdocs?
Does obedience training count?:-)
If you
want someone with extensive experience, hire a contractor.
This project is going to take a year (with a possibility of a second
or even a THIRD year!). There is no way a contractor could do it in
the week and a half that the money would last for.
As I was told many years ago, when asking if it is not a waste to
employ a post doc doing primarily technician's work (I was young and
naive then), "But we couldn't afford hiring a technician".
(d)
Postdocs here are actually decently paid, and have decent conditions.
35-50K, bosses will be happy with 40 hour weeks. I contemplated postdoc
work in Korea, but at 1,000,000 won/month (about US1K) - although some
deals include acccomodation - it wasn't very attractive. I've only heard
bad things about US postdoc work, mainly about the long hours expected.
But that's from people in parasitology, so I don't know whether
_everybody_ expects 80 hour weeks from their postdocs.
Not necessarily 80 hour weeks but apriori unlimited number of hours.
(e)
The postdoc takes the job with gratitude, even if it's technician-work.
Beats unemployment.
Of course. That's why the positions exist.
Mati Meron | "When you argue with a fool,
meron@cars.uchicago.edu | chances are he is doing just the same"
.
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| User: "Timo A. Nieminen" |
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| Title: Re: Postdoc on thermal detector technology at University of Minnesota |
27 Dec 2006 01:59:25 PM |
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On Tue, 26 Dec 2006, wrote:
Something that should be remembered here is that it is not uncommon
for the ad to be sham. It is often the case that there is already a
postdoc candidate lined up (through informal networking) but existing
rules require the position to be openly advertised. In such case the
ad will be formulated so as to assure that nobody (other than the
person you're have available) will fit. Whenever you see and ad with
lots of adjectives and stipulations, that's probably the case.
Either that, or they're just hopeful.
I've seen quite odd selection criteria over the years. One of the
strangest was along the lines of "have a vision for the future development
of either theoretical or experimental physics in Australia". WTF? How do
you develop one without the other? The "either" was disturbing.
The last time I was interviewed for a position, I was surprised. I didn't
have any experience in either of the two fields they'd expect me to choose
one of to mainly work in (medical imaging and superconductors/solid-state
physics). OTOH, the selection criteria didn't actually require any
experience in those fields.
Postdocs here are actually decently paid, and have decent conditions.
35-50K, bosses will be happy with 40 hour weeks. I contemplated postdoc
work in Korea, but at 1,000,000 won/month (about US1K) - although some
deals include acccomodation - it wasn't very attractive. I've only heard
bad things about US postdoc work, mainly about the long hours expected.
But that's from people in parasitology, so I don't know whether
_everybody_ expects 80 hour weeks from their postdocs.
Not necessarily 80 hour weeks but apriori unlimited number of hours.
The last time I was working part-time, I had three separate jobs.
Together, they added up to officially 44 hours/week. However, the actual
work was a little episodic - a few quiet weeks, then a few busy weeks. At
the end of the year, all 3 jobs were busy. My last 4 weeks of part-time
employment were a total of 360 hours. Starting full-time work after that
was like a holiday.
--
Timo Nieminen - Home page: http://www.physics.uq.edu.au/people/nieminen/
E-prints: http://eprint.uq.edu.au/view/person/Nieminen,_Timo_A..html
Shrine to Spirits: http://www.users.bigpond.com/timo_nieminen/spirits.html
.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: Postdoc on thermal detector technology at University of Minnesota |
27 Dec 2006 03:16:24 PM |
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In article <Pine.WNT.4.64.0612280549300.1032@serene.st>, "Timo A. Nieminen" <timo@physics.uq.edu.au> writes:
On Tue, 26 Dec 2006, wrote:
Something that should be remembered here is that it is not uncommon
for the ad to be sham. It is often the case that there is already a
postdoc candidate lined up (through informal networking) but existing
rules require the position to be openly advertised. In such case the
ad will be formulated so as to assure that nobody (other than the
person you're have available) will fit. Whenever you see and ad with
lots of adjectives and stipulations, that's probably the case.
Either that, or they're just hopeful.
I've seen quite odd selection criteria over the years. One of the
strangest was along the lines of "have a vision for the future development
of either theoretical or experimental physics in Australia". WTF? How do
you develop one without the other? The "either" was disturbing.
That's for sure. And, as an aside, how is the candidate to prove that
he "has a vision..."?
The last time I was interviewed for a position, I was surprised. I didn't
have any experience in either of the two fields they'd expect me to choose
one of to mainly work in (medical imaging and superconductors/solid-state
physics). OTOH, the selection criteria didn't actually require any
experience in those fields.
I interviewed once for a position with an Israeli high tech company
(which was established by couple physicists, BTW) and noticed
throughout the interview that, while asking many general questions,
they were distinctly uninterested in the details of my previous work
and quite vague regarding what they expect me to do with them. When I
commented on this, one of them said "We hire physicists to deal with
the unpredictables. We ourselves have no clear idea what it is that
you may be doing half a year down the line but, if we hire you, it'll
be based on the belief that whatever it'll be, you'll find some way to
deal with it. For things that are predicable, we hire engineers".
A very wise sentiment.
Postdocs here are actually decently paid, and have decent conditions.
35-50K, bosses will be happy with 40 hour weeks. I contemplated postdoc
work in Korea, but at 1,000,000 won/month (about US1K) - although some
deals include acccomodation - it wasn't very attractive. I've only heard
bad things about US postdoc work, mainly about the long hours expected.
But that's from people in parasitology, so I don't know whether
_everybody_ expects 80 hour weeks from their postdocs.
Not necessarily 80 hour weeks but apriori unlimited number of hours.
The last time I was working part-time, I had three separate jobs.
Together, they added up to officially 44 hours/week. However, the actual
work was a little episodic - a few quiet weeks, then a few busy weeks. At
the end of the year, all 3 jobs were busy. My last 4 weeks of part-time
employment were a total of 360 hours. Starting full-time work after that
was like a holiday.
Our work, at a synchrotron, follows what I call "an agricultural
pattern". Thee are weeks (beam on, users arriving etc.) when the
hours are, apriori, unlimited. Then, there are weeks when you do what
you're in the mood to do, whenever you want to do it. The average is
quite decent but the standard deviation is huge.
Mati Meron | "When you argue with a fool,
meron@cars.uchicago.edu | chances are he is doing just the same"
.
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