If you are deciding between a postdoctoral fellowship in a European country versus the United States, this resource is for you!
SfN and FENS collaborated on a panel discussion on Sept. 24, 2025, to explore the similarities and differences between PhD and postdoctoral training in the United States and Europe. Hear more from the speakers on the European postdoctoral perspective of this webinar below and gain invaluable insights into your academic path.
To learn more from the speakers who conducted their postgraduate research in the United States, read more here.
Matthew P. Getz — Postdoctoral Fellow, Technical University of Munich
I completed my doctoral work in both Pittsburgh and Chicago. In ultimately deciding a few years ago to move to Munich, Germany for my postdoc, a few factors were at play, though perhaps fewer than one might anticipate. Foremost, I was interested in working with my current mentor, Julijana Gjorgjieva (and I think that this should always be among the top criteria for selecting anywhere to do a postdoc). It certainly helped that her lab is located in an interesting city, and I felt motivated to live abroad and pursue new experiences both personal and professional. On the one hand, despite the global nature of science I think we can be, to a large extent, locally biased, and moving here has introduced me to a new community of labs, topics, and organizational structures with which I had not previously engaged nor had much exposure. On the other, I thought it would be fun to live in Europe and see if I would prefer to stay here long-term.
"Despite the global nature of science I think we can be, to a large extent, locally biased, and moving here has introduced me to a new community of labs, topics, and organizational structures with which I had not previously engaged nor had much exposure."
Anyone considering a postdoc in Germany should be aware that there is a time limit on impermanent contracts (the WissZeitVG), effectively limiting postdocs to six total years. Another consideration might be in which part of the world you’d want to continue working after your postdoc experience. One bit of advice I received was that if I wanted to return to the United States for a faculty position to first do this postdoc abroad and then move to another one back in the United States. The argument being that one would then apply for grants and make more connections within the country in which they aspire to work because that can be to the applicant’s benefit but is often country-specific.
Another consideration might be the lab’s institution. For example, at most German universities there can be a large teaching and advising expectation, whereas at private institutes like the Max Planck this isn’t necessarily the case. In terms of one’s private life, a common concern is integration and linguistic barriers. In brief, this will depend heavily on the location and lab environment; in a large, international city like Munich one can survive speaking almost exclusively English if they so wish, and there are a number of resources from the universities to help welcome expats. Nevertheless, there is certainly a start-up cost to moving to a country or continent without an established support system and there is certainly a higher bureaucratic load than for someone staying in their country of citizenship.
Emily S. Wilson — Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Neuroscience, Alicante, Spain
I earned my PhD in anatomy and cell biology at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and joined the Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante Spain as a postdoctoral fellow. Here, I have shifted from prefrontal cortex to systems neuroscience, investigating thalamocortical circuit development. I had the opportunity to study abroad during my undergraduate studies and I absolutely loved it. I wanted to return, but I felt I was not ready to be so far from home at 22 years old, so I stayed in the United States for my PhD, which was a great experience, and then I returned to Spain for a postdoctoral fellowship.
I have been here for about three and a half years now, and I would say the best advice I have would be to do your research in advance; making such a big move takes a lot of time and preparation, and you should have realistic expectations. Bureaucracy in any country can be a hassle, so give yourself enough time to prepare all of the necessary documents. While postdocs are expected to be independent, we still have a lot to learn, and it can be very isolating; don’t be afraid to reach out to others for help and support.
"Making such a big move takes a lot of time and preparation, and you should have realistic expectations."
With regard to local integration, there will be cultural differences, and you will have to adapt (and learn the language) if you want to be a part of the community. From a scientific perspective, I would say that making the move to Europe has been a great decision for me. I contacted my PI in response to a position posted. I had a different skill set than the lab was initially looking for, but I applied because I was looking for an opportunity to use my expertise in a new context. Here, I was able to bridge the lab’s knowledge and techniques with my own to build my own project of which I am very proud. I will admit this approach is more time consuming, but I feel it can be very rewarding and beneficial for both the postdoctoral fellow and the lab.
I have learned valuable lessons in leadership and pushed myself farther than I thought was possible. Concerning my future plans, as of this moment I am applying for postdoctoral grants and transitional grants in Spain, and I am hoping to stay here for my next steps. I would highly encourage anyone interested in a postdoctoral opportunity abroad to take the leap, but do your research, and you will expand your horizons in ways you may not have expected.
Richard Gao — W1 Tenure-Track (Assistant) Professor, Goethe University Frankfurt
I did my undergrad in engineering in Toronto, then my PhD in cognitive science in San Diego. In the fifth year of my PhD in 2019, I went to a summer school and met my later postdoc advisor, who gave a talk about developing machine learning methods for neuroscience. I was hooked about the approach, so I bugged him about doing a three-month internship stay in his lab in Germany. He agreed and we had made all the arrangements for me to visit in April 2020, and I even got a travel fellowship. But as we know, the world paused in March 2020. So, I stayed in San Diego and finished my PhD, while we stayed in touch and he eventually offered me to come do a postdoc in Germany. I was initially hesitant because I wasn't sure about staying in academia, but I went anyway in early 2021 during the peak of the pandemic, worked with him for four years, and now recently started my faculty position in Germany. I can offer a few reflections from my experience about doing a postdoc in general, and in a different country/continent.
As I said, I wasn't sure that I wanted to do a postdoc, because I didn't want to grind through three or more years hoping to get a faculty job and then fail because of the job market or factors outside of my control. So, the most important thing for me in that decision was that I would have a good time and learn something during my postdoc, no matter what the outcome was in the next stage.
A couple of things convinced me: first, having spent time with my advisor and a few people in his group at this summer school, I had a feel for the kind of person he was. No PhD or postdoc advisor is perfect, but it's really important to work with someone that "fits" you (and vice versa) and has values that you largely agree with, both scientifically and personally. It's very difficult to gauge this in a 30-minute interview, but if I had one piece of advice, it would be to really try hard to find out whether you'd be a good fit personally, both from the advisor and existing group members. In my opinion, it's even more important to be a good personal fit than scientific, but all the better if both fit. Obviously, if there were such an opportunity, go to summer schools and conferences and spend time with people you might want to do a postdoc with, as it offers both parties a more complete picture of what a working relationship might look like.
"In my opinion, it's even more important to be a good personal fit than scientific, but all the better if both fit."
Second, I wanted to learn skills that would be transferable if I left academia, and I did not regret training in machine learning and AI over the last four years given where industry went. Whatever postdoc you decide to do, my advice is simply to think about a "Plan B" and to be mindful in acquiring (and explicitly noting down) skills that might be valuable in three-five years even if you leave academia. It doesn't even need to be technical or quantitative in nature, maybe project management, technical writing, science policy, large-scale coordination and activism. You can also think about acquiring these skills in parallel to the core work of your postdoc research, and it's important to communicate this to your advisor so that there is a joint "training plan," even if it's very implicit.
Lastly, when doing a postdoc abroad, there are some idiosyncrasies of academia in Germany, but by and large, especially in my specific field of computational neuroscience, it was very similar to the United States and Canada. There are general cultural differences in how people communicate with each other, including advisor to advisee. The international center offered a cultural integration crash course that was quite informative, basically outlining common stereotypes, but ultimately they were not super applicable to my own situation and advisor. The most challenging thing for me was actually to move to a small German college town, after having lived in big cities all my life. Many of the amenities of big cities, like international foods and culture, are simply not present (and this would probably be similar moving to a small college town in the United States).
For more insights from the panelists above, watch the webinar, "Postgraduate Journeys: United States and Europe" on demand now.
About the Contributors
