Zarina K. (@astnart.bsky.social)

Postdocs should receive relocation benefits from the universities that hire them | Applied and Environmental Microbiology “Can I borrow your credit card?” Microbiologist Zakee Sabree put this question to his parents frequently during his transition into his first postdoctoral research position at the University of Arizona in Tucson. After earning his PhD in microbiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he, like most postdocs, personally covered his relocation expenses, and it was uncommon for faculty PIs to provide relocation support. Nearly two decades since, PhDs moving to academic postdoc positions still are rarely offered relocation support benefits even though their labor is essential for basic and applied scholarship and innovations in academia. Most postdocs at the Ohio State University and other universities share the mix of joy of having earned their PhDs and the stress of figuring out how to afford moving to and living in a new town or city for the next step in their careers. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aem.01483-24