A common post-doc contract duration in my discipline is somewhere between one and three years.
To develop a solid project that will make an awesome application for independent research group funding or that can convince a search committee giving away an academic position takes about 4-6 months.
Writing up said project idea into the awesome application - or better applications, considering the success rates these days - and handing it in takes 2-6 months depending on scheme.
Waiting for the outcomes takes a least 6 months, sometimes even a year or longer!
Academic folks, who wonder why so many post-docs drop out and look for other ways to earn their money: do the math! It is not necessarily that they are not good enough, not persistent enough, not resilient enough. Often it is just that the common post-doc contract duration is not long enough to wait for the outcomes of another proposal.
Why am I pointing this out? The waiting time for one of my proposals was just extended by four months! This does not sound much for someone on a continuous contract. But for someone who has timed all proposal such that the outcomes should be there at least half a year before the contract runs out, plus four months brings me close to gnawing on my fingernails!
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