Hi all .. i would like ur advice! i had an offer to do a postdoct in the US at the University of Minnesota for one year contract. They told me that the salary going to be around $30,000/year. I am currently working in a university as an Asst. Prof. in my home country and i am getting less than the above salary. I am concerened about: 1) i have to terminate my contract with my uni. as i have to be in the US by March2008 = payment of termination fees (i.e. contract punishment). 2) is it worth the hassel to go to the US and stay for one year (extension not guaranteed) and save money from my postdoc work (is MN or US in general expensive - flat rents, food cloths ...). please advice me if go or not to go, this will support my dicision. Thanks folks

I don't know where you are at the moment, but I think that in general you would find that the US is much less expensive than the UK. Obvious exceptions are large coastal cities like New York and anything in California...did you indicate the offer was for Minnesota? I think it has a fairly reasonably cheap cost of living. You should be prepared to cope with long cold snowy winters, and you shold check out where you might live in proximity to the university. Public transportation in the US is not like it is in the UK or the rest of Europe--its OK in some large cities and non-existant in many others. I do not know what the situation would be in Minnesota, I would guess that their large cities have some kind of public transportation.

I would GUESS that a nice large one or two bed room flat would be available for $800 per month ( about £400), which may or may not include bills such as water, heating, cooling, electricity.

http://swz.salary.com/CostOfLivingWizard/layouthtmls/coll_metrodetail_110.html


Try this..the cost of living wizard for St Paul Minneosota

sometimes Universities have "graduate student housing" on campus specifically for international students and visiting professors that are already furnished and include heat/hydro & water. It is usually at a pretty good price. You could make contact with your coordinator and see if they have a set up like this...

Thanks olivia. The institute that belongs to UM is located 90miles south of St.Paul in urban city called Austin (see google earth). I dont know if i will enjoy my stay in a very small city far from the capital city!. Can you also tell me if $30000/year is normal or less than the usual paied research postdoc in the US?

I have no idea what those sort of positions usually pay. The University ought to be able to provide you some sort of information on how its payscale ranks with other universities for similar positions.

I'm in the U.S. Here are NIH (National Institute of Health)standards that are often used - at least as a basis. Often you can negotiate for more from other funding. I don't know your field and if there are any other perks involved - insurance coverage, housing, paying for you to come over here etc? $30,000 is pretty low, even lower than NIH which is low. Consider the rent, and and heating costs, all of which I think are less than Europe but as was said, not all cities have great public transportation systems so also include need for car, insurance, and gas. But if the field and position are really competitive and you would gain tremendous experience or get to work with top notch people in the field, than thats worth it. Good luck.

NIH Minimums as of Feburary 22, 2007
Years Completed
0 (1)
$36,996
1
$38,976
2
$41,796
3
$43,428
4
$45,048
5
---- $46,992 ----
6
---- $48,852 ----
7 or more ---- $51,036

One more thing, I found this blog looking for the most current NIH standards.From the "Everyday Scientist" blog,http://blog.everydayscientist.com/?p=590, commenting on the Sigma Xi postdoc survey.There is a great graph showing the salary range of people according to education, in the following order -
Grad student ($25K), HIgh school diploma ($28K), Post-doc ($38K), Bachelor's degree ($45K), Master's degree ($56K), Doctoral degree ($71K):
"Most schools base their postdoc salary from the current NIH postdoc stipend rate. These rates are only marginally adjusted for years of experience and do not reflect the differences in cost of living between, say, Ohio and NYC. Furthermore, most schools do not treat their postdocs as students so on-campus housing, medical, gym, and other “perks” are significantly more expensive."

http://www.spamtownusa.com/quality.html

This is a website about Austin, Minnesota ( HONESTLY!!!) It is the home of the factory that makes Spam--the meat product, not the kind that jams up your email. From the website, I would say it sounds like a pleasant enough town. I think you will find the mid west of the US extremely friendly--not poltergeist inhabitants--the website says the AVERAGE home price is under $90,000--that is roughly £45,000...so at that price I think you should be able to find very reasonably priced accommodation! even if just renting. It also says it has a lot of community events, theatre, performing arts, symphony, parks and sports on the website, and the SPAM Museum!!!

It sounds like a nice, attractive, close knit and progressive mid west community.