A potential applicant writes:

I am considering applying to the postdoc positions at the Applied Statistics Center advertised at http://applied.stat.columbia.edu/postdocads.php. From the description in that page, it is not clear to me whether the selected postdocs are expected to use part of their time in their own projects. There is no information, either, on what the postdoc positions offer, in terms of salary and benefits. Lastly, there is no advertised application deadline. I would appreciate it a lot if you could give me information on these issues.

My reply:

1. Yes, postdocs are expected to spend time on their own projects, possibly in collaboration with others here.

2. Salary and benefits are competitive with salary and benefits for statistics postdocs elsewhere.

3. There is no application deadline. We consider the applicants as they come in.

4. I’ll be in sabbatical next year so I’m not sure if I’ll hire someone here–it depends on what grants are funded. But the Applied Statistics Center at Columbia includes other researchers, and when you apply for our postdoc, faculty in various departments might take a look at your application.