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    @NoseKnowsAll It's not quite the same for postdocs in math, who are typically more independent. They may have an assigned research mentor, but they're encouraged to talk to, or do research with, anyone in the department who has a common interest. I'm a math postdoc right now, and I'm collaborating with two different professors who are not my research mentor, and also working on a solo project. Commented Nov 23, 2015 at 16:59
  • @user37208 Thank you for the information. Once again showing that askacademia is quite a broad topic, even within STEM. Commented Nov 23, 2015 at 18:12
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    @user37208l although it's "not quite the same for postdocs in math", who are "more independent", it remains true in math that postdocs are hired with the assumption that they will have a faculty member mentoring and collaborating with them. In particular, I have not heard of a postdoc who does not get assigned by the hiring department an official mentor who works in the same or a closely related field as them. Commented Nov 23, 2015 at 20:22
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    @DanRomik: When I was a postdoc (in the MIT math department, for what it's worth), I had an assigned mentor, but he worked in a pretty different field from me and we only had a couple of conversations during the entire 3 years (nb: I knew it would be like this when I took the job; what I really wanted was space to work on my own projects, so it was pretty optimal from my point of view). Commented Nov 24, 2015 at 21:05
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    @DanRomik: That's usually true, but not universal. I was never assigned an official mentor as a postdoc. I think I was a slightly unusual case, but some math departments do have a culture of being relatively hands-off with postdocs. Commented Nov 25, 2015 at 16:36