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    University of Pennsylvania Reviews

    Updated November 21, 2018
    1,574 reviews

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    4.2
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    University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann
    Amy Gutmann
    641 Ratings

    1,574 Employee Reviews

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    Pros
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    More Pros and Cons

    1. "Postdoctoral scholar"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Postdoctoral Fellow in Philadelphia, PA
      Current Employee - Postdoctoral Fellow in Philadelphia, PA
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at University of Pennsylvania full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Fantastic research environment, good teaching environment. Obviously depends on where you "land", but there are more seminars, research activities, and resources than you would have time for... Health benefits are decent.

      Cons

      I currently get paid the minimum for postdoc with my experience (pay structure available online). Again depending on where you land, there may or may not be support for research / teaching: You'd have to actively search for it.

    2. Helpful (1)

      "posdoc at Penn"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Postdoctoral Fellow in Philadelphia, PA
      Current Employee - Postdoctoral Fellow in Philadelphia, PA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at University of Pennsylvania full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      very professional environment , great scientists, beautiful campus

      Cons

      honestly no cons. I had a great experience there

      Advice to Management

      more food courts would be nice

      3. Join the University of Pennsylvania team
      See Our Latest Jobs

    3. "World class university"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Current Employee - Research Professor in Philadelphia, PA
      Current Employee - Research Professor in Philadelphia, PA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      Approves of CEO

      I have been working at University of Pennsylvania full-time (More than 10 years)

      Pros

      Great university and a great city

      Cons

      I can't think of a downside

    4. "Research Assistant"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at University of Pennsylvania full-time

      Pros

      the research atmosphere is good

      Cons

      the community is not safe

    5. "Clinical Research Coordinator"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at University of Pennsylvania part-time

      Pros

      -Amazing, intelligent, and hard-working people

      Cons

      -Work is repetitive after a while

    6. "good place to launch a career"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at University of Pennsylvania full-time

      Pros

      very strong atmosphere on collaboration

      Cons

      very high pressure, no work life balance

    7. "Postdoctoral Fellow"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Former Employee - Anonymous Employee

      Pros

      Amazing Facilities and Research equipment in a collaborative environment. Benefits for Postdoctoral Fellows are competitive with other institutions

      Cons

      Not designed for career development if you are not interested in becoming faculty at an R1 institution.

    8. "Graduate Student"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee
      Current Employee - Anonymous Employee

      I have been working at University of Pennsylvania full-time

      Pros

      Collaborative atmosphere, great resources, top notch biomedical research

      Cons

      Very urban, which isn’t for everyone

    9. "As a postdoc it all depends on your Professor and how he runs the lab"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Postdoctoral Researcher in Philadelphia, PA
      Current Employee - Postdoctoral Researcher in Philadelphia, PA
      Recommends
      Positive Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at University of Pennsylvania full-time (More than 3 years)

      Pros

      Can be a rewarding research experience and great lab environment, depending on the lab. In terms of funding, School of Medicine generally have enough, while for example, Chemistry department labs can be pretty broke.

      Cons

      Can be hostile environment, depending on the lab. I've seen it both ways here. While funding may or may not be great, the postdoc salary remains poor, although this is the case in most other places anyway.
      There is very little communication between research groups. It is both the closed architecture of space, enormous size of institution, University culture, and maybe something else, that makes people and labs pretty alienated here.

      Advice to Management

      Encourage labs and stuff people to interact more often;
      Give postdocs free access to gym

    10. "Prestige University with few benefits for Postdoc"

      StarStarStarStarStar
      • Work/Life Balance
      • Culture & Values
      • Career Opportunities
      • Comp & Benefits
      • Senior Management
      Current Employee - Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Philadelphia, PA
      Current Employee - Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Philadelphia, PA
      Recommends
      Neutral Outlook
      No opinion of CEO

      I have been working at University of Pennsylvania full-time (More than a year)

      Pros

      UPenn has prestige fame. Outstanding atmosphere for research, education. Talented and knowledgeable researchers propelling scientific advancement.

      Cons

      Benefits for postdoc is very basic. Tax is very high. Most postdoc need to pay outrageous money for their dependents, if they have. Safety is also a concer

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