Postdoc: established project vs your own I am considering the pros and cons of two types of postdoc positions I have come cross:

The most common is 1-3 years of work on an established project for which a supervisor PI typically won a grant.
Some departments ask for a 'research plan' and the postdoc who wins the position works alone or with a local supervisor on the project he/she proposed.

The pros of 1 are clear:

In my field, these jobs are usually offered in stronger departments (though not always).
Likely more publishing output with a team and/or invested supervisor.
Contacts.

I was wondering about the pros of 2 and how it is perceived because the independent work is attractive to me.
Your second option many not even have a &quot;supervisor&quot; as such. It might just be an opportunity for an aspiring academic to work with a small research group on questions of mutual interest. This might be especially true in mathematics, for example. It is a way to get some experience, possibly even including teaching a bit.
I've been in a department where a post doc was hired specifically to work with a junior faculty member to boost their mutual CVs and experience.
Another situation involved a person who had an interesting (to some of the other faculty) research program so they hired him to work with the others, bringing new ideas into a research group. It was mutually beneficial as was my other example. In this case the long term intention was to offer the postdoc a permanent position later if possible.
There are hardly any disadvantages as long as the postdoc works well with others as a colleague and both gives and accepts help.