This article presents an analysis of the epistemic perspectives that can guide the implementation of postdoctoral research in the educational sector. It was developed from a critical-reflexive approach, using the procedures of thematic exposition and reflection transferred to the Colombian context. As a result, it was possible to identify that the trends in terms of epistemic perspectives in high level postdoctoral research studies deal with disciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, complementarity and transcomplexity. It is concluded that postdoctoral research requires the conjugation of the realities of national and international contexts, the research experience of the researcher in theoretical and methodological aspects, the mastery of some epistemological approach and skills in academic writing for the publication of research results.

Keywords: postdoctoral research; disciplinarity; interdisciplinarity; transdisciplinarity; complementarity; transcomplexity

Postdoctoral training in education in Latin American countries such as Colombia has not received the recognition it deserves in recent times. Even though, academic and intervention products can contribute to the educational development of nations. For this, the production of knowledge in professionals with doctorate level must be strengthened. In this sense, "experience has shown that postdoctoral activities are an adequate framework to catalyze the continuity of doctoral training" (Concepción et al., 2016, p. 66).

According to Balza (2009, p. 51), "in the postdoctoral research process, there must be a common identity, a synergy and a recursive conjunction between the ontological and epistemological reasons of knowledge". Thus, from the ontological, the being is approached, that is, the essence of the reality under study, while the epistemological, entails the way of thinking and knowing the human reality, from which it is possible to contribute to the progress of the country with the application of the different knowledge required by the transformations in the educational sector.

In accordance with the above, the need arises to implement postdoctoral programs, with the intention of providing opportunities for doctors to fully carry out their academic training, with rigorous research processes. In this perspective, postdoctoral stays, "would have the intentionality to train mainly younger or less experienced doctors, which provide sets of knowledge and, above all, skills to act autonomously, research independently and work with high levels of quality" (Ordóñez & Nascimento, 2019, pp. 210-211).

Consequently, with the development of this paper, we will analyze how epistemological perspectives are currently addressed to develop knowledge in the framework of postdoctoral studies and propose some recommendations to achieve the improvement of these processes, from the Colombian case.

• Research activities in postdoctoral studies

Postdoctoral programs or postdoctoral stays "are scenarios in which a doctor puts into practice his or her research, teaching, knowledge dissemination, academic networking, interdisciplinary dialogue or preparation for professional life skills" (Villegas, 2020, p. 46). In this perspective, research activity is focused on the development of high impact research, the socialization of results through academic networks and publication of documents at the service of other researchers. These tasks require rigorousness in the researcher and a welcoming attitude in the academic community, so that the contributions have an effect on the educational realities of the different countries.
According to Fernández (2018, p. 35) "postdoctoral research is the academic or scientific research conducted by a person with the title of doctor, with the objective of deepening the knowledge of a certain topic". Such topics may arise from research that the researcher has been developing, such as unexplored problems, for which various actions, tasks or activities are required to allow their full development. In the case of Colombia, as of 2021, there are currently five postdoctoral programs in the field of education, which focus on training and academic production. Table 1 presents the main research activities of each of them (Cifuentes, 2019).

Table 1.
Research activities in postdoctoral education programs in Colombia

Program/University	Research activities
Postdoctoral in Education (District University)	At the end of the postdoctoral research process, the postdoctoral student must submit a final written report of his/her research, according to the parameters established by the Research Center of the Francisco José de Caldas District University or the agency that takes its place, and will be endorsed by the project director. As a product of the research, an article published or accepted for publication in an indexed journal must be submitted. This text, by mutual agreement, may be co-authored by the doctor in Postdoctoral Stay and the director. The research report must be presented, in person, at an academic event organized by the postdoctoral fellowship.
Postdoctoral in Educational Sciences (Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia)	Elaboration of the Research Project according to the planned schedule with the tutor assigned by the Doctorate in Educational Sciences. Participate as a lecturer in the Doctorate in Educational Sciences. Perform tutorials or thesis direction to doctoral students.
Postdoctoral in Education, Social Sciences and Interculturality (University of Santo Tomas)	Research Seminars International Internships Publications of articles and book chapters.
Postdoctoral Program in Social Sciences Childhood and Youth (University of Manizales-International Center for Education and Human Development)	An individual or collective research. This research must be carried out and confronted within the framework of the research lines, coordinated by representatives of the academic committee and who are experts in the thematic field of said line. Participation in four International Meetings. Within a maximum period of three years, each postdoctoral student must participate in at least four international meetings that consider the conceptual axes and whose themes are defined by the Academic Committee in relation to the Latin American context and that of the country where the meeting is held. Presentation of a paper in the framework of one of the four international meetings, with the advances or results of the research. Publication of an article because of the research carried out, which must be evaluated and accepted for publication in an indexed or highly recognized journal in the field of social sciences. Publication of an individual or collective book with the results of the research developed within the framework of the Program. The book requires external evaluation by a recognized specialist and endorsed by the Academic Committee.
Postdoctoral in Intercultural Education (San Buenaventura University)	Continuous training in Postdoctoral Research Seminars. Research colloquium - Socialization of postdoctoral research advances. International internship in Latin American intercultural educational experiences. Scientific writing of research results by chapter/subprojects and dissemination articles. Socialization of the research work in an international academic event. Participation in an International Academic Network related to the subject matter.

Source: prepared by the authors based on information from the websites of the postdoctoral programs in question: Francisco José de Caldas District University (n. d.), Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia (n. d.), Santo Tomás University (n. d.), International Center for Education and Human Development (n. d.) and San Buenaventura University (n. d.).

According to the above, in Colombia "The research activities of the programs focus on training through seminars, the development of research projects, the completion of internships, the strengthening of academic writing and participation in academic events" (Cifuentes, 2019, p. 152). Consequently, postdoctoral research activities, "although they do not lead to an academic degree, are intended to develop a set of specific skills in participants" (Ordóñez & Nascimento, 2019, p. 210). In this way, PhDs become authentic researchers at the service of national and international communities.

On the other hand, Caqueo (2016, p. 5) points out that "although a postdoctoral fellowship involves a process of training, acquisition of new knowledge and skills in the area of research, it is also true that during this period researchers work more autonomously on major projects of our interest". Hence the importance of support from public and private entities for the development of postdoctoral research, which emerges from the tastes, interests and desires of the researchers themselves, a situation that can lead to greater commitment to the needs of the communities in which the researchers interact.

For this reason, "It is expected that, through the supervision of a mentor with whom they have common interests, the postdoctoral student will reach a greater and better scientific productivity" (Caqueo, 2016, p. 5), by "daring to approach the available knowledge from a critical point of view, to deconstruct and reconstruct knowledge maps, whether they are theoretical models, formal or intermediate-range theories and substantive and/or sustained theories" (Balza, 2009, p. 56). Not only should we expect from postdoctoral research, intervention actions that imply direct transformations of the problems, but we should also highlight the theoretical contributions that can be made to the different fields of action that surround the educational sciences.

• Epistemic perspectives of postdoctoral research

In the framework of the development of postdoctoral research in education, "the application of complex thought processes that allow the deployment of activities and the satisfaction of the demands of the collectives and programs in which the participants are inserted" (Ordóñez & Nascimento, 2019, p. 211) is sought, which "should lead to the construction of reflective judgments increasingly argued about the complex connections existing in the system of thought, reality and knowledge" (Balza, 20009, p. 49).

Indeed, "the process of abstract thinking is of particular importance at the research level in the postdoctoral degree. In this degree of study, not only that which is seen must be considered, its meaning is also relevant" (Fernández, 2018, p. 35). For such reason, the following epistemic perspectives, i.e., how scientific knowledge is generated, have contributed to the development of this level of training:

• Disciplinarity: for Nicolescu (1996, cited in Osorio, 2012, p. 283) "disciplinarity is the organization of scientific knowledge based on specialized fields or areas of knowledge. Disciplines operate the knowledge of the parts of a whole that, due to its immensity, becomes impossible to understand as a whole".
• Multidisciplinarity: it consists of "studying a research topic not only from one discipline, but from several at the same time. Any topic in question will ultimately be enriched by incorporating the perspectives of various disciplines" (Nicolescu, 2006, p. 19).
• Interdisciplinarity: involves the collaborative work "of teachers and professors, bearing in mind that each of those involved in this common work has competence in his or her discipline and certain knowledge of the contents and working methods of the others" (León, 2010, p. 120). In other words, it is understood "as the interaction between disciplines that entails real links, that is, a true reciprocity in exchanges, and therefore, a mutual enrichment" (Guzmán, Settati and Marín, 2019, p. 75), which "contributes to generate flexible thinking, develops and improves learning skills, facilitates understanding, increases the ability to access acquired knowledge and improves skills to integrate dissimilar contexts" (Carvajal, 2010, p. 166).
• Transversality: it allows linking and connecting "the knowledge of the different aspects of learning, providing sense and meaning to disciplinary learning, which facilitates the articulation between educational practices and comprehensive training" (Guzmán et al., 2019, p. 77).
• Transdisciplinarity: it encompasses "that which is between disciplines, across disciplines and beyond all disciplines. Its goal is the understanding of the present world for which one of its imperatives is the unity of knowledge" (Nicolescu, 2006, p. 19). This implies that it is "in itself an episteme, that is, a perspective from which I can adopt a way of thinking about the reality under study" (Balza, 2009, p. 58). Moreover, "it is dynamic and shows a relationship between knowledge production and problem solving" (Peñuela, 2021, p. 3).
• Complementarity: it is considered "as a proposal for the integration of research approaches for the study of the same problem or object of study through the use of different methods, designs, techniques, data collection and analysis procedures" (Blanco & Pirela, 2016, p. 100).
• Transcomplexity: it requires "assuming a cosmovisionary attitude that is indispensable for the emergence of a free, problematizing and challenging spirit, but open to the multiple connections of knowledge from different disciplines of knowledge" (Balza, 2009, p. 49). This requires "respect for their individual limitations and scope, so they must deepen the connection of their communicative networks, in order to unveil reality in its dictions-contradictions and appreciate its emerging qualities" (Balza, 2009, p. 60).

According to the above, there is no opposition between the different epistemic perspectives, "but a fertile complementarity. In fact, there is no transdisciplinarity without disciplinarity. Despite this fact, the considerations shown above provoked, around 1990, a violent war of definitions. This war is not over yet" (Nicolescu, 2006, p. 19). However, the possibility of thinking about postdoctoral research from a transcomplex perspective designates a new way of thinking, feeling, and living (Balza, 2009), which transcends the simple fact of doing research, by betting on transformations in the way of seeing, thinking and acting in different sociocultural contexts. For this reason, the "postdoctoral researcher must test his superior intelligence to think independently and in absolute freedom; in order to be able to travel through new territories of human wisdom through the diversity of paradigms and methodologies" (Balza, 2009, p. 56).

• Recommendations for thinking about postdoctoral research

According to what has been said so far, "the postdoctoral is a 'bridge' between a deepening in research training and autonomous academic development in order to position oneself, either in a university or other institution, or even in a company" (Caqueo, 2016, p. 5).

In order to achieve the above, the researcher "must be a permanent questioner, a thinker of reality with heuristic potential and creativity" (Balza, 2009, p. 55), mobilizing in the search for truth, through "reading to approach the thematic axes of knowledge, creative imagination, curiosity, criticality and freedom of thought" (Balza, 2009, p. 55). In this perspective, suggestions are made to think about the construction of knowledge in postdoctoral research, as presented in Figure 1:

Figure 1. Structure for the improvement of postdoctoral training

According to what has been said, postdoctoral training in the field of education should address three main axes, from a transcomplex integrating epistemic approach (Balza, 2009):

• The conjugation of the realities of national and international contexts: postdoctoral research in education cannot ignore the complex situations experienced by local and national educational communities, nor can it avoid the problems experienced in the international environment. For this reason, municipal, departmental, and national development plans can be an input to identify the needs that must be addressed. Similarly, reports from international organizations can help to consolidate the fields of action.

In addition, the state of the art published in indexed journals helps to understand the realities of this sector. Case studies developed in local contexts, which provide concrete facts for the analysis of the circumstances and decision making to intervene in the problems, cannot be discarded either.

• Theoretical and methodological research experience: The researcher in the postdoctoral framework must understand and know how to conduct documentary, bibliometric, review or state of the art research. This contributes to the qualification of the researcher's theoretical domain, which cannot be detached from the world of life, from what happens in daily experiences. Since from the postdoctoral training it is possible to contribute with forcefulness in the existing theoretical gaps in the different fields of the educational sector. In the same way, the postdoctoral researcher must have the expertise to define the approaches, paradigms, epistemological perspectives, types of research and methodologies to develop the studies. This entails rigor and credibility in the academic community.

The development of skills for the communication of results: in doctoral programs, "the presentation of the doctoral thesis project is a situation that generates stress with multiple physical and behavioral manifestations" (Clemente et al., 2021, p. 9). In addition, the academic production derived from this research causes anguish and uncertainty. These situations in postdoctoral programs must begin to be transformed. That is, the competencies to produce academic texts, both oral (defenses and papers) and written (articles and books), that allow the publication of research results must be strengthened. However, environments in which researchers can confidently socialize their findings should be fostered. In the discourse of postdocs, concepts such as defense or support of research projects in court persist, and the idea of judging one over the other is installed. For this reason, it is necessary to consolidate academic networks aimed at the production of scientific texts with quality criteria, from a humanistic perspective that promotes the welfare and tranquility of researchers.

Postdoctoral fellowships in education should not "be a function of personal vanities" (Padrón 2017, p. 2), they should focus on generating knowledge that allows the development of peoples. In this sense, doctors in seeking training in high research studies should not neglect theoretical training, nor methodological rigor in conducting research processes, which must be extracted from the problems identified in the national and international contexts in the field of knowledge. In this sense, theoretical and methodological training, as well as research production, can be supported by epistemological approaches, such as disciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, complementarity and transcomplexity, since each one has contributed to the development of knowledge in different historical moments.

However, training with a transcomplex integrative epistemic approach (Balza, 2009), allows understanding various circumstances that may manifest historical, social and cultural aspects, presenting an integral vision of the world of life by understanding the research processes as inexhaustible problems that require to be addressed by doctors with high postdoctoral research studies. In turn, research findings should be published in academic communities, through articles, book chapters, papers and conferences, since "in order to publish, research must be done, knowledge must be produced and, consequently, researchers must be trained" (Echevarría & Hernández, 2021, p. 4), with high quality criteria.

Conflict of interest
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.