Postdoc Training – It’s About Your Career
Do you need career development support and mentoring in your postdoc position? PostdocTraining provides the online solution to accelerate your career and maximize your potential in academia and beyond.
Three | 2019A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Management mattersAgreement updated. The UK has updated its voluntary Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, including action to promote better mental health and 10 days each year of free professional development training for ECRs, after an independent review of the […]
Two | 2019A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Research mattersWhat drives research productivity? A North American study explores factors affecting ECRs’ productivity and rules out the ‘pedigree’ of their doctoral program.Partnering with industry. Academics’ concerns about industry collaborations are many, but so are the benefits if the partnership fitsBlock funding […]
One | 2019A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Management mattersDiluting the role of metrics. Institutions globally are watching the Netherlands push to find new ways of assessing and rewarding academics that don’t rely on citations and journal impact factors, and do acknowledge different academic pathways.Helping researchers manage impact. Suggestions for […]
Two | 2018A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Management mattersTeaching and promotion. Balancing teaching commitments and research can look impossible to early career academics, but more institutions are re-shaping career frameworks to reward the teaching component.Credit for sharing. A report from the US’s National Academies says the progress of ‘open […]
One | 2018A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Management mattersManaging the odds. A coalition of US universities is publishing job outcome data to help manage PhD student/postdoc expectations, given so few will get a tenure-track position. The Chancellor of one of the unis insists it’s not about putting people off […]
Three | 2017A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Management mattersNurture your hybrids. A research manager/academic warns a lack of status and career progression are blighting the prospects of the ‘all-rounders’ who bridge universities’ academic and professional streams.Research as a volume business. A critique of ‘grant-counting’ management behaviours in research argues […]
Two | 2017A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Management mattersThe risks in reviews. Two experienced external reviewers of academic programs say the review process can reinvigorate departments and fortify their cohesion and direction, but there are pitfalls to navigate.Isolated case or common cause? A survey of UK university academics and […]
One | 2017A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Management matters‘Research excellence’: not so excellent? This article identifies major problems with the notion of excellence in research, and argues for an alternative and more meaningful rhetoric.What should uni faculty look like? A new book includes the results of an extensive survey […]
Three | 2016A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Management mattersTransfer market tactics. A wide-ranging review is driving reform of the UK’s research excellence framework. It includes a recommendation to stop universities ‘gaming’ the system by poaching productive staff from other institutions and claiming their outputs. Will this idea catch on […]
Two | 2016A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Management mattersFundraising: dollars and sense. A former VC advocates engaging with potential donors to secure benefits well beyond the money raised, including having to articulate a clear vision and strategy, and increasing an institution’s influence.Philanthropy extending its reach. A new partnership between […]
One | 2016A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Management matters‘Don’t follow me, I’m too busy leading…’: The latest survey from the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education in the UK (summary of the results) confirmed a huge majority see a need for improved university leadership. Five main areas identified for attention […]
Four | 2015A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.Would research life improve if grants were awarded for overall research goals, not projects? The US’s Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award is testing the benefits of funding research programs instead of pre-defined projects. The program director and commentators believe it could increase stability […]
Three | 2015A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.The European Science Foundation’s 2015 career tracking study of doctorate holders offers interesting insights into career progression, geographical mobility and the effect on productivity of permanency in contract conditions. Recommendations include managing career expectations and the training of doctoral candidates in ways […]
Two | 2015 A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers. Do you mentor others, or train mentors? This useful piece examines the principles of effective mentor-mentee conversations, equally valid for face-to-face and virtual modes of communication.Managing others and creating effective teams are often a challenge in an academic environment. This […]
Finance is a relatively common career path for physical scientists and mathematicians. For more information, see this overview; written at a time of crisis in world markets, but the principles of first-class analysis never go out of date! This article focuses on initiatives and case studies of physicists moving