Dr Kathy Barrett is the University Lead on Research Staff Development at King’s College London; and Dr Rachel Cowen is the University Lead for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, University of Manchester. Voices are becoming ever louder across the research sector, raising concerns about our highly competitive environment in which career structures and outcomes can be increasingly precarious and unpredictable. We witness the pressures on academics and on research staff that con

Bryony Portsmouth is the Researcher Development Lead at the University of Sheffield and is a member of Researchers14. My tenure in researcher development is 6 years. On day one of my induction in November 2012, I was handed a hard copy of the ‘Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers’ (now affectionately known simply as ‘the Concordat’) and was told that the document would underpin everything I did. As was alluded to in our previous blog post, authored by Dr

Dr Karen Clegg is Head of Research Excellence Training at the University of York and is a member of Researchers14 but is writing in a personal capacity as someone who has devoted the best part of 15 years to researcher development. Once upon a time, researchers in universities and research organisations were like the squires of old; expected to support the knight to whom they were affiliated and take on any duties asked of them as part of their apprenticeship. Once their know

Written on behalf of Researchers14 by Dr Kay Guccione (University of Sheffield), Dr Steve Joy (University of Cambridge) and Dr Nigel Eady. (Kings College London). The views represented here do not necessarily represent those of all members of Researchers 14, or their employing institutions. In a recent Naturejobs blog post Prof David Bogle, Pro-Vice-Provost of the Doctoral School at UCL commented that “Too often, research staff are recruited to deliver a specific project and

Written on behalf of Researchers 14 by Dr Elizabeth Adams (University of Glasgow) and Karina Prasad (University of Cambridge). The word entrepreneurship often conjures up images of popular TV shows like Dragon’s Den or The Apprentice, not typically something that a highly specialised postdoctoral researcher would be likely to identify with. However, an academic career path is not the only choice for researchers (or even, for many, the logical one). An entrepreneurial career