About this blog

By Cambridge postdocs
The Early Career Blog is a joint endeavour between the universities of Cambridge and Oxford, drawing on expertise from a broad team of careers advisers and development professionals.

We welcome all researchers – regardless of their home country or institution – to read and engage with the blog. It provides up-to-date insight into the political economy of early career research, tips for developing personal and professional attributes, practical advice for exploring next career steps, guidance on job applications both within academia and beyond.

The Early Career Blog was created, in 2013, by Steve Joy, who was then working as a Postdoc Careers Adviser. He is now Head of Researcher Development at the University of Cambridge.

Follow us on Twitter: @earlycareerblog

With input from:

Rachel Bray: Rachel works with research students and staff at Oxford University. Trained in social anthropology, her research has spanned social policy, psychology and health as an academic and technical consultant to international organisations, governments and civil society. She has lived and worked in Europe, Asia and southern Africa.

Diane Caldwell-Hird: Diane works as the Careers Adviser for postdocs and researchers in the arts, humanities, and social sciences at the University of Cambridge. She has studied (politics) and worked (in the Canadian Foreign Service and in Higher Education) in Canada, France, Russia, India and the UK.

Anne Forde: Anne works as the Careers Adviser for postdocs and researchers in the life sciences. She completed her PhD in immunology at Trinity College, University of Dublin before working as a postdoctoral researcher at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg. She then worked in science journalism as a reporter, and later an editor, for the career development website from Science magazine, ScienceCareers.

Liz Simmonds: Liz advises postdocs and researchers in the physical sciences and technology at the University of Cambridge.She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, specialising in Chemistry before working as an assistant editor for the Royal Society of Chemistry and then as a programme manager for SETNET, a Government-funded organisation promoting science and engineering to school children.

Sally Todd: Sally advises postdocs and researchers in the life sciences. She worked as a VSO science teacher in Kenya before completing an MSc in applied genetics. This was followed by a career in agricultural research/plant breeding in both public and private sectors, before she became a careers adviser first at King’s College, London and now at the University of Cambridge.

Editor

Steve Joy: Steve is Head of Researcher Development at the University of Cambridge. He has been supporting early career researchers since 2009, and he has written on these topics for The Guardian as well as for several books on writing successful job applications. His research was in German cultural studies, and he supervised and lectured for five years.

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By Cambridge postdocs
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