PROGRESS Globally, the number of postdoctoral researchers is increasing and the length of the postdoctoral RDP/Cambridge Three research-intensive Universities period is extending. The postdoctoral period is when individuals are expected to further develop their Insights participated in the research study: the scholarly independence, their scholarly identity and their academic career trajectory, yet their University of Cambridge and Imperial experiences of gaining a permanent position in academia are relatively under-examined. There is also College London in the UK, and Leiden little evidence on which to base changes in policy and practice to facilitate their advancement. University in the Netherlands. the Career Hairpin’ to find out how researchers prepare for and deal with the Data were collected at an individual ‘Navigating significant career transition from being a postdoctoral researcher to achieving research independence level through an in-depth interview by becoming a Principal Investigator (PI). The research specifically looks at the time-period from when method and at an institutional level researchers started their PhD to obtaining their first substantial grant as a PI. The project will develop using a template to capture the resources to support the personal, professional and career development of postdoctoral researchers, policies, funding and professional and and will provide data to inform researcher and educational development policy and practice. career development support offered. During 2014 and 2015, preliminary findings were discussed at several conferences and the research RDP/Cambridge Complete. was published during 2016 and can be seen at Insights
PROGRESS Globally, the number of postdoctoral researchers is increasing and the length of the postdoctoral period is extending. The postdoctoral period is when individuals are expected to further develop their scholarly independence, their scholarly identity and their academic career trajectory, yet their experiences of gaining a permanent position in academia are relatively under-examined. There is also little evidence on which to base changes in policy and practice to facilitate their advancement. ‘Navigating the Career Hairpin’ to find out how researchers prepare for and deal with the significant career transition from being a postdoctoral researcher to achieving research independence by becoming a Principal Investigator (PI). The research specifically looks at the time-period from when researchers started their PhD to obtaining their first substantial grant as a PI. The project will develop resources to support the personal, professional and career development of postdoctoral researchers, and will provide data to inform researcher and educational development policy and practice. RDP/Cambridge Insights Three research-intensive Universities participated in the research study: the University of Cambridge and Imperial College London in the UK, and Leiden University in the Netherlands. Data were collected at an individual level through an in-depth interview method and at an institutional level using a template to capture the policies, funding and professional and career development support offered. During 2014 and 2015, preliminary findings were discussed at several conferences and the research was published during 2016 and can be seen at RDP/Cambridge Insights Complete.
hr_excellence_progress_review_action_plan_dec_16_.docx