Second year review: planning your career Prof. Deborah Henderson Associate Dean of Research

Future career: never too soon to start planning

Assuming at this point you want a career in academia…

Publish everything you can  First author papers  Middle author papers  A review/methods paper  Best possible impact factors

Think about your “skills portfolio”  Project specific  Generic (writing, presentation skills, stats etc)  Teaching/supervision  Admin, safety  Outreach activities  Entrepreneurship  The university has a lot on offer

Attend meetings  Broaden your horizons  Talk to people  Make contacts  What really interests you? Where do you want to be? Who do you want to work with?

Visit other labs  Learn new skills  Experience new environment  Work with different people  Is this a good place to do a postdoc?  Take new skills back  Different labs do the same things differently

Getting that post doc  Plan well ahead (now!)  Identify the field you want to work in  Identify a few (3-5) researchers who you would like to work with  Update your CV  Contact them (probably about start of your final year)  Discuss opportunities – fellowships, writing grants for you, funded positions etc.  Be proactive

FFG-S – strategic goal Build a strong research base of early career researchers within the FMS that will go on to become the research leaders of the future

Most likely award time Duration of Award External Fellowship Schemes 5 years 3+ years New Investigator Research Grant (NIRG) MRC Snr Non-Clinical Fell 7 years Career Dev Awards 4 years 5 (+3) years 5+ years Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship Sir Henry Dale Fellowship Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship 3 years 5 years BBSRC David Phillips/ECR Fellowships Anniversary Future Leader Fellowship 3 (+1) years 5 (+5) years Snr Research Fellowship BHF Int Basic Sci Res Fell 4 (+1) years Immediate Postdoc Basic Science Research Fellowship 6 years CRUK Snr Non-Clinical Fell 6 years Career Development Fellowship Kay Kendall 3 years Jnr Research Fellowship 4 years Int Res Fellowship 3 years David Sainsbury Fellowship NC3Rs 5 years University Research Fellowship Royal Society 2 years International Incoming/Intra-European 3 years International Outgoing Marie Curie

Junior Career development/NIRG* Most likely award time Running time EXTERNAL SCHEMES FMS Fellowship Schemes Faculty Fellowship Y3 PhD 12 PhD Senior/NIRG/project grants Open ended contract 5 year fixed term-NURF* * Equivalent status – subject to review at 18mo before end to assess likely career progression

FMS Fellowships within 0-2 years of PhD award Evidence that many successful applicants at more senior levels held “junior” fellowships Ideally identify prior to PhD completion Internal and external Short-term funding (akin to bridging) in order to make application Mentoring and other support Criteria: excellent publication record during PhD Two competitions per year, spring and autumn

RA approaches and talks with PI (advisor) about interest in fellowship and possible project Referral to Institute FFG-S representative – discussion about suitability, readiness and possible schemes RA Notifies the faculty for tracking RA starts to work on application with support from advisor and mentor RA works on CV – primarily publications Mentor allocated – meeting arranged Contacts Institute Research Support Officer re. costings Contacts Gwen Averley for advice and guidance about specific schemes Contacts DOI re. commitment as sponsor Signed off by Associate Dean of Research Iterations of application with local peer review and mentor review (may include DOI) Signed off and submitted by DoI Checks by RSO and JRO Notify of interviews organised by advisor and mentor Debrief with advisor and mentor Pass feedback from application and interview back to FFG-S (via ) -6m -5m -1m -4m -3m -2m -2d Application process and time scale for external fellowships – science - 7d

What if you’re not sure about an academic career?  Discuss with your supervisor/colleagues/peers  Think about the options – there are many  Professional careers advice?

Popular alternatives to academia where a PhD has real value Pharma/Biotech Teaching (HE) Consulting Entrepreneurship Finance Government Law Public Policy Sales Technology Transfer Venture Capital Writing -careers-for-phd-students/

What else can you do to build your CV? Various Scientific Writing Competitions eg EuropePMC.org (December) researchers/max-perutz-science-writing-award/ {React} the University Science Magazine FAMELAB: A National Competition for exciting talks about science, no slides, just props 3 minutes talking about science you are interested in (does not have to be about your research) (November)

BRIGHT CLUB: Presenting the funny bits about your research work in the stand-up style THREE MINUTE THESIS (3MT): Local and national competition for presenting your research in brief SET FOR BRITAIN Poster competition (House of Commons) Biotechnology YES - young entrepreneurs scheme -presenting a business case for the commercialisation of science Brilliant Club - teaching your research to school children

All of these things are important… But not at the expense of a timely PhD submission!