Academic career advice

Tips and resources to help you build a successful career in academia. From skills development during your PhD to preparing for a role in university administration, all academic career steps are covered. Here, you will find advice on promoting your work, growing your professional reputation and developing collegiate networks to support your academic career progression - or to help you move into industry.

An academic career is rarely a straight line

A scientist’s path can include studying abroad, experience in industry, research and teaching as well as setbacks and uncertainty. Here, Kinga Vörös offers reflections as an early career neuroscientist and why the journey is most meaningful when research reaches patients

Kinga Vörös

Semmelweis University

Lessons from being academic chair of a complex department

Being a department head takes both emotional and cognitive energy to juggle people, programmes, contracts and institutional demands. But digging into skills such as trust-building and communication will bear fruit, writes Ben K. Daniel

Ben Kei Daniel

University of Northern British Columbia

Beyond mission statements: financially literate academics make better career choices

The most valuable research you do this year will not be for your next paper but into your employer and yourself, writes Tom Chapman. Here, he outlines findings from his analysis of university financial statements, offering insight into what to expect when planning a move

Tom Chapman

University of Southampton

Young researcher making a business pitch

What you need to know about securing investment for your spin out

Venture capitalists are ‘completely different beasts’ to grant bodies so academic founders need to embrace a new style of pitching if they are to secure funding for their companies, as Tim Witney explains

Tim Witney

King’s College London

A woman starts her business plan on a whiteboard

Write a business plan for a university spin-out company

Looking to secure investment for your spin-out? Find out how to write a business plan that ticks every box

Robert Crammond

University of the West of Scotland

From lab to market – part 2: writing a business plan

In the second part of this two-part series on finding investment for research commercialisation, here’s how to build a business plan

Eirini Epitropaki

Birkbeck, University of London

Scientists discuss a project with an investor in the lab

From lab to market – part 1: finding investment

In the first part of this two-part series on investment and business planning for research spin-out companies, discover all you need to know about attracting venture capital

Eirini Epitropaki

Birkbeck, University of London

red paper airplane leaving line of white paper airplanes

Academia can never be ‘just a job’ (and why that is OK)

The uncomfortable truth is that academia doesn’t conform to the regular nine-to-five, and pretending otherwise will not fix working conditions that are broken, argues Sorin Krammer

Sorin M. S. Krammer

University of Southampton

A researcher explaining her work to an investor

Who are you selling to? A marketing guide for researchers, part 2

Advice on creating a value proposition that clearly communicates the benefits of your work to different audiences

Rushana Khusainova

The University of Bristol

A researcher pitching to a room full of investors

Who are you selling to? A marketing guide for researchers, part 1

With research, it is not just about what you produce, but how and to whom you communicate it. Learn how to identify and understand the needs of your audience

Rushana Khusainova

The University of Bristol

Campus Talks: How to maximise relationships between university academic and professional services staff

An expert educator embedded in teaching development explains what universities gain when they celebrate professional services expertise and provide clear, meaningful career pathways

Eleanor Hodgson , Eliza Compton

The University of Exeter

An illustration of a man celebrating an achievement while his shadow despairs behind him

The human side of the practitioner-to-academic pipeline

Higher education wants to hire academics with real-world experience – yet the identity shift required often goes unnoticed. Here’s how to improve support

Asrif Yusoff

University of Greenwich

Man using visual brainstorming for business planning

Plan your route from research to market

To successfully commercialise research, you need first to understand the different routes available for taking your findings to market and how your institution can help, as Nicolas Huber explains

Nicolas Huber

King’s College London

Start written on black page with hand holding a pencil

White out: how to defeat the blank page

Efficient academic writing requires a shift in mindset from simply counting words to incremental planning and using techniques that make progress visible even when the page looks empty

Multiple authors

The University of Southern Queensland

The first step in commercialising your research: start the conversation

Your university’s commercialisation office can help start your journey from academic to CEO. Here’s how

Jim O’Connell

University of Florida

What it means to be a university social media director

Social media director is an often-misunderstood role. From the outside, the job can seem as if it revolves around sports highlights, trending sounds and campus beauty shots but those moments represent only a fraction of the work

Riley Phillips

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

A team of professional services staff haveing a discussion

Professional services staff, you’re educators, too

Professional services educators play an important role in supporting student and staff learning at universities. Here are ways to help them to recognise and evidence their teaching practice through Advance HE Fellowship

Eleanor Hodgson

The University of Exeter

Raffaella Ocone is a professor of chemical engineering at Heriot-Watt University

Campus Talks: The career story of Raffaella Ocone, the first female professor of chemical engineering in Scotland

We hear how a woman from rural southern Italy became the first female professor of chemical engineering in Scotland – and what she’s working on now

Raffaella Ocone, Miranda Prynne

Heriot-Watt University

A golden thread against a brown background

Claim your narrative in academia by building a ‘golden thread’

Steady momentum and a clear narrative that links your work across research, teaching and leadership can help others see the direction and impact of your career, say Karen Lander and Joseph L. Brooks

Karen Lander, Joseph L. Brooks

The University of Manchester, Keele University

‘I’ll just clear my inbox first…’

Reframing productivity and defending your diary can transform academic output. Here are tips for protecting your writing time

Multiple authors

The University of Southern Queensland

What established academics can learn from ECRs

Professors can gain immediate, practical benefits if they listen to early career researchers, through inter-generational exchanges such as reverse mentoring. Here, Ian Williams offers five capabilities that ECRs can offer more seasoned scholars

Ian D. Williams

University of Southampton

Illustration of man climbing a mountain of books

What does it mean to ‘make it’ in academia?

The arrival fallacy can eat into scholars’ sense of achievement, reducing milestones to prerequisites for the next step. Here, Rachel Hagan shares ways to redefine success and acknowledge even quiet wins

Rachel Hagan

Liverpool John Moores University

Beat GenAI ‘stranger danger’ with staff training

Higher education staff are apprehensive about the new stranger in the room: GenAI. But personalisation and staff development can help alleviate anxiety

Katie Steen

WorkSmart-AI

Boosting gender diversity in male-dominated STEM disciplines

How to address gender disparity in STEM, when so many disciplines are overwhelmingly male-dominated? Here’s how to work towards equality

Rick Cooper

Birkbeck, University of London

From library to dance floor: how I created an academic Eurotrance album

Academics can use AI-enabled music platforms to transform complex research into their own singles or albums reaching thousands of listeners. Andrew Hudson-Smith explains how

Andrew Hudson-Smith

UCL

Be the warrior students want to see at the front of their class

What do your students want from their university educators? Nail these ingredients and effective teaching will follow

David Kirby

Florida State University

Group of professionals seated talking at a networking event

How female academics can turn network awareness into advancement

The ability to map, navigate and capitalise on professional connections – and disconnections – is not gender neutral, as Eric Quintane explains

Eric Quintane

ESMT Berlin

Take your academic writing skills to the next level

Take your academic writing skills to the next level

Whether writing a paper or a book, find out how to improve your academic writing at each stage of the process

Campus contributors, Kiera O’Brien

Campus

A guide to help journal editorial boards introduce ECRs to academic publishing

Academic publishing can be a harsh landscape. Here, a partnership model offers language and strategies to support new authors as they navigate early submissions and review

Jesper Hansen, Kristy Campbell

UCL, King’s College London

A researcher in a lab sorting test tubes

A guide to building a research career in Japan

For those willing to put in the effort, Japan offers strong research environments, lasting professional networks and a distinctive academic culture that shapes careers long after researchers leave, says Daniel Moraru

Daniel Moraru

Shizuoka University

Find purpose and identity in the ‘near-end’ season of an academic career

As careers near their later stages, familiar markers of achievement fade and professional identity shifts. Wendy Cowan and Bridgette Walker explore how academics can move from proving value to mentoring, shaping legacy and finding renewed purpose

Wendy Cowan, Bridgette Walker

Athens State University

University teacher helping two multiracial students

What I wish I’d known before becoming a programme leader

Becoming a programme leader means learning to lead without line management, protecting your boundaries, and playing the long game. Here, Tom Chapman reflects on what he’s learned during two decades in the role

Tom Chapman

University of Southampton

Young man looking stressed as his inbox explodes out of his screen

How to turn your most aggravating student emails into a chance to spread joy

Faced with a flurry of grade complaints at the end of each semester, Danny Oppenheimer found a way to respond that generated positivity for students and himself. Read on to find out what he did

Danny Oppenheimer

Carnegie Mellon University

Why ECRs should have the courage to contact their academic heroes

How can Aristotle’s ancient wisdom about bravery help early career researchers overcome their fear of reaching out to established scholars?

Anastasios Koukopoulos

Athens University of Economics and Business

How early career lecturers can neutralise age-based assumptions in the classroom

With structure and clarity, new or young university teachers can confidently lead classrooms where students are older than they are. Here, Dikshitha Madisetty offers five strategies

Dikshitha Madisetty

University of Europe for Applied Sciences

Multiracial group of women, women in university leadership concept

What must change? Towards gender-equitable and inclusive academic communities

University leadership has a responsibility to support gender equity that goes beyond simply holding senior roles, writes Lily Kong. Here, she calls for changes in career pathways, workload allocation and service expectations to open space for more women

Lily Kong

Singapore Management University

A young academic plays a game on his phone while his co-worker naps on the desk

Don’t cry for me, academia: gamifying the early career experience

Wajeehah Aayeshah created the online card game Academic Tears to boost empathy for early career academics, and explored a new way of communicating research. Here’s how she did it

Wajeehah Aayeshah

University of Melbourne

Spotlight: Should I become a university administrator

Should I become a university administrator?

If you are considering a career move into university management, gather insights from this collection on what promotion from faculty to higher education administration entails

Campus contributors

Campus

An audience watching a man on stage in a theatre

Beyond overexposure: how academics can reclaim agency on LinkedIn

As LinkedIn shifts from online CV to personal branding stage, Jasmine Mohsen explores how scholars can reclaim agency, set boundaries and build sustainable digital identities without succumbing to overexposure

Jasmine Mohsen

SP Jain London School of Management

Participants in a seminar raise their hands

How to integrate development pathways for higher education professionals

Getting the best out of all employees means taking an intentional approach to staff development. This guide outlines four CPD categories and how to scaffold them

Steve Briggs

University of Bedfordshire

How technicians can achieve professional registration

Technical professionals are essential to the success of universities and research institutes. Nana Asante Asamoah-Danso offers guidance on achieving formal recognition

Nana Asante Asamoah-Danso

Imperial College London

Accompaniment: the key to engaging campus communities in change

To respond to change, leaders must create solutions with their employees and members of the community, rather than instituting a top-down approach. A Latin American leadership practice could be the answer

Annmarie Caño

Gonzaga University

A laptop and a hand scrolling social media on a phone, surrounded by visualisations symbolising likes, comments and followers

Content curation to build academic visibility

Content curation offers academics a practical way to share knowledge beyond the academy. Kelvin Ke Jinde outlines different approaches and shows how they can help researchers extend their reach, save time and engage wider audiences

Kelvin Ke Jinde

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

How compassionate spaces support career development for graduate teaching assistants

Bringing GTAs together in a safe space not only develops career identity, it fosters belonging, respect and care. Here, Kristy Campbell explains what a reading group offers those in the space between student and staff

Kristy Campbell

King’s College London

A woman in professional attire smiling to camera

How teachers can learn to lead

Success in the classroom doesn’t automatically make you a good manager. Garth Elzerman offers advice on building trust with the colleagues you lead

Garth Elzerman

Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

Turn your research into a Hollywood-worthy story

Take a leaf out of a master storyteller’s book. If you want your research to be noticed, transform it into a story. After all, it worked for Charles Darwin…

Simon Hall

University of Cambridge

Subtle steps that protect your authorship

Many early career researchers working with code, data and analysis assume goodwill is enough to secure authorship – it isn’t. Here’s how to protect your contributions and build fair, transparent collaborations

Hari Ram C. R. Nair

Chalmers University of Technology

Why university leaders must listen differently in one-to-ones

Talk less and listen more should be a mantra for leaders and managers. When they acknowledge diverse perspectives, avoid dominating discussions and reflect what they have heard, it sets the tone for more inclusive, respectful dialogue

Annie Owen

University of Southampton

How to get a four-star impact case study? Stop chasing one

Research assessment exercises have turned impact into a means to an end. Instead of writing a good story, do good work for genuine impact

Andy Phippen, Louise Rutt

Bournemouth University, University of Plymouth

Are academics becoming overexposed on LinkedIn?

Social media is key to building an academic network but what about the darker side of putting your professional life on global display? Larisa Yarovaya explores the balance between polished presence and oversharing

Larisa Yarovaya

University of Southampton

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