Many graduate students work as teaching assistants, supporting faculty members when they teach undergraduate classes. This gives them the chance to learn directly from an experienced lecturer, while also earning money for their work. Could co-teaching be the right role for you? Today we're considering the question of whether graduate students should co-teach. Advantages of Co-Teaching The biggest point in favour of co-teaching as a graduate student is that you will gain invaluable experience from working directly with both students and faculty members. Many academic jobs required some teaching experience in order for you to apply for them, so getting this experience in graduate school will make you more employable. In the United States in particular, there is a large emphasis placed on the importance of teaching experience for junior academics. The big plus of co-teaching here is that the quality of your teaching experience will be higher if you have been observing and working with a knowledgable faculty member. A second advantage to taking a co-teaching job as a graduate student is that you will learn a whole lot from teaching. It's often said that one of the best ways to check whether you understand something is to try to teach it to someone else. You'll quickly see whether you can arrange your knowledge into a helpful and comprehensible form which you students can follow. Also, the questions that students ask and the points that they raise will help you to think about you subject in new ways. Having an experienced co-teacher with you means there's always someone to answer your questions if you're unsure. A final advantage of the co-teaching system is that it gives you the chance to get to know a faculty member well. Not only can you learn from your co-teacher's teaching methods, but you can also go to them with questions about your department or about academic life in general. You can get a more realistic impression of what academic life in the department is like for faculty. They can get to know you better too, so if you need a reference or letter of recommendation in the future, they can provide a very personal and accurate assessment of you. Disadvantages of Co-Teaching Although there are a lot of advantages to co-teaching, you should consider whether you will have enough time to dedicate to teaching in addition to your studies. Teaching requires lots of time, not just in the classroom itself, but also in making lesson plans, setting and grading assignments, and answering students' questions. This is particularly true in co-teaching, where you need to plan together with your co-teacher. Yes, there is someone else to help you with the work, but the two of you will need to co-ordinate carefully to teach effectively. You should also make sure that the work is divided up fairly between the two of you so that you're not left doing all the work by yourself. You should consider the rate of pay for teaching too. Some teaching jobs for graduate students are not very well paid, so if you have high living costs then you might need to consider another option. Alternatively, some grants or fellowships will cover your costs but expect you to teach in return. Find out what your obligations are and make sure that you're making enough money to live comfortably while you study. We hope this has given you some insight into whether co-teaching is right for you!
Co-teaching has become popular in recent years, especially in university teaching training. It involves two teachers, one experienced and one in training, coming together to teach a class together. They share the instruction, the setting of tasks, the marking, and the physical classroom space. The idea is that for a profession like teaching, in which teachers are constantly learning even after they finish their teacher training, more direct instruction is helpful. Observing and interacting with a more experienced colleague allows new teaches to learn more and get guidance if they are having any classroom issues.
Job Hunting in Academia: Why Didn't They Choose You?
You don't have enough experience One of the most important factors that hiring committees look at in an academic job hunt is the amount of research experience which you have – and that means publications. You will be expected to produce a certain number of publications as part of an academic role, and prior success in publication demonstrates that you're capable of doing this. It is unfortunate but true that many hiring committees are more interested in the quantity of publications than the quality when it comes to assessing applicants. Unless you have a publication in a very major journal like Science or Nature then it's possible that the hiring committee won't even read your publications, they'll just count how many you have. So if you're not finding success in your job hunt, ask around to find out how many publications typical applicants have. You might need to publish more work before you can land a position. You weren't a good match for the institution Another very important factor in hiring decisions is good fit between a candidate and the department. Even if you are a brilliant candidate with lots of experience, if your research interests don't match the department's, then you are unlikely to be hired. Do your research about the department before applying, and make sure that you have a really good understanding of the work which is done there. You need to find at least a few members of the department whose research interests coincide with yours, and spend some time thinking about how you work could add to the profile of the department. Too many people applying for the position Sometimes, being rejected from a position is not a reflection on the quality of your candidacy or your skills. In academia generally and in some fields in particular, there are many many more candidates looking for jobs than there are advertised positions. If this is the case in your field, even if you are perfectly qualified and perform very well throughout the hiring process, you still might not get an offer. This is frustrating but an inevitable part of academic job hunting. If this is a problem in your job hunt, the best thing you can do is to get a temporary or part-time job in another field to support yourself while you continue applying for academic positions. If your field is over-saturated with applicants then it can take a long time to get a job offer, so make yourself financially stable in the short term and dedicate yourself to a long-term job hunt. Your application materials weren't good If you're not even getting called for interviews when you apply for an academic job, then there may be a problem with your application materials. It's time to take a long hard look at your CV and cover letter. Too many people write cover letters which are generic and simply describe past job duties, rather than describing their particular achievements. Use the cover letter to highlight how you exceeded expectations in previous roles and what makes you unique as a candidate. This is one area in which people with a business or industry background are often much stronger than people from academia, so ask for help from friends from different fields! You didn't come across well in the interview One final issue to consider, if you're getting interviews but no job offers, is how you come across in the interview. Many academics don't receive any kinds of soft-skill training during their career, and sometimes the importance of inter-personal skills is not fully realised. If you're generally a bit timid and introverted, then you need to push yourself to show your best at interviews – and that means not being afraid to promote yourself and sell yourself as a candidate. Don't be afraid to talk yourself up a bit! However, if you come from a verbally assertive field like philosophy, then you might need to tone down your argumentative side during interviews. Make sure that you're letting members of the hiring committee talk and not dominating the discussion, and keep your tone even and neutral. We wish you the best of luck with you job hunt!
Applying for an academic job can be a frustrating process. If you've been rejected from an academic job and you're stewing over why, read on to find out the reasons that your job application might have been unsuccessful.
Academic Job Applications: What Can Go Wrong?
There can be a long wait time between applying and hearing back If you've applied for corporate jobs, you may be used to waiting a few weeks to hear back regarding a job you have applied for. But in academia, this can take much longer. It's not unusual for there to be waiting periods of months between applications being received and interviews being offered. Also, the interview process itself can take a long time, as it is generally overseen by a board or committee who have to approve hiring decisions. This means that you need to start applying for academic jobs much earlier than you would for other jobs, and to be prepared for the process to take months or more. If you are not currently employed, you shouldn't rely on a future academic job as your source of income for now. Often, it will be a good idea to get a teaching job or a part-time job in another area to sustain you while you wait through the academic hiring process. The interview process might not be what you expect Interview processes will vary between institutions, ranging from a somewhat casual sit-down with some members of the department, up to a long and complex process involving multiple rounds. It is also common for academic interviews to take place at conferences, when many of the professors and applicants will be in the same place. So it's not unusual for interviews to take place in hotel rooms or conference areas if that is convenient for everyone involved. There could be a lack of fit between you and the department Obviously if you've applied for a job somewhere, you will have looked into the work of the department that you wish to join. But it can be hard to ascertain whether you and your research will be a good fit for the department until you actually visit the place and talk with other department members. Even if your interests match well on paper, you may find that you have a different inter-personal style or research approach to the new department. So try not to get too caught up in the idea of a job until you've had a chance to visit the place, such as at an interview, and get a feel for whether it would match your needs. There may be practical or financial issues with your application If you are planning to move to another country for an academic job, you need to be especially careful to find out what paperwork you will require. You might need a work permit or visa, and unlike your time as a student, you cannot apply for a student visa but will need a working visa instead. Often institutions will have departments who can help you with this, and can provide information on what documents you need and how to get them. But you shouldn't rely solely on the place you are applying to, as individuals situations can differ, so do your own research on the legal requirements of living and working somewhere. It's also important to consider the practical needs of your partner or family, if they will be moving with you. As it is common for a couple to both be academics, some institutions now offer “dual placement” jobs. This is where the hiring institution makes an agreement that if they hire one member of a couple, they will find a position for the other member of the couple too. The facilities offered by institutions for families are widely variable, and might include either on-site child minding services or pay benefits to cover childcare costs. Dig into the details of what exactly is available, as these benefits can make a big difference to both your overall financial situation and the quality of life you will experience in your new job.
Applying for academic jobs can be a fraught process! If you haven't had much experience with the academic job market, it can be hard to learn as it is quite different from applying for places at a university to be a student. Even if you have experience with applying for professional jobs, there are different norms in academic hiring which can take some time to grasp. To help you through this process, today we're covering some of the things that can go wrong during academic hiring, so you know what to look out for and how to prepare yourself.
5 Reasons Why Your PhD Application Was Rejected
1. Your project proposal was too vague Obviously, when you're applying for a PhD, you won't have a full overview of exactly what your project will involve. However, you do need to be able to lay out a reasonable roadmap to show how you would go about answering your research questions. You need to be specific in your project proposal – what kind of experiment or study will you perform? What statistical tests will you use? What meaning would either positive or negative results have for your field of study? You need to address these questions in your application. Without specific information on what kind of research you are planning to do for your PhD, your application is unlikely to be accepted. Try to make your research proposal as precise and concrete as possible. 2. Your project proposal was unrealistic We all want our research to be informative and meaningful – but you need to be realistic too. If your PhD research proposal suggested that your work could radically alter the foundations of your subject and revolutionise the way your topic is approached by the academic community, then you were probably being overly ambitious! Three years in which to do a PhD sounds like a long time, but actually research projects always take much longer to complete than you would imagine. You need to make sure that the research you are proposing is realistically achievable in the few years that you will have available to you. Aiming for a smaller-scale project which it is possible to execute well in just a few years will show that you have a level-headed and grounded approach to your research. 3. You didn't demonstrate why your skills were right for your project Universities are looking for candidates who have a proven track record of research in the area of study for their potential PhD. This is easy to address if you proposed a PhD which followed on naturally from your undergraduate or master's work. However, if you want to change fields for your PhD or to move into a different topic, you need to be careful in the way that you address this in your proposal. You need to show that you already have many of the skills needed to complete your project. For example, maybe you did a psychology undergraduate degree and want to do a PhD in business – in that case, you should talk about the statistical skills you have gained, and how your knowledge of human behaviour would help to guide you when dealing with management issues. Find example from your past of the skills that you would use in your new field and use these to demonstrate your capability. ​<11an>limit:3;categories:PhD Programs;disciplines:Economics</11an> 4. Your project was not a good match for the institution Both universities and departments within each university will have topics or subject areas which they specialise in. For example, in psychology, some departments are very academically minded and specialise in evidence-based approaches, while others have a more clinically-based approach and focus on a certain school of psychotherapy. If your PhD does not fit neatly in with the department's interests, then your application is unlikely to succeed. The specialisation of any given department can be quite difficult for an outsider to ascertain, as it is not usually stated explicitly. So the best way to work out the interests of a department is to check the pages for each individual professor and researcher on the departmental website, and check over their publication list. Try to find a university and department whose interests match as closely as possible to your project. 5. Your academic profile was not a good match for the institution Finally, you yourself also need to be a good match to wherever you are applying. “Institutional fit” is a high priority for admission committees, meaning that they want to know that you, your project, and the department will all fit together harmoniously. Emphasise your relevant skills, from previous jobs or volunteering that you have done, as well as your academic background. Try to show that you understand the language and priorities of the department and that you could perform your research there effectively. Good luck with your PhD applications, and don't despair! Sometimes it takes a few attempts before you find the right PhD place for you.
Applying for a PhD can be a long and difficult process, with not many opportunities for you to hear feedback on your application. If your application was not successful and you're not sure why, here are some of the most common reasons for PhD applications to be rejected. If you plan to improve your PhD application this autumn, download our free guide "How to successfully apply to a PhD in Economics".
Frequently Asked Questions During PhD Applications
What should my research proposal be about? For most PhD applications, you will need to submit a research proposal which outlines what topic you plan to study over your PhD. This proposal should generally include an introduction and background material to your topic, a set of research questions, a proposed methodology for studying those questions, and an indication of how your results would be beneficial to the academic community. Most people write a PhD proposal which is an extension of their master's thesis – the advantage of this is that you have already demonstrated your ability in the field by having completed the master's. However, if you have an innovative or unusual idea, then you should put it forward in your proposal! Just make sure that your idea is well thought through and not too vague. What if my project changes from my proposal? Some applicants are concerned that if they submit a proposal, they will have to follow it exactly if they get accepted on a PhD. But this isn't the case! In fact, the proposal is meant to demonstrate that you are capable of thinking through a project and finding a way to address research questions. If you do get accepted onto a PhD, your actual research will almost certainly change dramatically from what was outlined in your proposal. So don't worry that your proposal might limit you in the future – aim to make it as clear and coherent as possible, and you can always change it once you actually start. <11an>limit:3;categories:PhD Programs;disciplines:Economics</11an> What paperwork or documents will I need to apply for a PhD? To apply for a PhD, you will need some paperwork. Firstly, you will need copies of your university certificates for your undergraduate and master's degrees. You may also need transcripts which show your grades in the various courses which you took. If you are applying to an institution in a foreign country, you may need to have your grades converted into the local grading system. Also, you will need to demonstrate your language abilities, by either showing that one of your university programs was in the teaching language, or providing a certificate proving your language skills. How do I write a statement of motivation? Often, you will need to provide a statement or letter of motivation in addition to your research proposal. This is where you demonstrate your personal interest and commitment to your research. This should briefly describe your academic career so far, but you should also talk about what your aims are for the future. Don't make the mistake of being overly descriptive – for example, you don't need to list all the courses you took as an undergraduate because that information will be in your transcript. Instead, focus on specifics – was there a course you took which inspired you? Did you see a presentation by a great researcher and want to learn more about their field? What unique experiences have you had which lead you to your research? Let your enthusiasm and individually shine here. How do I find someone to write a letter of recommendation for me? You will need to provide one or more letters of recommendation for your PhD application. These should be written by someone in academia who is familiar with your work – they could be a lecturer, tutor, or a department member who you have got to know. Ideally, the person writing the recommendation would be someone senior, like a professor, but it's better to have a recommendation from a more junior person who knows you very well than one from a senior person with whom you have only interacted briefly. If you have been working in industry, you could ask a manager to write you such a letter, but be aware that recommendations from people within academia are preferred. How can I make myself stand out from the other applicants? To make your application exceptional, firstly you need to fulfil all the requirements exactly. Make sure that you follow any guidelines which are given – don't skip any steps or miss any sections. When it comes to your research proposal, this is your chance to showcase your original academic ideas. Try to explain not only why your research topic is interesting, but also what your results could mean for the rest of the field and for the public. In your motivation letter, you can be slightly less formal and let your personality show – let everyone see how enthusiastic you are about your work. We hope this helps answer some of your PhD application questions!
If you're applying for a PhD, the process can be rather complex, so here are our answers to some frequently asked questions about applications. If you plan to start your PhD application this autumn, download our free guide "How to successfully apply to a PhD in Economics".
5 Reasons Why You Should Learn A New Language
1. Work in a different country or location The most obvious career advantage to learning a new language is that it gives you more options for countries or locations where you can work. Particularly if you learn a common language like Spanish, Chinese, or Arabic, the number of potential jobs open to you becomes suddenly much larger. If you are willing and able to move to a new place for a job, this is one of the best way to improve your career prospects. Of course, to be able to take up a job in a foreign language requires extremely high levels of fluency, so this requires serious commitment. But if you're willing to put in the hours to learn the language thoroughly, you can find better pay, better living conditions, or more interesting work, depending on your preference. 2. Better pay in many jobs If you don't want to move from your current location, there are still career advantages of learning a language. With so many companies now doing international business, there are a large number of roles which require or benefit from a bilingual speaker. There may even be a need for language skills in your current role. If you can demonstrate to your current or prospective employer that your language skills are good enough to be a boon to your employer and an advantage to your work, then you may be able to leverage a raise or better starting salary. This is especially true if you speak a language which is unusual for someone in your area, but is particularly important for your business – if you are an American who works for a technology company and speaks Japanese, for example. 3. Demonstrate your ability to take on demanding projects Even if there is no language requirement for your job, you can still benefit from learning a language. It demonstrates your ability to take on a large and demanding project, to manage and motivate yourself, and to meet concrete successful outcomes. The ability to learn independently is valuable in all kinds of work, showing that you can take initiative and have a willingness to apply yourself to a difficult challenge. 4. Personal discovery A further benefit of learning a language is that it will teach you about your own learning style. Do you retain more information when you discuss it with another person or in a group? Or do prefer to learn alone, from books, at your own pace? Do you find visual cues helpful in retaining information? Or perhaps you like to have a physical object which you can handle, such as flashcards? The more you understand about the best ways for you to learn, the easier your future learning will be. As adults, we often don't think about learning styles much once we have completed school. But learning is a life-long process, and understanding more about your style will help you to make the most of training or instruction which you receive in the future. 5. Become a better communicator Finally, think about how learning a language can help you to become a better communicator generally. You'll find it easier to communicate with people who are learning your native language if you know what it's like to be in their position. You might be surprised at how often you use idioms or slang which is difficult for people from other places or backgrounds to understand. You can think more about how your form your sentences, about how fast you speak, and how you explain complex issues, and how to adapt these behaviours to communicate better with international colleagues or clients.
Learning a new language can be fun and rewarding, but all too often it's considered just a necessary part of schooling for children or teenagers. However, learning a language as an adult can bring your a range of benefits, including improving your employability and career prospects. Below we're considering some of the advantages of learning a language in terms of your job or studying.
Ethical considerations: influencing policy One unique feature of government roles for academics is the chance to have a direct impact on policy, and hence on people's lives. For those frustrated with the ivory tower aspects of academia – for example, the fact that most academic papers are only ever read by other academics in the same field – working for the government gives the chance to put academic theory into real-world practice. If you're looking for a direct way to put your expertise into practical steps and are keen to make policies more evidence-based, then working in government is your chance to use your academic background to help shape society in a positive way. Working conditions: pay and stability In some countries, working for the government is not especially well paid, and salaries will be considerably lower than they would be for equivalent positions in industry which require similar skills and experience. However, this relatively low compensation is balanced by other factors when working for the government – for example, benefits such as vacation time and healthcare are often much better. The other big advantage of a government job in practical terms is that it is usually very stable. Unlike academia, in which you must be looking for a new position every couple of years as a postdoc, or in industry, in which you could be laid off if your company is not successful, government jobs can generally be relied on for the long term. If you have a family to support, or you find that uncertainty about your future employment is stressful for you, you may find an advantage in a government job in which you can likely stay in for as long as you want or need. The availability of funding Another factor to consider when comparing government work to academia or industry is the availability of funding for your area of specialisation. Depending on current administrative priorities, there can be a lot of funding available for certain research projects. Projects in public health, civil engineering, and defence technologies are likely to have funding made available for them. However, it may be harder to secure funding for research in some types of basic science, or in the arts or humanities. To be successful in obtaining government funding, you will need to demonstrate exactly how your research would be beneficial to the public and help to save money for the administration. Dealing with bureaucracy Government jobs are famously bureaucratic, often requiring large amounts of paperwork and the following of specific rules and regulations. This is the necessary nature of the very large organisations required to run a country, but can cause frustrations for workers. If you work in government, you will have to get used to following processes which may seem overly complex, and adapt to a pace of change which can be even slower than academia. Another aspect to consider is the limitations that a government job can have on what you can say in public. Generally, government workers are not allowed or strongly discouraged from critiquing the administration or sharing their opinion on controversial political topics. How much this will affect your work depends on your field and your personal preferences, but it's worth thinking about whether you would be comfortable living with these restrictions. These are some of the issues you'll want to consider if you're thinking about a job in government. For job opportunities in government, industry, and academia, see our website.
For most academics, when they consider their future careers, they think of two options: academia or industry. There are other options, however, such as one we will be discussing today – working for the government. Academics can serve on councils and advisory boards, or work as part of a civil service, or as advisors to policy makers. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of working for the government? This is the topic we're considering in this article.
Public Economics & Economic Policy (JEL H)
Combining Teaching and Working in Industry
Working as Adjunct Faculty at a University One option for those wishing to teach at a university level is to work as adjunct faculty, meaning that you teach university courses, usually to undergraduates, but do not have the same employment conditions as a full-time lecturer or professor. You are employed on a temporary contract, typically for a year, and generally teach only one or two courses at a time. The use of adjuncts for teaching has received widespread criticism, particularly in the US, as these roles require exceptionally high degrees of skill and training, but are usually low-paid, insecure, and without benefits. Trying to make a full-time living as an adjunct is extremely difficult. However, if you have a stable job in industry with good pay and you're thinking about starting teaching on the side, then adjuncting can be a chance to try out teaching on a small scale to see if it suits you. Adult Education and Night Classes Another area of teaching which you could consider is adult education. Many people don't want to stop learning when they leave school or university, but don't have the time or resources for full-time higher education. So adult education services exist to teach those who want to learn, say, IT skills to help in their careers, or accounting skills for starting their own business, or for those who want to learn a craft or creative skill for fun. An advantage of teaching this group is the chance to interact with people outside of the typical academic structure, which allows you to share you knowledge with a broader group. Further, adult learners are often highly self-motivated and keen to interact in classes, so they are an engaging group to work with. You could work part-time as an adult education lecturer, which depending on the subject could involve not only teaching but also developing teaching materials and your own assessments. Classes are often held outside of work hours, such as at evenings and weekends, so you could fit this teaching around your industry job. Private Tutoring Another further for teaching is private tutoring, in which you coach a child in a specific subject in addition to their general schooling. This is generally for children who are struggling and need extra support, or for those who cannot attend school for medical or social reasons. Most tutors are self-employed, or work for an agency, and this work can generally be picked up around your current schedule. If you are patient and good with kids, then tutoring can be extremely rewarding as you get to engage with one child directly and really help them succeed in their education. For certain specialist skills such as test preparation, some parents will pay very high rates for top-quality tutors. Online Tutoring A newly-emerging option is online tutoring, in which you lead a class over the internet using a webcam, and offer support for students who want to ask questions and get feedback on their work in addition to their regular teaching. Typically such classes are small, consisting of just a handful of students, and are generally made up of adults. If you are comfortable with technology and looking for teaching work which is flexible, for example if your industry job requires you to travel a lot, then online tutoring is something you can do from any location. Teaching in Your Industry Finally, something to consider if you have an industry job is that there may be teaching opportunities within your industry. If your work involves specialist skills, there may be a need for training new hires in these skills. Or perhaps you have other knowledge which would be useful for you to teach to others – for example, knowledge of how to use particular computer software, or of web development, or presentation skills. Many companies have some form of training program for employees, and you could see if you could offer a class as part of an internal program. These are just some of the ways that you can combine your industry job with teaching. For the latest opportunities in both business and academia, check out our website.
For academic careers, the big question is always: academia or industry? But why not a bit of both? If you want to combine teaching and working in industry, there are possibilities for part-time teaching work or tutoring jobs which fall outside of traditional work hours. You can have an industry job and try teaching too. Below we'll look at some of the options.
Importance of research autonomy when employed in academia
Research autonomy leads to higher-quality work Everyone knows that happier workers tend to produce better work. But this goes further in the case of research autonomy. Deciding which topics are ripe for investigation and what the best methods would be to perform that investigation is something that only someone highly qualified and experienced in the field can do, so it makes sense that academics are in the best place to make these decisions about their own work. For example, Switzerland is a country which despite its small population size, has a large number of internationally-renowned research institutions and has a reputation for producing world-leading research. This success of high scientific productivity has been linked to the high level of autonomy, openness, and excellence within Swiss institutions. The impact of the growth of higher education In the last decades, more and more people have begun attending university, encouraged by the demands of the workplace and by social and cultural expectations. This has resulted in a huge growth of higher education institutions, and in some cases, a corresponding growth in the workloads and responsibilities of university employees. A common complaint to hear is that universities nowadays are run more like businesses than like independent research institution. Of course, this is a broad generalisation and certainly does not apply to every institution. But it is worth noting that many academics feel pressures to show results and meet targets, which may not be in line with their personal research goals. Parallel to this, in the last decades during times of economic hardship, many countries have seen cuts to or freezing of the public funding of universities and other research institutions. This has lead to even greater pressure to produce more research from less funding. Publish or Perish One common issue is that academic hiring committees are frequently more interested in the quantity of papers which a applicant has published than in their quality. This, combined with pressure from university management for researchers to pump out large numbers of papers, has lead to a “publish or perish” culture in which researchers must be constantly prioritising getting their work published above performing their best-quality work. A common phenomenon is the “least publishable unit”, in which work is split into needlessly small sections so that one piece of research can be spread out over two or three publications, resulting in a larger number of publications in total. Threats to research autonomy In relation to research autonomy, these issues have come into direct focus with schemes like the UK government's Research Assessment Exercise / Research Excellence Framework. This system linked institutional funding with the quality of publications coming out of that institution, with quality mostly assessed on the basic of the “impact” of the research. The concept of impact was skewed towards public policy and impact outside of academia, which many felt undermined their academic freedom. The need for a researcher to prove that their research had a measurable impact on public life was particularly difficult for humanities scholars and niche researchers, whose work did not translate into direct public benefits. This is an example of how research autonomy can be threatened by academic or governmental policy. The understandable desire to create a system with which non-experts can assess the quality of researchers' work can inadvertently lead to a loss of autonomy and a pressure on researchers to game the system rather than producing their best-quality work. Research autonomy is clearly one of the major advantages of choosing to work in an academic rather than commercial setting. However, the changes to the higher education industry which have taken place over the last decade have had a large effect on how much autonomy researchers can expect. It's important to have honest discussions with fellow researchers in any institution about their experiences with research autonomy before taking up a position.
One of the great advantages of performing your research within an academic setting rather than a commercial one is the degree of research autonomy which you posses. This means that you have the freedom to pursue the work which you think is interesting and worthwhile, and to pick the methods and research approaches which you find to be most suitable. In fact, having flexibility and freedom over your work was identified as one of the top advantages of working in an academic institution in our 2015 Academic Institutions Report. Clearly, this is an important issue which is one of the major differentiating factors between academia and industry.
Tips for academics on how to deal with short-term contracts and job insecurity
Advance Planning When you know you're on a fixed term contract, such as a two-year postdoc contract, then you need to start preparing for the end of your contract early. Six months before the finish date of your contract, you should start looking for employment options. As academic hiring processes can be lengthy, and sometimes seasonal (summer tends to be a quiet time for hiring, so you may be better off looking for new jobs around autumn time), you need to be thinking about new job options far in advance. Remember to be on the look out for new opportunities not only on job posting websites or mailing lists, but also by reaching out to your network. Contact your previous colleagues and professors to let let know that you're looking for work, and they can help by forwarding on any relevant positions to you. Securing Your Finances When your contract is only short term, it's important for you to be financially responsible and to ensure that you have a financial cushion if you're not able to find work immediately. You may need to live for a few months without income if you are between jobs, so you should prepare for this possibility. Make sure that you're saving a reasonable percentage of your income during your contracted work time. Preferably you should having savings that you could live off for six months if required, in addition to an emergency fund. If you live with a partner or family, consider how your joint finances will be affected by a pause in your income, and be aware that you might need more than six months if you want to find a job in your local area rather than moving to another city or country. Brushing Up Your CV and Other Skills Naturally, if you're going to be looking for work then you'll be updating and improving your CV. While you're doing this, you can consider what skills you have acquired in your studies and work so far. If you can't find an academic position straight away, it's helpful to know what your other options are in terms of employment. You could consider putting together a non-academic CV which showcases your skills, and information about successful projects and the role which you played in them. When trying to make yourself appealing to a business rather than an academic audience, focus more on your concrete achievements than your abstract ideas – for example, how you made a process more efficient, or how your presentation pursued a collaborating lab to take on your preferred methodology. Even if you never need to use your non-academic CV, it can reduce your stress and anxiety to know that you have other employment options. Applying For Your Own Grant One way to avoid job insecurity is to apply for external funding for your own project. If you can secure a fellowship or other research grant, you can be certain of both your own salary and your research costs. However, be warned that grant application is a lengthy process – sometimes taking six months or more – and can be very competitive. Remember that you can and should begin applying for a grant during your current contract, as most lab leaders or PIs will be happy to know that you could bring in funding of your own. Once you have your own funding, you have much greater freedom over where you work and the the topic of your research, as well as more certainty over your future. For the latest job opportunities for postdocs and other researchers, you can see job listings here.
One issue for those working in academia that can be difficult to deal with is the problem of job insecurity. It is common for postdocs or junior lectures to be employed on short-term contracts of a few months to a few years, meaning that they must secure a new job when their contract ends. Today we have some tips on how to manage this insecurity if you're working in academia.
How to show the best of your study abroad on your resume
Independence and self-management A major skill which you have demonstrated by taking a study abroad trip is your independence and ability to manage yourself. Most students would struggle to travel alone to a new country, to make friends and to study successfully, so if you achieved this then you should state this with pride. Particularly amongst undergrads, the ability to manage yourself and to work without a lot of institutional support makes you stand out and demonstrates your ability to do more demanding work or study. Communications skills If you've had to adjust to a new culture, and especially if you've had to adapt to a new language, then you will have sharpened your communications skills. You will have experience in communicating with people from different backgrounds to you, across cultural borders. Being able to phrase your thoughts in a way which makes sense to people who do not share your cultural background is an important and useful skill in the modern international workplace. You can demonstrate this by sharing an example of how you resolved a disagreement or misunderstanding, or how you learned to present information to make it more comprehensible to people who do not share your background. Adaptation to different learning environments It's likely that there were differences between the learning environments of your home and host universities, whether in terms of class size, teaching style, assessment style, or the ratio of written work to verbal discussion which was required. This flexibility makes you valuable, as it demonstrates that you can adapt effectively to unfamiliar situations. If you were able to perform well on both written and oral academic assessments, for example, then you can show that your skills go beyond what is minimally necessary for passing an academic course. It makes you a more well-rounded individual, which means that you will be easier to train for future employers, and able to pick up new ideas more quickly. Breadth of education As well as different learning styles, you might well have experienced a different focus of study, even within the same discipline. In philosophy, for example, Britain and Northern America tend to teach analytic philosophy with a focus on logic and mathematics, whilst in Continental Europe and South America, the continental philosophy tradition focus more on phenomenology and subjective experience. Or if you work in history or cultural studies, then studying abroad can expose you to an entirely new perspective and approach to your topic, as well as giving you factual information unique to the location in which you are studying. Hence study abroad can help you to gain experience in more than one aspect of your field, and give you a broader perspective of the topic. Be sure to highlight the diversity of your studies by listing some of the unique or unusual topics which you worked on whilst abroad. Hopefully this will give you some ideas about how you can show off all of the skills and experience which you gained from your study abroad time. And if you haven't studied abroad yet but are considering it for the future, you can see some of the many advantages. To find out more about study abroad opportunities, as well as tips for students and the latest international job opportunities, see our articles!
When you're been abroad for a semester or longer during your studies, you're bound to have picked up lots of new skills and knowledge that can help you to stand out when applying for a job or course of study. But in order to take advantage of this, you need to know how to convey your extra skills to potential employers or universities. So today we're offering advice on how to show off the best of your study abroad on your resume. You can use the following ideas as skills to highlight on applications, or find ways to include this information in your cover letter, letter of motivation, or to answer interview questions.
If you're teaching in a university, working with either undergrads or masters students, then you class size could vary from anywhere between just a few students in a discursive atmosphere, to hundreds of students in a large lecture hall. So what are some strategies for adapting to the varying requirements of class sizes? Today we're sharing some tips to help you create the best teaching experience you can deliver to your students. Encouraging student participation In order to hold your students' attention, and to make sure that they are processing and understanding the material that you are teaching, it's important to include elements of participation in your classes. In a group of five to twenty students, you can encourage your students to ask questions, raise criticisms, and conduct discussions between themselves. In a small group, students will be more willing to share their ideas and uncertainties. You can help to promote a discursive atmosphere by allowing diversions when students ask a question or raise a related point, and by allowing students to comment on each other's questions. In a larger class, however, especially in a lecture-style class of more than fifty students, many students will feel too shy or self-conscious to raise their hands and participate. So you need to encourage participation in a way which will make students feel comfortable sharing their ideas. One approach is to break the class down into smaller groups – so, for example, you lecture for the first half of the time, then ask the students to split into groups of five to ten, and give them exercises to complete or topics to discuss together. If you want to ensure that the students are using their time productively, you can ask one person from each group to briefly summarise their discussion for the rest of the class at the end. You can also consider holding debates in large class, where you split the class into two and ask each half to argue for one side of an issue. By making this a matter of adopting a position rather than having to share their own personal opinion, you can encourage some shier students to get involved, and the splitting into two sides will help to create an atmosphere where students encourage and engage with each other. Assessment You will also need to consider what type of assessment is appropriate for your class size. Often, especially in the humanities, the best method for assessing how much students have understood a topic is to have them write an essay on it – either in a timed examination situation, or as take-home coursework to be completed over the semester. An essay will give you a lot of information about how well the student has grasped the material. However, essay marking is a very demanding task, requiring serious time and attention. For a small class of up to twenty, it can be feasible for you to do this marking yourself. But for a larger class of more than twenty, you will either need support from other lecturers or graduate students for your marking, or you will need a different assessment style. For larger classes, multiple choice tests are among the easiest and fastest form of assessment to mark. However, these tests must be designed with care, to ensure they are not too easy or too obscure. They tend towards testing factual knowledge rather than understanding, which is not suitable for all subjects. You could instead consider setting a group assignment to assess a larger class. Although group projects are often not popular among students, they do teach important teamwork and management skills, and they allow students to perform different roles according to their strengths – in research, data analysis, writing, and presentation, for example. If you assess group work through oral presentation and assign a different topic to each group, then it can be helpful and informative for the whole class to hear the presentations of their peers. You can find more tips on teaching for professors and lecturers as well as teaching assistants on our website. Image Credit: martaposemuckel on Pixabay (published under the pixabay content license)
When you're teaching, it's important to find a way to engage with all of your students, to keep their interest and to make sure that they understand the information that you're conveying to them. However, the size of a class can make a huge difference to what teaching methods are most appropriate and effective.
Free Online Courses Websites like Duolingo or Livemocha are advantageous as they are free, you can learn at your own pace, going as fast or as slow as you need to, and you can fit this learning in whenever you have time. This is particularly good if you are working full-time, as you can fit in your learning around your working hours, and you needn't be committed to language lessons at a particular time each week. However, this can be a disadvantage too – it means that you must motivate yourself! You have to push yourself to put in the time required to learn from these services. And remember, even if you've been practising your pronunciation with a microphone, you'll still need to go out into the real world to gain confidence with your spoken language and to ensure your pronunciations are correct. Mobile Apps In addition to online courses, you can also find mobile apps to help you learn a language. Duolingo offers an app as well as an online service, Anki is a popular flashcard app to help you remember important words, and Memrise augments your learning of languages with information about history and culture. For many people having this resource on their mobile phone is extremely convenient. It means that you can learn wherever you are, fitting in language practice while you're on the bus or waiting to meet a friend. These tools are great for brushing up your skills or adding some more vocabulary to your repertoire, but to get the most from them you need to have a decent understanding of the language before you start using them. University courses If you're already enrolled at a university, then it should be easy for you to sign up for a semester-long language course. The advantage of such a course is that it is often free for students to attend, and that it will have a regular structure of classes and assignments, which is helpful if you struggle to motivate yourself and manage your time unaided. They also tend to have different levels of difficulty offered, and may include an exam or test which you can put on your CV as proof of your language skills. The disadvantage is that such classes are frequently large, sometimes having hundreds of students in one room, and hence they are not personalised or able to adapt to your specific learning needs. Short Courses Abroad If you have the time and the money, there's no better way to learn a language than to immerse yourself in it completely. When you are obliged to practise your language for social interactions as well as everyday needs like shopping or ordering in a restaurant or bar, you will pick up words and gain confidence in your language skills far faster. One way to do this is to take a short, intensive course of a few weeks. This will load you up with a large amount of knowledge in a short time, and the intense focus makes it easier for you to understand the principles of grammar and to get a good overview of the language. However, the large amount of classroom time will leave you with little time to explore and get to know the country in which you are staying. Long Courses Abroad The great advantage of a longer-term course of study abroad is that it allows you to really get to know the people and the place in which you are staying. When you have a course of a few months rather than a few weeks, you can build up social connections with local people and experience some of the local culture, like food, music or books. The downside is that such an extended course of study can be expensive, both in terms of the language lessons and your living costs. But if you want to know about the history and society of another country as well as being able to speak the language, this is a great option.
Studying a new language can be fun, exciting, and valuable for your career, and there are now more options than ever for how to learn. From casual to fully immersive, and from short-term to long-term, there are a plethora of options for language learning. Today we're discussing some of these options and the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Working as a researcher in a company vs university: Social Sciences
It is possible to go into research after completing an undergraduate degree or master's degree (typically employed as a research assistant or research worker), after a PhD (employed as a postdoc), or from a more senior position. But there is one big question to consider: would you rather work in an academic setting (that is, in a university structure) or in a business setting (that is, working for a company)? Today we're reviewing the points in favour of each setting, to help you decide where to focus your interest for your research career. Advantages of working in a university One of the great advantages of working in a university setting is the freedom to determine the direction of your own research. Once you are in a senior enough position that you are writing grant applications and managing others, then you are free to pursue whatever avenues of research seem interesting and worthwhile to you. As long as you are successful in securing funding, most universities will allow you complete freedom to choose the topics and methods for your research, and give you autonomy over the publishing process. Another advantage is the connection with students that is available in a university. If you are interested in teaching or supervising, there will be students who wish to learn from you. Many people find teaching to be a rewarding and engaging process, which gives the opportunity to broaden your own understanding and to help others. Advantages of working in a company On the other hand, there are distinct benefits to working in a company. The business world is more goal-driven and faster moving than academia, so if you are frustrated by the slow pace of universities and find the bureaucracy and paperwork too much for you, then business may be a good fit. The competitive aspect of business can be an excellent motivator for those who respond well to a challenging environment, as it encourages you to work quickly and in innovative ways so that you produce work which is unique from your competitors. Another practical advantage of working in business rather than academia is that the pay is generally better, and benefits such as vacation time and health insurance may be better too. If you are looking for stable, long-term employment, and do not want the stress of having to find a new position and relocate every two years as some postdocs do, then a company is a safer choice. This is advantageous particularly for those with family or caring responsibilities, as you can find a position within a company which is long-term and offers good benefits. Disadvantages of working in a university As mentioned above, a disadvantage of working in a university is that some positions are only offered short-term (often for 2 years at a time), after which you may be expected to relocate to a new city or country. There is a general lack of job security for researchers; cuts to university funding can lead to researchers being laid off or not having their contracts renewed. However, this becomes less of a problem as you become more senior. Disadvantages of working in a company The fast pace and competitive environment in businesses which are advantageous to some may be off-putting to others. If you struggle with taking instruction about your research from a hierarchical system, and dislike the pragmatic compromises which are required to get work done quickly, then the business environment may not be for you. You are beholden to research the topics and methods which are demonstrably able to produce results which can be monetized, and which are approved of by your company. So there is a restriction on your freedom to pursue the research which most interests you. We hope that this helps to illustrate the different options available to researchers. For the latest positions in both business and academia, check out jobs on INOMICS. Image Credit: pxhere (CC0 - public domain)
For graduates of the social sciences, there is a wide range of career possibilities open. For people who are curious, self-motivated, and capable of both good organisation and creative thinking, research can be an extremely rewarding career.
How to make the most of PhD journal clubs
Keep yourself informed and up to date Any researcher knows that huge numbers of new and exciting papers are published every month, and it can be hard to keep track of all the latest developments even within your sub-field. A journal club can be the ideal chance to learn about new papers coming out which you may have missed. Regular meetings - around once or twice a month - offer a chance for you to check up on the newest research being published and to discuss it among your peers. Self-organization skills Journal clubs are most often organized by the PhD students themselves, which can be a chance to get some experience with the organization of academic events. You can choose the topics and style of presentation and discussion which are most of interest to you, and this is a good chance for experimentation. If you're interested in bringing in research from another field to your own work, or if there's a new style of group discussion which you've heard about and want to try, these clubs allow for trying out these ideas in a low-pressure setting. Sharpen your presentation and debate skills An important and unique feature of most journal clubs is that the material is typically presented by the PhD students to one another. Although it might seem a little intimidating, do volunteer to give a brief presentation or to lead the discussion at one of these meetings. This gives you the chance to practice your presentation skills in a low-pressure setting; you can get more comfortable with describing the research of yourself and others to a group, and you can even ask the other students for feedback on your presentation style at the end. You can also get in practice at putting forward your opinions in a discussion, amongst peers in a setting which is less intimidating than at a full lecture. This is great practice for PhD students who are less experienced in group discussions. Learn from others As a PhD student, one of the greatest assets and resources available to you is is to be found in your peer group of fellow PhDs. Whether they are from your department or school, or even if they are from a totally different field from you, you can learn a huge amount from listening to the informed opinions of other students. You can find out about the major debates and developments in fields of research which are adjacent to your own, and keep up to date on a broad range of knowledge. In some ways, the more diverse the members of your journal club, the better your opportunity for informative debate. Socialize The life of a PhD student can be somewhat isolating, so it's important that you make time to develop an active and supportive social life. As journal clubs tend to be rather informal, you can use them as a chance to get to know other students socially as well as professionally. You could even consider hosting the journal club at a restaurant or bar, to encourage informal social interactions and to help break out of the usual patterns of discussion. Or of course you can always meet for a journal club first, and then decamp to another location for socializing after the academic discussion has concluded. Journal clubs can be a surprisingly fun and enjoyable part of the PhD process and give you the chance to get to know your fellow students outside of the more strict structures of the work environment.
A popular activity among PhD students, particularly for those in structured programs, is a journal club. This is a regular meeting at which PhD students gather together to read and discuss a journal paper from their field. These meetings can be a fun and educational addition to a PhD program, and today we're discussing how you can make the most of the opportunities presented by these meetings.
Open access: the case for making your research publicly available
For the public good One argument in favour of open access publishing is regarding the funding of scientific projects. As most labs receive at least some of their funding from governmental organisations, it is fair to say that tax payers' money goes towards scientific research. Therefore some argue that the public has a right to see the outcome of this research as they helped to pay for it. Further, it would be of great benefit to the public's understanding of science if research were to be made more easily available to more people. Public scientific literacy is important in order to promote understanding of scientific topics and to support evidence-based policies, and open access research can help with this. The more journal articles and other materials that are publicly available, the better interested members of the public will be able to learn and keep up to date with the latest findings. For the benefit of other researchers Greater participation in open access publishing would also be of benefit to the research community as a whole. Many researchers work in institutions where only some journals are available through the library, and it can be difficult or inconvenient for them to read other journals which are not available. Therefore a portion of the audience for your work may be lost because their institution does not subscribe to the journal in which you publish. Particularly those researchers who work at smaller institutions which have a more limited budget may not have access to niche journals, which creates a hierarchy where information is available only to those with more money. With open access, all researchers will be able to access the information which is relevant to them. A notable practical advantage of open access publishing is that articles are generally made available online immediately after they are accepted for publication. Whilst some traditional publishers have instituted a policy of making work available immediately too, open access publishers tend to be more strongly focused on web publishing. This immediate availability is useful in fields which are fast-moving and in which the latest findings are always changing. It makes it easier for researchers to stay up to date and to hear about new work as soon as possible. This also help to avoid the duplication of work – researchers can make sure that they're not performing the same experiment as someone else. For the benefit of students One group who are sometimes overlooked in the discussion of open access publishing are university students. Not only do students benefit from better informed lecturers, but it is also very important for them to have access to journal articles directly. Students need to learn not only how to read and interpret articles, but also how to find them and cite them. With open access, it is easier for students to find and read the information they need. It also encourages curiosity and interest in different disciplines and further research – when information on all topics is freely available, students may explore more widely and discover a new area of interest or topic. To help promote your work A further benefit or publishing open access is that you can promote your work widely, in diverse forums, and know that everyone who is interested will be able to read your article. If you wish to reach an international audience, or to promote dialogue between academic disciplines, it's particularly important that access to your work is not restricted. Open access can also help to boost the impact of your work, as papers can be cited more when they are publicly available. Finally, open access articles can be shared on social networks such as Twitter or Facebook, so links to your research can be spread via personal networks which can help your work to be seen by a much broader audience than would be possible from only your own contacts.
Open access refers to materials which are publicly available without restrictions on access or reuse. To publish your research in open access means that anyone, including other researchers and the public, will be able to read your paper in its original form. In order to support this free access for users, journals which publish open-access charge a fee (often in the region of several thousand Euros) to the authors. But, this cost comes with advantages. Today we're looking at the case for making your research available in open access form.
Supervision - tips for PhDs supervising bachelors or masters students for the first time
Postdocs and professors have limited time and busy schedules, so often enlist the help of their PhDs in the supervision of more junior students. You may be called on to manage the research project for a bachelors or masters student: this involves helping them plan their research, choose a methodology, showing them how to collect and analyse data, and providing feedback on their written work. While supervision can be an interesting and rewarding experience, it is one for which PhDs often feel unprepared. Today we're sharing some tips on the supervision process to help you through your first time supervising. Choosing the right student Straight away, it's important to consider whether you are a good match for the student in question. To be an effective supervisor you need to be interested in the student's project and to have some experience with the sort of work that they'll be performing. You should be able to communicate with your student and develop a healthy rapport, and you should look for indications that the student can think independently and bring their own ideas and insights to the project. You should also have support from more senior postdocs or professors who can support the areas of knowledge or skills which you lack. Management: setting the correct level of involvement Everyone's had the experience of an overbearing boss who wants to micro-manage every aspect of the work which you perform, and knows how frustrating this can be. You don't want to be a micro-managing supervisor, but remember that your students will need specific guidance. Start off by setting them small, specific tasks, and give them clear step-by-step instructions. Once you have seen the quality of work that they can produce, and you can estimate their ability to work independently, you can start to set them larger tasks and to allow them to approach a task in whatever manner they choose. Be as clear as possible with your students about your expectations regarding time frames and the allocation of tasks. The importance of feedback It's important for the motivation of your students that you recognise the work that they have performed, and give them praise when they have completed a challenging task well. Don't underestimate the value of just smiling and saying "well done"! In some ways, it's even more important to give negative feedback when it's required. If your student has made a mistake or an error, you need to let them know so that they know not to do that in future. There's no need to be harsh or critical, but you do need to inform them about their mistake and show them how to correct it. If you can support them through the process of revise or re-doing work you can help to ensure that they don't make the same mistakes in the future. The importance of communication Make sure that you're available to your students, either by phone or email or in person, so that they can come to you with questions if they're unsure how to proceed. Some students can be shy about admitting that they don't know how to do some tasks, so try to be open and understanding if there's something that they are unsure of. It's up to you to set the tone of your interactions, so strive for a professional but friendly manner in your communications. Try to get into good habits, like replying to emails in a timely manner, and your students will follow your lead. Supervision can be an interesting and rewarding process, and you can learn as much from your students as they can from you. It's also a chance to practice your management skills, which are valuable both within and outside of academia. If you're looking for opportunities for PhDs or for more junior student positions, check out open positions here.
One part of the PhD process that students are not always aware of when they begin is their role in the supervision of bachelors or masters students.
<11an>limit:3;categories:PhD Programs;disciplines:Economics</11an> Finding a Supervisor The first thing to remember when you begin searching for a supervisor is that you are looking for someone who will fit well with you both professionally and personally. Try not to be too swept up by the famous names in your field - although in some ways, having a senior or well-known professor as your supervisor can be a great career advantage, the most famous professors are often those with the highest workload, and they may have little time to devote to supervision. Consider that more junior or less well-known researchers can make excellent supervisors if you have good rapport together. Try to find someone with whom you feel comfortable, and who challenges your ideas in a constructive and helpful way. Remember that supervision is a relationship which should be beneficial to both parties. When you meet a potential supervisor, the meeting is as much for your benefit as for theirs – you can learn a lot about their supervision style, and how much time, funding, and other resources that they can offer you. Do ask direct questions, such as how much time they can devote to you, what duties you will be expected to perform as part of their research group, what funding is available and what will happen if the funding runs out before your project is completed, and so on. These practical matters can often be forgotten in the excitement of discussing your research ideas, but it is very much to your advantage to have as much information about these matters as possible. Finding a Lab or Research Group You are unlikely to be working alone with your supervisor, and it is probable that you will be joining a laboratory or research group headed by the supervisor. You may be working closely with other PhDs and postdocs in the group, so it's important that you get to know them too when making a decision. If you can, attend a lab meeting or discussion group, and see what topics are debated and how group members engage with each other. Talk to as many members of the group as you can – then can tell you not only about their research and how it might relate to your project idea, but also they can offer insight into the daily workings of the group, talk about their experience with supervision, and tell you more about what resources and support are available. Do consider social aspects too – you'll be working a lot with other group members, so it's important that you get on well and feel comfortable talking to them. Does the group have organised social activities, and do lab members socialise outside of work? This can be a positive indication of a friendly, sociable group, which can be a source of support in stressful times. Finding a University Finally, remember that your supervisor and group will be located within a university structure which you should consider. Although the reputation of a university is not as important a factor as the reputation of the supervisor at the PhD level, you will still have to deal with the administrative and organisational aspects of the university. So find out what kind of systems are in place to deal with PhD students – some universities have co-ordinators or groups who specialise in overseeing this. The university should be able to help you further with practical matters such as finding housing, learning any required languages, or joining social or sporting groups. There are many factors to consider when looking for a supervisor, so take your time and find out as much information as you can from as many sources as possible before making a decision. To see some of the most exciting PhD opportunities as they arise, sign up for our email alert.
When planning to pursue a PhD, one of the most important decisions you must make is to choose a supervisor for your project. A supervisor supports you and advises you in your research, helps you with your career development (for example by introducing you to relevant people in your field and suggesting conferences that you should attend), and provides encouragement to you throughout your PhD. Your supervision will be the most important academic relationship of your PhD years, so it's vital to find someone who fits your research interests and personality well. Below we'll share some tips for helping you to find the best supervisor for your project. If you plan to start your PhD application this autumn, download our free guide "How to successfully apply to a PhD in Economics".
Tips on Starting Work in a New Field for Your PhD or Postdoc
Adjusting to classes and lectures Moving to a new field can mean adjusting to not just new content, but also to new teaching styles. Some fields rely mostly on lectures, in which one presenter conveys information to a large class of students, while other fields make more use of seminars, in which a group of students discuss a topic together while lead by a teacher. If you are unused to certain teaching methods it can take some time to adapt, so it can help to identify your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to learning. If you struggle to write coherent notes fast enough while listening to a lecture, consider asking if you can take an audio recording of the lecture. Often this can be done with a mobile phone, and lets you replay the lecture at your own rate for note-taking later. If you are inexperienced in class participation and find seminars intimidating, rather than focusing on voicing your own opinion you can start by asking questions of the other students and engaging with their responses. Find a way that you can retain information which works for you. If you are the one leading a class or lecture, remember to check the styles and materials which your students have experienced previously, so that you can adapt your material to fit with their knowledge and abilities. Assessment styles In addition to differences in teaching styles, there will likely be differences in assessment styles between fields too. Find out if your work will be assessed through written examination, multiple choice examination, essay submission, project work, or oral presentation. Don't panic if you haven't experienced the assessment style before – all of these can be practised. Lecturers will often provide you with example exam papers from previous years, which you can attempt to complete at home with a set timescale. For oral presentations, ask your friends to observe you presenting and give feedback – even if they are not knowledgeable in your field particularly, they can give important feedback on your pacing, speaking style, confidence, posture and so on. As for essays, the best plan when beginning in a new field is to give yourself as much time to write as possible. Find out the title of the essay and its due date as soon as you can, and start writing drafts immediately. You can adapt and update your essays as you learn more, and then draft, redraft, and draft again. This revision process will make your essay better, and also teach you how to write essays faster and more effectively for the next time. Making use of the library Once you've started work in your new field, your university library will be one of your most important resources. You'll need to learn extensive background information about your new field, and the best way to do this is with books and journal articles. Although books are not always the most up to date information (especially in fast-moving fields like the sciences) they can give you helpful overviews and introductions to topics. One you know the basics of a topic, you can make use of the library's journal access. You can probably access journal articles electronically, finding them through your library's website or through online search engines like Google Scholar or PubMed. Journal articles will help you to find the latest cutting-edges developments in your new field and to read more in depth into ongoing debates and disagreements between academics. Particularly helpful are special issues of journal which focus on one specific topic – not only do these issues collect related content, they also often include introductory texts by the editors which can be very helpful in understanding the big debates in your field which are new to you. The challenges of a new field can be a great motivator for you to create new innovative ideas and to strengthen your skills across disciplines. Find out more about opportunities for PhD students and postdocs at INOMICS.
Starting out a new role as a PhD student or postdoc will often be demanding and involve a steep learning curve. This is especially true if you have moved into a new discipline or field than you have worked in previously. With different approaches to research, learning and assessment than that which you have experienced before, it can take some effort to adjust to a new setting. Below are some tips to ease this transition to help you make the most of your postdoc in a new field.
One of the most common ways to network is at conferences and events, which offer great opportunities for those attending: 1. If you are a graduate student or academic, you can meet keynote speakers of trending research topics and develop your own knowledge: whether you have a similar research topic or you are exploring new research opportunities, this allows you to meet leading names in your research area and ask them for advice 2. You can create connections and relationships with other researchers and professionals: to discuss ideas for future cooperation, to work on ongoing research papers or to build partnerships for the promotion of programs. 3. You can enjoy extra-curricular conference activities: meet new people from different backgrounds and benefit from sharing ideas, knowledge and methodologies with colleagues from around the world in a more informal setting. 4. You can promote your university or institution: during a conference you have a great opportunity to sell the image and improve the reputation of your institution. Whether to colleagues who are actively looking for education agreements, or to students and agencies ready to apply to your university or bring you quality students, when you attend an event you are an ambassador for your institution, with all the responsibility and opportunity that implies. In addition to the numerous subject specific academic events every year, education associations around the world organise annual networking events primarily aimed at admission officers, marketers and professors, giving them the possibility to meet peers and grow their reputation and influence in the education sector. One of the most popular associations for education is the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA), which since 1948 has supported international educators and institutions by setting up international quality standards and providing training and networking opportunities. Other associations like the Asia Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) bring together policy makers and education experts to improve the professional skills for people working in international education. The European Association for International Education (EAIE) focuses efforts in the internationalization of higher education and its institutions. For education related training and networking, ICEF provides workshops, training and reports on student recruitment and the international education industry.
Networking is a must for academics and people working in the education industry. Indeed, professional success can stem directly from an ability to make connections and build mutual beneficial relationships. In academia perhaps more than in other professions, excellence in research and sought after skills are strongly complemented by both whom you know, and who knows you. Good relationships with others working in same field or industry can help accelerate your professional development, create future opportunities, and make sure you are up-to-date with the latest information in your field (gossip!) and inspire you with new ideas.