Academic career paths

• Tutor: Rebecca Andrew - Imperial Consultants (ICON)
• Usually scheduled: November, May
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Who should attend

This course, run by staff from Imperial Consultants, is for any postdoc interested in applying their knowledge to problems in industry, commerce and government. The course will introduce you to the world of academic consultancy, from acting as an expert witness to providing specialist advice. It will also introduce you to the support Imperial Consultants, a College-owned company, can offer you when consulting.

Key areas

• What is consultancy? How can it enhance an academic career?
• The consultancy project life cycle including case studies
• Introducing ICON and how can we help
• How to get started with consultancy
• How you can promote yourself and develop your skills

What have past participants found most useful?

"I became aware of some skills that I have and might be marketable. I thought about my own contacts with industry and how to use them."

"The course was very informative about Imperial Consultants, how it works and what the benefits are for Imperial researchers when working with them."

"The breadth of useful advice and the absence of painful/embarrassing exercises" - Postdoc, Business School

"I really enjoyed every single aspect of the course. It’s very interactive, lots of interesting/unique exercises. The trainer was fantastic!" - Postdoc, Life Sciences

• Tutor: Dr Amritha Nair & Dr Prashanthini Jeyarajan - Industry Partnerships and Commercialisation, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: March, July
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

Lack of awareness of intellectual property (IP) can result in UK researchers missing out. Many are not commercialising their own ideas and some are failing to prevent others from unfairly exploiting their research. This course brings in experts from Imperial Innovations to help to plug this knowledge gap. It enables postdocs to work out what type of intellectual property rights they need to protect their work and how to take the necessary steps to get it.

Key areas

• Patents - what, why, who, where, how?
• Copyright
• Commercialisation of inventions
• Licensing and spin-out companies
• Dealing with companies—bridging the academia-industry divide

What have past participants found most useful?

"Going through examples and very clear definitions of vocabulary"

"The power of patenting for commercialisation"

"How to source and more completely interpret they aspects of a patent"

"Trainer is knowledgeable and enthusiastic"

• Tutor: Dr David T Jones - Independent Consultant
• Usually scheduled: January, June
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

The ability to review papers should be a core skill of every research scientist. With the growing number of manuscripts being submitted to scientific journals, editors are increasingly reliant on independent experts who can deliver good-quality reviews in a timely fashion.

This course is designed for postdocs and researchers at the early stage of their career who have little or no experience of peer-reviewing.

Key areas

• How the peer-review process works from submission to publication
• Recent developments such as “open” peer-review
• The reviewer’s obligations
• The criteria against which scientific papers should be evaluated
• The requirement for objective, specific, constructive and balanced comments that will assist both the editor and the author(s)
• The amount of time involved in reviewing a paper

What have past participants found most useful?

"How to break up the peer review process and limit it. Receiving a template for reviewing, nobody teaches this!"

"The session really helped me organise the reviews and familiarise myself with the whole process. It also helps me write good papers."

"Dr David T Jones is a perfect presenter and speaker; it was an excellent, engaging, practical session."

• Tutor: Dr Liz Elvidge, Associate Director (Early Career Researcher Development) ECRI, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: February
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Who should attend

One of the keys to success in securing a lectureship position is preparation for your interview in order to make the most of that opportunity and feel confident of success. You will discover how to be knowledgeable and confident in your interview without relying on tricks or manipulative techniques. This workshop aims to take candidates from average to outstanding by maximising their ability to answer lectureship interview questions. This session includes mock interviews and a Q&A.

Key areas

• Discover what panels are looking for in lectureship interviews
• Learn how to answer lectureship questions confidently and successfully
• Understand the mindset both the interviewers and interviewees have and how this holds the key to unlocking interview success
• Practice predicting interview questions with accuracy

Further information: Priority for this course will be given to fellows.

• Tutor: Dr Anna Seabourne - Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: November, April
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Who should attend

This course will introduce you to the lectureship application process.  A recently successful lecturer will share their experiences of the application and interview process and a senior academic will talk about the process that is undertaken to recruit a new lecturer in a question and answer session.

You will gain an understanding of the different requirements for lectureship applications, including hints and tips as to what to include in both your research and teaching statements. The course will also cover how you can highlight your evidence of esteem and ideas on how to gain further teaching experience. In the afternoon you will have an opportunity to write an application and take part in a practical exercise providing insight into the review processes.

Key areas

• Factors that contribute to successful applications
• What to include in your research and teaching statement
• Drafting an application
• Gaining experience of reviewing lectureship applications
• Further Information: Priority for this course will be given to fellows.

• Tutor: Dr Anna Seabourne - Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: January
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

This course is designed to provide postdocs with useful information to help them prepare for the next stage of an academic career. Is a lectureship the right thing for you? Are there other options? Most importantly, can you make your academic career ambitions a reality? If you want to explore the answers to these questions, then this is the course for you. 

Key Areas

• Identifying your strengths and weaknesses for career promotion
• The importance of networking and how to do it
• How to maximise the potential of your CV
• Obtaining fellowships and grants
• What to do once you actually have a lectureship

Further information: Priority for this course will be given to fellows.

• Tutor: Dr Ines Perpetuo & Dr Anna Seabourne - Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: May
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

This course is designed to equip you with the skills and resources you need to achieve success as a postdoc and launch your career as a researcher. It is a three-day online course for postdocs in their first two years.

In a structured and supportive environment facilitated by experienced trainers, you will gain a thorough understanding of your career options and develop tools and techniques to help you set and reach a series of short, medium, and long-term goals to maximise your success as a postdoc and plan for your next step.

Key areas

• Examine what makes a successful postdoc
• Develop strategies to move toward research independence
• Learn techniques for working successfully with your PI
• Research your career options
• Build a toolkit to plan your career
• Set clear and robust goals to ensure success for you and your work

• Tutor: Caroline Broad - Independent Consultant
• Usually scheduled: December
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

Meetings are so often unproductive, with unclear objectives.  In this interactive workshop, you will develop a more effective approach to meetings.

Key Areas

We will explore best practice on how to:

• Not have meetings!
• Develop buy-in of key meeting stakeholders
• Create positive communication pre and post-meeting
• Facilitate the engagement of all attendees

We will develop your key skills in:

• Meeting facilitation
• Decision making
• Listening
• Questioning

• Tutor: Dr Anna Seabourne - Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: June
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

Planning for success beyond your postdoc is designed to help experienced postdocs (usually with two to four years of postdoc experience) to take their next career step, academic or otherwise.

During the course, you will be encouraged to explore your career options and develop an action plan to achieve the next step whilst enhancing your job application and interview skills.

Key areas

• Reflect on the career choices you have made to date
• Review the skills and expertise you have acquired as a postdoc and identify gaps
• Develop strategies to move towards research independence
• Set clear and robust goals to achieve career progression
• Build a toolkit to search for jobs
• Prepare your CV for academic and non-academic jobs
• Construct an effective job application
• Refine your interview skills

Further Information: Please note that attendance is mandatory on both days of this two-day course.

• Tutor: Dr Anna Seabourne, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: October, January, June
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

This course introduces postdocs to fellowship funding and the process of making a fellowship application.

During the course, you will learn where to look for appropriate fellowship funding, how to apply and how to prepare a written application. Additionally, you will take part in a practice exercise providing insight into the writing and peer review processes.
Successful applicants and panel members from Imperial will share their experience of applying for fellowships in a question and answer session.

Key areas

• Where to find appropriate fellowship funding
• How to apply: A-Z of the application process
• Factors which contribute to successful applications
• Practice writing a fellowship proposal
• Gain experience in reviewing fellowship proposals

Further Information

You will be required to write a 2-3 page research proposal as an exercise on this course which will need to cover the following: 

• Name
• Title of your project
• Aims and research questions
• Background (context, track record)
• Plan: methodology
• Impact/outcomes
• How the fellowship will further your career

• Tutor: Caroline Broad – Independent Consultant
• Usually scheduled: November, January
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

Effective project management (PM) is about creating a balance between task, team and individual.  In this course, we will complete a project initiation document, which will introduce you to the PM language and concepts.  We will practice core project management tools, including SWOT analysis and work breakdown schedules and discuss stakeholder communication and people management skills.

It is a practical rather than theoretical course and you will be encouraged to apply the skills and knowledge developed. The course is delivered by a professional skills trainer and project manager who continues to deliver projects in both a commercial and academic setting.

Key areas

• Develop your organisational skills
• Gain insight into commercial project management techniques and applications
   

• Tutor: Dr Tracy Bussoli and Stefanie Edler-Wollstein – Imperial College London
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

Making the move from working with others on research projects to managing and directing your own independently funded programme requires more than an excellent research record. Our research has shown that new Principal Investigators are concerned with management issues: time, staff and funding being the major hurdles.

This one-day course for aspiring Principal Investigators will enable you to explore some of these issues by working through a series of real-life examples to develop a personal plan for managing your first research group. At the end of the course day, participants are invited to a drinks reception followed by a celebratory dinner (finish time 20.30).

Key areas

• Identify your personal strengths, weaknesses, values, and motivations
• Examine a variety of leadership and management approaches
• Explore recruitment methods to attract and recruit the right people
• Learn practical techniques to prioritise and manage your time successfully
• Define and create a research profile for your laboratory or group

• Tutor: Stewart Theobald - Independent Consultant
• Usually scheduled: March
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

This is a participatory course developed from vocal techniques practised by actors. It will enable you to discover your true voice, work on exercises to enhance its range, clarity, power, tone and colour, allowing you to lecture or deliver an engaging presentation with ease. The aim of this course is to introduce postdocs and fellows to the opportunities of improved vocal projection and the benefits that this brings. We will work as a group on various physical and vocal exercises in a relaxed atmosphere. So be prepared to relax, kick off your shoes and maybe even lie on the floor.

Key areas

• Discover how and why we sound the way we do
• Understand the causes of difficulty and implications of unhealthy voice production
• Discover how relaxation, breathing and vocal exercises can improve projection, clarity and reduce vocal strain
• Practice techniques to prevent and cure any vocal strain or lack of projection and clarity
• Look at the effects of posture and tension on vocal projection
• Take part in voice and articulation exercises
• Understand resonance placement and the effects this has on projection, clarity and range

What have past participants found most useful?

"The breathing and relaxation techniques for the voice – it was all extremely useful!"

"The understanding of why I strain my voice and practical warm-up exercises to improve it"

"Exercises to help relax and project for clarity and authority"

• Tutors: Centre for Academic English (CfAE) at Imperial: Dr Julie King, Hilary Glasman-Deal, June Hammond, Robin Mowat and Andrew Northern
• Usually scheduled: December, March
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled courses

Overview

This one-day workshop, developed and delivered by the (CfAE), provides targeted input and training to help you write more effectively for publication. The training is personalised to help you learn how to identify the features of successfully published texts in your discipline.

Key areas

You will learn:

• To use your reading as a tool to develop writing techniques for successful publication
• To organise and connect information in your text to enhance readability and flow
• To make language choices that improve the impact and clarity of your writing

What have past participants found most useful?

“I will definitely apply the reverse-engineering method and I can already see the benefits in my reading and writing.”

“Main takeaways were the structure and modelling of writing research papers, as well as using compelling language to communicate the main message of the research.”

“I found the mix of teaching, small group work, independent work, and then discussion really useful.”

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: January, May, September
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

Maximise your chance of making the shortlist by ensuring your CV is professional, targeted and well written.

Don’t know where to start when it comes to writing a cover letter? Not sure that your cover letter is highlighting your notable/relevant achievements?

This session will address academic CVs and cover letters. It will cover do’s and don’ts to consider when crafting your CV. We will also look at tips on how to structure your cover letter.

Please bring your CV with you to this workshop and any academic role you are looking at applying to.

• Tutor: Bernie Babel, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: April, October
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

The aim of this pop-up is to give you a better understanding of what assertiveness is and identify those situations where assertiveness skills are required. We will also explore how to behave assertively in appropriate situations.

You will get to try out being assertive using case studies as examples.

• Tutor: Dr Victoria Crossley, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: November
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

The College has a new process in which to formally recognise the valuable contribution that postdocs make towards the student-supervisor partnership.  Subject to completion of mandatory training requirements, postdocs can be recognised as Assistant Supervisors.  

The following documentation provides information on how to obtain formal recognition as an Assistant Supervisor:

• Appointment Process for Assistant Supervisors (pdf)
• Framework for the Support and Development of Assistant Supervisors (pdf)
• Roles and Responsibilities Document for Assistant Supervisors (pdf)

This pop up will explain the process and the benefits of becoming an Assistant Supervisor – there will be a presentation, followed by a Q&A session. 

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: January, May, September
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

Unlock your potential - explore career goal setting - an essential tool for time management, personal and professional progression.

During this session, you will reflect on your career and set individual career goals while looking at ideas to use for your 10 Development Days.

• Tutor: Robert Scott, Data Protection Officer, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: October
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

This session will be an introduction to GDPR and how the College has been implementing the required changes with a particular focus on research activities. It will explain the law in brief, the relevance to postdocs and fellows, and what the College is doing to assist staff to ensure their compliance. 

• Tutor: Societal Engagement Team, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: January
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

Come along to this pop-up session to discover more about what public engagement is, why it is important and how it can benefit you and your work. We will focus on how engaging with members of the public, schools, patients, and community groups can help you to achieve research impact.

Find out tips on how to plan for impact through engagement, as well as achieve it and evidence it. Ideal if you are thinking about research proposals or fellowship applications, we will look at what the big funders think about engagement and impact, as well as having some time to consider what it all means for your own areas of research.

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: January, June
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

If you are thinking about applying for a fellowship, you should become familiarised with the different styles of CV templates different funders require.

In this session we will cover some of the major funder templates and you will have an opportunity to work on showcasing your own successes and achievements and receiving feedback from your peers.

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: March, September
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

Most fellowships require you to have an interview to show how you can carry out the proposed research and why they should give you the funding.

During this workshop, you will look at examples of ‘invitation to interview’ letters from a variety of funders. Importantly, you will look at interview questions and prepare answers, developing answers that showcase your achievements.

• Tutor: External funding bodies and the ECRI team
• Usually scheduled: as appropriate
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

ECRI will hold or invite funding bodies to funder sessions which highlight the fellowship opportunities individual funders have to offer, as well as providing the opportunity for current fellowship holders to share their expertise and experiences of the fellowship application process through to interview top tips.

The funder showcases last about two hours and are open to all researchers from across the College.

• Tutor: Press office team, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: May
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

Sharing the results of your research and gaining media coverage is an excellent way to show impact, as well as potentially bringing you new opportunities for collaboration and funding. During this workshop you will learn how the press office can help you promote your research to the media, what we consider when promoting stories, and how news stories and press releases are put together. You will have a chance to try it out for yourself by summarizing your research and pitching it for a press release.

In addition, if you’ve ever considered science communication as a career, we’ll talk a little about the different roles we’ve had in our careers, with plenty of time for Q&A at the end of the session.

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: February, August
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

This session will introduce you to the different requirements for lectureship applications, including hints and tips as to what to include in your cover letter, CV, research and teaching statements. It will also cover how you can highlight your evidence of esteem and ideas on how to gain further experience to enhance your application. 

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: May, November
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

LinkedIn is a professional networking platform that can be used to increase your online visibility. A professional online presence is important as 64% of employers check future employees' LinkedIn profile during the recruitment process. 

During this workshop we will: 

• discuss the sections of a LinkedIn profile, top tips on creating an effective profile, and what makes LinkedIn a great platform to showcase your career goals and achievements. 
• practise writing some sections of your own profile and thinking about what to include in others. 
• receive hints and tips on how to network with potential employers and how to take advantage of job adverts that you can find on LinkedIn. 

You don’t need to have a LinkedIn profile already, but it would be helpful if you set up an account in advance.

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: February, August
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

Your research is very important to you, but how do you make sure others look at it and understand its importance?

Can you clearly articulate the different types of impact you are making? How do you maximise your chances of really having an influence in your areas of interest?

In this session, we will look at what research impact is and why it matters and how you can create and maximise impact.

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: March, September
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

What is networking? Why is it important in your career? How can you network effectively?

The aim of this pop-up workshop is to help you understand how to network effectively and make you confident and happy about going out and networking to advance your career!

• Tutor: Educational Development Unit Team, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: June
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

Would you like to know more about teaching and learning opportunities at Imperial? 
Thinking about a teaching qualification, but unsure how to start? 
Want to know more about the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)?

The Educational Development Unit (EDU) will be able to answer all your questions about teaching and learning at Imperial. During this session, EDU will talk about the STAR Framework and how you can start working toward a Higher Education Academy accreditation, as well as all the other workshops that will help you supervise students and carry out tutorials and lectures.

• Tutor: RCS & RSE Team, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: November
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

This session will be an introduction to the Research Computing Service and the training, resources and support the team provides. Find out more about the Research Software Engineering service and how to engage with them to further your research.

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: January, June
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

You know who you are and what your achievements and successes are, but how do you increase your visibility as a researcher?

Is social media a tool for visibility increase, science communication, or a bottomless pit of time wasting?

In this session, we are going to cover the why and how to increase your visibility, social media use, and some strategies to overcome barriers, both online and offline.

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: May, November
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

This pop-up introduces postdocs to the process of making a fellowship application. During the session, you will learn where to look for appropriate fellowship funding, how to apply and how to prepare a written application.

• Tutor: Library Services Team, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: June
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

This workshop will critically discuss the use of metrics in research assessment, including the Journal Impact Factor and the h-index and will present evidence for their flaws as well as broader citation and publication biases. Responsible metrics concepts, in particular The Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), and the implications of DORA for decision making at the funders and research organisation level will be introduced.

Some practical ways that postdocs can embed these recommendations when presenting their own research or making applications will be offered and participants are encouraged to share experiences from their own research fields. 

• Tutor: Hackspace Fellows team, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: July
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

This session will be an introduction to the Advanced Hackspace part of the College’s Enterprise division. This is an opportunity to understand how Hackspace can support Postdocs and Fellows.

In this session you will get to know about the resources, facilities and expertise available to support your current research or future fellowships.

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: April, October
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

A clear idea of your research vision is essential as you progress on the academic career path.

• Do you have a defined research vision?
• How well can you articulate why your research is important? 
• Can you explain how your research fits into the bigger picture? 
• What will change in the field because of your research? 

An explanation or discussion of your research vision is often required in both fellowship and lectureship applications and in interviews. 

This Pop-up will provide the opportunity for you to explore key questions to help you develop and map out your research vision and provide you with time to get feedback on your answers and to give feedback to peers.

• Tutor: Research Data Management, Library Services team, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: May, November
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

In this session, the Research Data Management team will provide you with top tips on what to include in your data management plan.

Whether you are writing a fellowship application or just want to know what to consider for the sustainability and reproducibility of your data this session will provide you with basic information about what to include on your plan and time to start writing it!

• Tutor: Dr Inês Perpétuo, Imperial College London
• Usually scheduled: June, December
• Visit our online calendar to find out about scheduled workshops

Turning your carefully thought-out research programme into simple, concise English in order to be accountable to the general public – it’s become a standard part of funding and fellowship applications, and it’s the stuff of many a researcher’s nightmares. But the lay summary matters. It demonstrates neatly how clear your ideas are; the funders need it to evidence which projects they have invested in; and on a practical level, your lay summary may be the only part of your application, which is read by the entire panel.

This bite-sized, interactive session will look at what goes in a lay summary, which bits to leave out, and how to pitch your language.