Academia - Post-doctoral research associate/research fellow

A postdoctoral position, commonly referred to as a post-doc, is a next step along an academic career for those who have completed their PhD; offering an opportunity to further enhance their research skills, deepen their expertise and build their research portfolio. This period, usually lasting several years, involves working under the supervision of academics, giving opportunities to engage in collaborative research projects. The post-doc is a platform for intellectual growth and networking, providing a springboard to academic roles, to positions in industry, or expert roles in the broader industry. During this time, post-docs hone their research skills, publish significant findings, and establish themselves as independent researchers, positioning themselves as experts.

Research fellowships are often competitive opportunities where an individual can start developing their independent research career. At this stage it’s important for research fellows to demonstrate leadership towards identifying a long-term research vision, built on an impactful core research question.

What helps securing a post-doc?

Academic qualifications

• A completed PhD in a relevant field (required) and relevant background academic qualifications (Masters), often in the subject area (but not always as long as transferable skills can be demonstrated).

Research experience

• A record of high-quality research outputs. Traditional outputs have consisted of academic publications, however, also consider other pathways to impact that can demonstrate the importance of your work. For example, this could include open-source codes, publicly accessible datasets or how insights have informed industry to improve their processes. Furthermore, for research outputs consider highlighting the key elements of conceptual advance your work presents; allowing reviewers the opportunity to understand the impact of your work.
  • If you have works in submission or other relevant outputs, consider use of publicly available repositories or private links so that a reviewer can access this to review. For example, for papers in submission consider using an archive repository such as arXiv.

Communication

• Showcasing that you disseminate your work can be highly advantageous. This might be in conferences, videos or outreach events. Here, consider any impacts that have been achieved from the dissemination to highlight effectiveness. Also, consider platforms that enable your dissemination to reach a broader audience, for instance, a conference talk can be converted into a YouTube video, which has global reach.
• Engagement with outreach events to develop interest in STEM subjects can be an excellent demonstration of a passion and ability to communicate with a diverse set of people. Consider becoming a STEM Ambassador.

Industry engagement

• Experience working in collaboration with industry partners in the battery field. Many post-doc positions involve working with academic and industrial partners, where prior experience working with industry will help key skills such as project management and communication with a variety of stakeholders. Here, consider not only naming a collaborator, but highlighting key outputs/impacts and skills gained. For example, how has your work helped industry improve their processes.
• Undertaking a PhD Internship would be beneficial.

Global perspective

• Awareness of global trends and challenges in batteries.
• Experience with international collaborations or research stays abroad can be an asset. Exchanges can give fresh perspectives on a research problem and also build lifelong networks that can be useful in fellowship applications.

Professional development

• Engagement in ongoing professional development, such as attending workshops, seminars, and courses.
  • Faraday Institution Early Career Researcher Training Opportunities
  • Prosper programme at the University of Liverpool
• Active participation in professional societies and groups related to batteries.
  • The Electrochemical Society
  • Battery Pub

Adaptability and continuous learning

• Ability to adapt to new research environments and challenges that might be evidenced by international exchanges and demonstration of leadership.
• Commitment to staying up to date on the latest advancements and techniques in the field.
  • Volta Annual Battery Report

Additional considerations for fellowships

• At the heart of a good fellowship application is an impactful research question. Gaining a deep understanding of the global trends and state-of-the-art research challenges is essential for feeding into a fellowship proposal that demonstrates thought leadership. Here, there is a focus on adventurous research; encouraging researchers to think extremely critically about the problem and potential solutions. An authoritative review or perspectives paper could help articulate the research gaps/needs and can be cross-referenced to enhance applications.
• Fellowships at their core are about developing future leaders. Applications often pose questions around personal development plans. Evidencing a lifetime mindset of continual growth with development activities is useful, alongside tangible activities you would do if successful with the fellowship.
  • Consider engaging with your university’s post-doc development resources. Fellowship proposals can have a different form to proposals for specific research challenges and it is important to get the tone correct.
• Experience in securing research funding or grants. This can be in the form of small starter grants often advertised in universities. These start to demonstrate your ability to identify key research challenges and propose a programme of work to achieve set objectives. The Faraday Institution Early Career Collaboration Award is an example.
• Examples of running and executing projects, especially where this involved collaboration or supervision of students. The fellowship is centered around developing future leaders, and any early demonstration of elements of this will strengthen an application.
• In fellowship applications, having a letter of support and industry engagement often strengthens the pathways to impact. A few strong partnerships with clear rationale for collaboration and quantified support will be stronger than a large volume of vague letters of support.
• Fellowship reviews will involve peers from the community who will be provided with guidance from funders such as EPSRC. These reviewer forms are available online and can provide good insights on how to frame the presentation of your ideas and work.

Additional considerations

• Post-doc positions are usually a stepping-stone to another position. Plan out your career with this in mind.
• If considering a transition into industry roles, consider how best to present information in your profile. An academic CV is often quite different to an industrial one, and you’ll want to highlight the right skills and experiences.

Case studies

Georgina Gregory, Research Associate at the University of Oxford