On 11th March 2025, the Institute for Academic Development will be running our Researcher Realities annual event.
Researcher Realities is an umbrella initiative that invites conversations among and across the researcher community about the hows of research: the lived realities and experiences of being a researcher. On the 11th March, Researchers from across the University will come together to share their experiences and lessons learned at 4 panel sessions on the complexities of doing research and navigating careers in research. The panel events include:
Navigating the Arc of the Academic Research Career
Join this session for a conversation with Giulia De Togni, Gabi Hegerl, and Sandy Hetherington about the realities of academic research careers and how to navigate a competitive environment and changing expectations. Our speakers will share what choices they’ve made and how they’ve progressed across different career stages.
Pitching Interdisciplinary Research Projects to Funders
Are you currently working up an interdisciplinary research project that you seek funding for? Come along to this session in which Andrew Aveyard, Eliza Calder, Amy Chandler, and Gwenetta Curry will share their experiences and approaches to identifying suitable funding schemes and the lessons learned from applications and/or peer reviewer experiences.
The Many Faces of Postdoctoral Life: Identity, Transition, and Growth
Our speakers Pushpi Bagchi, Shipra Bhatia, Luke Daines and Caitlin McDonald will share their postdoctoral experiences with insights from portfolio careers to hybrid roles, clinical career track to scientific investigator. Join, hear and share your experiences to bust some myths and bring to light the diversity of postdoctoral life.
In Conversation with Prof Sue Fletcher-Watson: Managing career and Work-Life Balance
Seeking inspiration for strategies to manage the competing demands of a career in academia and research? Tune in for this personal conversation between IAD’s career consultants Eleanor Hennige and Darcey Gillie with Prof. Sue Fletcher-Watson on how to effectively manage a work-life balance.
Our event page has timings, booking links and further information on all our speakers: Researcher Realities annual event | Institute for Academic Development
The Researcher Realities event is free and open to University of Edinburgh staff.
Researcher Realities: Other support and opportunities to get involved
Researcher Realities conversations happen in a variety of formats throughout the Academic year. In addition to our annual event, we also have a curated blog series and can also run pop-up events, with past events including: Researcher Realities: Writing a Trade Book, Researcher Realities: Generating Impact via the Media (part of Impact Festival) and Researcher Realities Principal Investigator (PI): Effective Career Conversations.
There are also video recordings from conversations at past annual events
If you are interested in bringing Researcher Realities to your local community, we have a guide to support you to do this, setting out our exceptions and offering practical advice for setting up an event/session
Please do get in touch if you have an idea or wish to share your own research realities by either Submitting anonymously your idea or emailing iad.researchers@ed.ac.uk.
We hope to see you on the 11th March!
