// Archives

Careers in the Lab: Alumni Insight

By Gemma Foxall, Employability Education Projects Officer As part of our Spotlight On series of events, we held an informative session all about lab-based careers. Amy (MSci Human Genetics), Group Leader at Charles River Laboratories, Jaimee (BSc Biology), Brain Bank Technician at King’s College London, and Liam (BSc Microbiology), Lab Manager at NHS Test and …

My Journey to a PhD Studentship

By Astrid Bowen, PhD student This year, with the support of the Careers service, I was chosen to fulfil a very special PhD studentship opportunity. Co-funded by the ESRC and Evolve, a social impact company, and undertaken through the UCL, Bloomsbury and East London Doctoral Training Partnership (UBEL DTP), the project aims to evaluate an …

Reflections on My Postgraduate Placement

By Joseph George Walters, PhD Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy Following my successful search, I have come to the end of my six-month postgraduate placement. In this blog, I reflect on the career implications of the placement and whether the experience met my expectations. Engagement with industry The project was instigated by MEMRAP, the campaign …

What Next? Searching for a Career

By Joseph George Walters, PhD Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy As I approach the latter stages of my PhD, my mind turns to what next? This blog describes my initial research into careers outside of academia and the processes that have helped me to define my next steps. If you are thinking about what next?, …

PhD Skills and Career Implications

By Joseph George Walters, PhD Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy An annual skills audit is a requirement for doctoral students. It is used to identify skills that a student might lack and then record improvement. This blog post highlights the career implications of my skills audits, and how they have contributed to the development of …

What to Ask at the Graduate Jobs and Internships Fair

By Katarina Piponi, fourth year MSci Zoology student As a final-year student, I’m thinking about my next step after uni so I’m going to the virtual Graduate Jobs and Internships Fair on Wednesday 3 March.  After some scrupulous googling, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is one simple measure I can take to make the most of the careers …

A PhD? Where?

By Joseph George Walters, PhD Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy In my previous blog I wrote about the experiences that played a part in my decision to pursue a PhD. In this blog I look at the main factors that I considered when deciding to do a PhD at the University of Nottingham. The Location …

Growing Your Network as a PhD Student

By Dr Harry Hothi, co-founder of DiscoverPhDs The term networking can sometimes feel like another buzzword used in the job market. Actually, networking as a PhD student can have a real positive impact on your development. It is something every student should make the time to do. What actually is networking? Networking is a skill …

A PhD or Industry?

By Joseph George Walters, PhD Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy How would you even begin to know if a PhD was right for you? Testing the waters of both working in industry and academic research helped me to decide. An Uncertain Future As a second-year undergraduate, I was not sure what to do after my …

My PhD Journey So Far

By Luke Francis, PhD student Having reached half time in my four year PhD programme, I think the time is right to think about what doing a PhD is all about – and share this with the lucky reader! Firstly – why did I do a PhD? Halfway through my fourth year of my MSci …