Careers in Your Ears (King's Careers & Employability )

“Narrative CVs are an attempt to be able to surface all of the things which academics do in a structured way.”

We would like to invite all researchers and their supporters, developers and enablers to build their awareness of Narrative CVs (NCV) with this podcast episode. They are increasingly used for funding applications, in recruitment or promotion processes, and as such are also a useful framework for academic career planning.

We are delighted to be joined by narrative CV researchers, Becky Ioppolo and Kate Murray from the University of Cambridge who are doing fascinating research into the use of narrative CVs to uncover more about them and answer the big questions about whether or not they meet their purpose of being more inclusive, how to write a good one and where you can go to find out more.

Resources below mentioned in the episode:

• King’s researchers can access one-to-one specialist careers support and narrative CV resources. If you are based in another institution, check for careers support and training available to you.
• Résumé for Research and Innovation (R4RI): guidance – UKRI
• Video-based resource from the University of Glasgow provides insights as to how other researchers have approached writing an NCV
• The University of Oxford’s resource on writing NCVs.  Search their website for more information on writing team NCVs.
• NCV sharing platform - Join for access to narrative CV examples, set up by the Marie Curie Fellowship Alumni Association and others.
• ARRC Project one-page PDF supporting researchers to write an NCV and signposting to many different sources of help.
• ARRC Project NCV FAQs and do submit any you would like them to answer!
• LSE blog post⁠ - Bordignon et al. summarise the reasons behind the creation of the NCV
• Evaluation from the FNR, Luxembourg national funder, mentioned in connection with the amount of time it takes to write an NCV.
• Alzheimer’s Research UK podcast on implementation and general advice

Jargon:

NCV - narrative CV

R4RI - Resume for Research Innovation (same as a narrative CV)

UKRI - UK Research and Innovation - UK government research funding

ARRC Project - Action Research on Research Culture

What does it mean to work in health policy?  What does a policy researcher do day to day?  And, if your research has been in one topic, how do you transition into another area?  Listen to this short podcast where Kate Murray talks with Dr Deborah Fenney from The King’s Fund and find out more about being a research ‘geek’. 

We’re always interested to hear from our listeners: get in touch if you have any ideas of who you’d like us to interview or specific questions you’d like us to ask people.  Tweet @kcldo1thing or email careers@kcl.ac.uk.

This episode is the first part of a conversation about race and identity in research careers. Alexandria Mitchell, a PhD student at King's College London (KCL) and co-chair of the KCL Race Equality Network (www.kcl.ac.uk/hr/diversity/get-involved/networks/race-equality-network) talks with Mary Okesola who is also a PhD student at KCL and Dr. Bernadine Idowu of KCL and University of West London.

In this episode, you’ll hear why the speakers went into science and what that was like without visible representation of Black female scientists. You’ll also hear their thoughts on mentoring, job hunting and learn more about the day to day life of a senior academic.

Bernadine runs the BME Early Careers Conference (www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-5th-black-and-minority-ethnic-early-career-researchers-conference-2021-tickets-143563764083) which has a waiting list for this year's event on 09 July 2021 however if you follow them on twitter you can stay up to speed with future plans for the conference: @BmeEcr 

If you require a transcript of this episode please email careers@kcl.ac.uk with the title 'Transcript for CinYE S6E8'

Why do women disappear from the history of philosophy?  What can be done about it? In this episode we interview Rebecca Buxton and Lisa Whiting the editors of the recently published book "The Philosopher Queens" which is the only book currently in print exclusively about women philosophers and written and edited by women. We look at the implications for an academic philosophy career of inequality in universities and ask if things are similar in policy work. Finally, our interviewees have some tips for busy researchers and students trying to juggle too many projects at once. Rebecca Buxton is PhD student at Oxford University and Lisa Whiting works full time in policy and studies part time at Birkbeck, University of London.  More information about 'The Philosopher Queens' can be found here.

We explore why Mohamed decided to do his PhD (which is around differences in neurodevelopment in children with different diseases).  Listen to this episode, to find out more about finding (or even creating) the right PhD for you, applying to a PhD, how it's different from a Masters, and how helpful Google can be.  He also talks about his side project of tutoring and his thoughts about his future.  'As long as you find enjoyment in what you're doing, that's your motivation.' If you're a King's student thinking of applying for a PhD, use the careers team to work through these questions for yourself.

If you would like a transcript of this episode please contact careers@kcl.ac.uk.

King's PhDs and Research Staff can book an appointment via kcl.targetconnect.net by looking for 'PhD + Research Staff' under appointment type.  

If you're a UG or Masters student considering applying for a PhD, please see our KEATS resources on this topic https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=41567&section=17.  You can also book an appointment via kcl.targetconnect.net by looking for 'Careers Guidance' under appointment type.

Dr Ifesinachi Okafor-Yarwood, is a lecturer in sustainable development at the University of St. Andrews and gained her PhD from the African Leadership Centre at King's College London in 2019. Her research focuses on maritime threats, governance and security in the Gulf of Guinea. Ifesinachi has consulted for different international and regional organisations on issues relating to ocean governance, peace, and security in the African continent. She is the lead author of the Stable Seas: Gulf of Guinea report, and a contributing author to the Blue Paper 16, titled: Organized Crime in the Fisheries Sector, commissioned by the High-Level Panel on Sustainable Blue Economy, a global initiative led by 14 Heads of Governments. 

In this episode of the podcast, we learn how Ifesinachi discovered this research area and why she wanted to become an academic. She shares what helped her to get to where she is now, and how her presence on LinkedIn and Twitter has been crucial to her public engagement work and to diversify the narratives and expertise in her field of research.

Ifesinachi is a co-host of AfriCan Geopardy '....a fun, witty, and authentic way of talking about the ocean, and African geopolitics, with an added twist of bursting stereotypes about Africa.' Do check it out!

If you're a member of research staff or a PGR student at King's College London, you can book a 1-1 careers appointment (for application reviews and focused conversations about your career thinking) via King's CareerConnect. Search for 'PhD and Research Staff' under appointment type.

Dr. Fawzi Abou-Chihane is a former science researcher who now runs his own careers consulting business. He has a background in sustainable technologies and sensor development. In this episode he talks about his decision to pursue opportunities outside academic life and his new career.

If you would like a transcript of this episode, please contact us at careers@kcl.ac.uk. 

Join Mackenzie Jorgensen, PhD student in machine learning models (and our takeover host for this episode) as she interviews Dr Luis Pizarro, Global Responsible AI Leader at EY and Visiting Senior Lecturer at King's College London. The first half of this episode covers a great discussion about Luis' career in academia, the importance of collaborations and keeping your career options open between academia and industry and the second half delves into the challenges we face in using AI, including responsible AI and how it could be used to counter disinformation and fake news.

Please leave us a review wherever you listen to your podcasts; it really helps us to share the podcast and to know whether the content works for you.  Thank you. Follow us on Twitter @kcldo1thing to learn more about our careers support for researchers at King's College London.

If you would like a transcript of this episode, please email careers@kcl.ac.uk with Careers in Your Ears S.8 E.2 in the title.

In this episode, we talk with Dr Nicola Leveringhaus, a lecturer in the War Studies department at King's College London.  We discuss her career journey in academia, how to get into good time management habits and how to profile your research interests when applying for jobs. Enjoy!

Roger Carles-Fontana is a PhD student at King's College London and Mental Wellbeing and Events Lead at King's Doctoral Students Association (KDSA). He talks with us on this episode of Careers in Your Ears about why PGR students might struggle with their mental wellbeing and what they can do to address it.  Roger invites you to follow @KDSA_KCL on Instagram and/or Twitter to find out more information about events and resources.  They will also provide updates here about the new Mental Wellbeing Hub. You can also email them on kdsa@kclsu.org 

King's Counselling & Mental Health Support: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/counselling

King's Counseling & Mental Health Support (internal pages): https://self-service.kcl.ac.uk/article/KA-01164/en-us 

If you would like a transcript of this episode please email careers@kcl.ac.uk with the title 'Careers in Your Ears' transcript.

Today’s joint episode with Researc/hers Code, is the first part of a conversation we had with Ella Fitzsimmons, Charlotte Fereday and Chloe Tartan, who each have PhDs in different backgrounds (religious studies, language and linguistics and photonics respectively!)  and are now working in tech roles. They talk to Victoria Carr from Researc/hers Code about their journey from academia to their current job, what they’ve taken from that academic experience into the tech space and what’s surprised them about this new sector. Join us in the new year for the 2nd part of this conversation which focuses on diversity, barriers faced and top tips for researchers wanting to go into tech roles.

In this episode we are joined by Dr. Dmitry Kishkinev who is a lecturer in animal behaviour and behavioural neuroscience at Keele University. He tells us all about his career history, moving countries, the need to think strategically about your career and the support he has received from the Leverhulme Trust. We'd like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for their generosity in helping us record this episode.

Kinga Bercsenyi is VP of Business Development at Arctoris and has never seen a job description. She also had no idea what she wanted to do after her PhD and says she has never attended a formal training course. And yet she has progressed rapidly in her career in Business Development and balanced that with a family. Too good to be true? Find out about creating the right environment for serendipitious career possibilities, the benefits of creating a network, career decision making and exploration and work life balance. Also includes a handy guide for understanding more about Business Development and the different types. We have crammed a lot into this episode, we hope you enjoy it too.

For King's researchers you can access the career tools 'Trying Out Career Options' and 'Career Tracks' via our Researcher pages accessible from here: www.kcl.ac.uk/careers.

It's International Women's Day 2019, and the campaign this year is 'Better the Balance, Better the World', so in today's bonus episode we talk to Dr Sarah Barry, a Senior Lecturer in Chemical Biology at King's College London about her career in academia and why the gender balance in chemistry isn't really there yet.  At the end of the podcast Sarah refers to a report by the Royal Society of Chemistry on the diversity landscape of the chemical sciences and an article by Carolyn Bertozzi about achieving gender balance, we've included them here for ease of reference:

RSC Diversity Landscape Report

Carolyn Bertozzi Gender Balance Article

#betterforbalance

In this episode we meet Joe Shute, a humanities PhD researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University. Joe is also a journalist and is about to publish his third book. In this podcast he talks about combining his three careers and offers us his insights on how they compliment each other. He also provides us with tips on getting started in writing and how he manages the multiple demands on his time. We also get to find out more about creative non-fiction.

We'd like to thank the Leverhulme Trust for their introduction to Joe and their generosity with their time and support to make this episode possible.

Kai is a senior lecturer at the Manchester School of Art, at Manchester Metropolitan University and was previously a research fellow at King's College London. She also has a very successful career as an artist. In this episode she tells us about how her skills and experiences as an academic and an artist have led her to her current role. We also explore equality, inclusion and neurodiversity in academic life and the importance of being yourself in job interviews. Apologies for the sound quality. This episode was recorded online and there is some background noise and distortion.

Nick Lynn, Senior Director at Willis Towers Watson talks with Vicki Tipton about his journey from Geography lecturer to Employee Engagement Consultant. Listen in to hear Nick's thoughts on the future of work and the increasing need and relevance of research skills in the world of business. Learn what it means to work as a consultant in employee engagement. 

We’re always interested to hear from our listeners: get in touch if you have any ideas of who you’d like us to interview or specific questions you’d like us to ask people.  Tweet @kcldo1thing or email careers@kcl.ac.uk.

This bonus episode was taken from our live recording at the Vitae International Researcher Development Conference earlier this month, where we led a Special Interest Session along with KCL’s post-grad student led 'Postdocalypse' podcast! This episode concerns how to get researchers’ voices heard and other reasons why we set up our podcasts. We have a few tips and advice for setting up podcasts, and some audience questions too. Enjoy!

Postdocalypse podcast link: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/postdocalypse-kings-college-london-health-sciences/id1369174654?mt=2

Vitae - supports the professional development of researchers: www.vitae.ac.uk/ 

We talk to Andrew Wright, Head of Employer Engagement, in the Careers & Employability team at King's College London.  We're hearing a lot about recession and unemployment in the news everyday.  This can be disheartening for anyone who is job hunting.  We ask Andrew for his perspective on current labour markets which interest researchers from academia through to the creative industries.  Andrew encourages us to look beyond the headlines and understand what's going on in different sectors in a more nuanced way.

Here are the resources which Andrew refers to in the podcast:

• Virtual work experience: https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=3322146
• Self employment and freelancing (with link to IPSE membership for King's PhDs): https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=3221799
• Charlie Ball's blog on labour markets: https://highpeakdata.wordpress.com/author/highpeakcharlie/.  You can also find his updates and other helpful articles here: https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/
• EMSI: https://www.economicmodeling.com/

[This episode was recorded in August 2020]

Vicki is a part-time PhD student with extensive work experience in international banking and science policy, doing a PhD in Policy and Bioethics, incorporating publications. Join us as we explore career transition and the benefits and importance of establishing a flexible career, tips for managing a part-time PhD and a fascinating insight into the world of science policy.

Can researcher career paths span academia and industry? Is it possible to simultaneously work in both? Dr. Lizzy Moyce, Arup's Research Development Manager and Careers Consultant Laura Johnson explore these oft-asked questions. Lizzy gives us her tips on leveraging transferable skills; seizing opportunities and 'legitimate snooping', to enhance the chances of an intersectoral career. 

Dr Bahijja Raimi-Abraham is a pharmacist, Lecturer in Pharmaceutics at King’s College London, Founder and Academic Lead of King’s College London Fight the Fakes. She also leads her own research group “The Raimi-Abraham Group”. Dr Raimi-Abraham's research to date has been in pharmaceutical materials and innovative manufacture. More recently she has focused her research efforts within the therapeutic and drug development aspects of malaria. In this episode we discuss power in academic life (and how to manage it), changing careers and leadership in research.

Shelly-Ann Gajadhar is a PhD student at the Business School at King's College London. She owns her own career coaching business and is a former criminal prosecutor.  In this episode, she talks about career change and managing multiple tasks and priorities, with a particular emphasis on looking after her own wellbeing. We also discuss the Black Lives Matter movement and what it might mean for achieving equality in academia and beyond.

Dr Melissa Willis is the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Research Team Lead at Sellafield Ltd. Prior to this she was a PhD researcher in material sciences at the University of Manchester. Melissa shares her experience of guilt, low self-esteem and anxiety during her PhD. She shares advice about what helped and talks about how she handled her career change from academia to industry. Importantly Melissa discusses how she’s worked through these issues during her career transition and in her current workplace. She hopes that other PhDs in a similar situation will make use of the support available to them and her top tips: talk to someone and take real breaks.

King's PhD students can access support for their mental health and wellbeing.  Visit the new PGR Wellbeing Hub (internal) for easy access to all the support available including KCL counselling services: https://tinyurl.com/y25w75er

King's Research Staff can access support through visiting the Pathways to Wellbeing pages (internal) https://internal.kcl.ac.uk/staff/experience/wellbeing/index 

If you're a PhD student or member of Research Staff from another institution, please do contact the student and staff support sites at your university for local support.

More information about the NHS' Talking Therapies can be found here: https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies-medicine-treatments/talking-therapies-and-counselling/nhs-talking-therapies/ 

If you require a transcript of this episode please email careers@kcl.ac.uk citing CinYE Series 7, Episode 6.

Please do rate us wherever you listen!

In this episode we are joined by Jennifer Jackson, Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary and a Kings alumna. Join us for a positive and uplifting conversation covering Jennifer's experience of resilience (and what it's not!), leadership, career progression, confidence and changing the system from within.

Kings PGRs and research staff can access careers support from KEATS. Search for 'Careers & Employability' and look for the 'Researchers' menu option.

Find us on Twitter @kcldo1thing

Look out for teaching and related opportunities such as Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA) roles and supporting students with their study skills through the King’s Academy ‘Academic Skills for Learning’ programme.

Dr Asma Ounnas 

In this episode we wanted to explore what’s happening with recruitment to roles in academia and in sectors outside academia, which PhDs and Research Staff are typically attracted to. To do this, we spoke with Rebecca Oakey, a King’s Professor of Epigenetics and Dean for Doctoral Studies and Andrew Wright, Head of Employer Engagement in King’s Careers & Employability. Listen out for advice from Rebecca about getting into academia, the value of the PhD and from Andrew, listen out for his thoughts on skills which are increasingly needed by employers and how sectors are recruiting at the moment.

NB: we recorded this episode over July and August 2021, and the information shared here is time sensitive.

If you require a transcript of this episode, please email careers@kcl.ac.ukquoting Transcript CinYE S6E8.

Please do leave a review if you like what you hear!

Links and resources mentioned in this episode:

King’s Student Services  - advice on visas: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/campuslife/services/advice/advice#Immigration

Institute of Student Employers (ISE) survey [available to organisation members only] this article covers some of the information Andrew referred to in this episode: https://www.fenews.co.uk/press-releases/65171-graduates-lack-work-ready-skills-that-businesses-need-during-covid-ise-student-development-survey#!/ccomment-comment=288

Virtual work experience (and a specific programme for King’s PGRs): https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=4487645

Follow us on Twitter @kcldo1thing

Remember King’s Careers and Employability can review your applications for jobs and help you with you career decision making. Simply book a 1-1 appointment, looking for ‘PhD and Research Staff’ under appointment type: https://kcl.targetconnect.net/unauth

Today’s joint episode with Researc/hers Code, is the second part of a conversation we had at the end of 2019, with Ella Fitzsimmons, Charlotte Fereday and Chloe Tartan, who each have PhDs in different backgrounds (religious studies, language and linguistics and photonics respectively!)  and are now working in tech roles. In this episode, they talk to Victoria Carr from Researc/hers Code about their thoughts on diversity in the tech sector, barriers they faced, factors which attracted them to the sector and finally, top tips for researchers wanting to go into tech roles.

Please get in touch with us @kcldo1thing if you have ideas/thoughts about people we could interview for the podcast, or topics you would like us to cover.

Vicki Tipton talks with Craig Dooley, KCL's E-Learning Development Advisor in the Centre for Doctoral Studies. In this edition of Careers in Your Ears, Craig and Vicki focus on part time and remote PhD students. How do they manage their career thinking and planning with everything they already have to juggle? What support is available at King's to help part time and remote PhD students. 

Information for King's PhD Students and Research staff on how to book an appointment and links to resources:  https://www.kcl.ac.uk/campuslife/services/careers/Current-Students/Researchers  

In this episode we meet Dr. Lienkie Diedericks, a King's PhD graduate. After completing her PhD Lienkie worked for the Royal Institute of British Architects on their equality and diversity initiatives. She has now returned to work at King's on research culture in our Faculy of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences. In this episode we discuss the unexpected turns researchers careers can take, being an international student and professional in the UK, what higher education institutions need to do to be more equitable and what research culture means in practice.

“I wanted to see what it was like in a different environment.”

For this episode, we’ve passed the mic to Lingxing Kong, a King's PhD student in his third year of research in Robotics, and an Inclusive Careers Education Ambassador (ICEA). Lingxing is joined by Dr Emmanouil Spyrakos Papastavridis, Lecturer in Engineering, who shares his fascinating career journey. Emmanouil's career has taken him from academia, into a startup lab, and back again – he shares his thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of working in both contexts, tells us about the skills he acquired along the way and provides plenty of inspiration for those exploring career options.

For more info on the ICEA programme:

https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=61839&section=7 for King's students and staff

Public links:

Phoenix Issue 164 February 2022 (agcas.org.uk) https://www.agcas.org.uk/write/MediaUploads/Phoenix/Phoenix_Issue_164_February_2022_-_Students_as_co-creators.pdf

Emerging insights from a peer-to-peer social justice careers education programme | Journal of the National Institute for Career Education and Counselling (nicecjournal.co.uk) https://www.nicecjournal.co.uk/index.php/nc/article/view/464

In this episode, Dr. Pavan Mano tells us about his journey from PhD to research fellow and then to his current lecturing post at King's College London. Pavan tells us about the importance of using the support on offer to researchers (including mentoring, careers advice and friendships). We also speak about equality, diversity and inclusion in higher education, what higher education institutions should be doing and why the concept can be thought about in different ways.

Welcome to Careers in Your Ears! This is a podcast for PhDs and Research Staff at King's College London. In this episode we explain how the Careers team can support researchers. In future episodes, you will hear researchers' stories of how their careers have developed and gain their top tips for success!

In this episode Kate Murray, Careers Consultant, talks with Dr Alessandro di Bona, an EU Exit Policy Adviser. You'll hear about Alessandro's time as a PhD student and whether it connects to his current role. He has some top tips too, for those aspiring to change careers. 

Bethan Cornell is a final year PhD student at King’s College London’s Physics Department and she’s also a Policy Officer in the Higher Education Unit in the UK’s Department for Education. We discuss taking on other opportunities during the PhD, the value of connecting with people who share your interests, and we ask Bethan how a Physics PhD prepares you for non-science policy work?

Starting her PhD full time, Bethan became interested in the gender disparities in people studying and researching Physics and became energised by the issues belying these inequalities. She also became interested in broader issues in higher education and happened to come across Higher Education Policy Institute. Listen in to find out what happens next.

If you would like a transcript of this episode please contact careers@kcl.ac.uk.

King's PhDs and Research Staff can book an appointment via kcl.targetconnect.net by looking for 'PhD + Research Staff' under appointment type.

Listen to this episode of Careers in Your Ears to understand more about a very experienced academic's route.  Kate Murray talks to Simon Wessely (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/professor-sir-simon-wessely), Professor of Psychiatry at King's College London, about his experiences as a clinician and epidemiologist, about the peaks and troughs of research life and the excitement of making an impact.  We also discuss the SMaRteN (https://www.smarten.org.uk/) network, a student-led research network looking at student mental health issues, and talk about the issues involved in understanding research studies looking at perceptions of mental health and stresses in occupations.  Simon describes the importance of a healthy social network, and of a good manager, in promoting good mental health.

KCL PGRs can access the new PGR Wellbeing Hub here: tinyurl.com/pgrwh 

Please email careers@kcl.ac.uk if you would like a transcript of this podcast.

In this short episode, Careers Consultants for Researchers at King's College London (KCL) discuss what action can be taken in these uncertain times and share with listeners how to access support through new online careers lounges for PhDs and Research Staff at KCL and this new series of the podcast. Online appointments and webinars are being offered as normal. Find out more about our support for researchers here: https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=2932966

Follow us on Twitter @kcldo1thing

We're back with Series 11! We are delighted to be joined by King's PhD alumnus, Adrian Signell, Senior Associate at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Adrian completed a PhD in Biology and Genomics in 2023 and started it 'with the full intention to ride the academic wave until, you know, being a professor into my late 70s'. Find out what happened next including tips for building relevant experience and what the biggest differences were between academia and consultancy.

Useful links include:

www.kcl.ac.uk/careers for King's students and research staff

https://www.savitas.co.uk/newsletters for sector updates

www.bcg.com - Boston Consulting Group

Join us for an inspiring chat with Professor Michael Sanders as he lets us in on his approach for getting things done in academia, the need for code-switching to develop a career in multiple sectors and how to view and use your own privilege to empower others. Michael demonstrates the power of a porous career that spans academia, Chief Scientist in the Behavioural Insights Team, Chief Executive of a What Works charity and advisory work. He provides insight into the role of a professor and shares his take on protecting your wellbeing whilst building a fulfilling, multidisciplinary career in a competitive environment. 

Dr. Hilary Jones is a former post-doctoral researcher who has worked in careers and employability, started her own business, is in training to be a psychotherapist and is now working for a non-profit organisation. In this episode she tells us her career story so far and gives us her insight into her varied career path.

King's PhDs and Research Staff can book an appointment via kcl.targetconnect.net by looking for 'PhD + Research Staff' under appointment type. Check out our Career Change course: https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=4821037

If you would like a transcript of this episode please contact careers@kcl.ac.uk.

In this episode, we delve into the intersection of research and entrepreneurship with Dr. Mercy Ofoya, founder of the Mami app, and Dr. Ema Talam, Entrepreneurial Skills Manager.  Our discussion explores how Mercy, with support from the King’s Entrepreneurship Institute, took an idea for a life-saving health app and made it a reality.  Ema tells us about the entrepreneurial mindset and how developing 7 key skills can help researchers succeed both in and beyond academia.  Together, they challenge perceptions of commercialisation, outline practical steps for validating ideas, and emphasise the value of articulating the ‘threads’ that run through your work. 

Useful links:

Dr Mercy Ofuya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mercy-ofuya-phd-02053380/

Mami App: https://mymamiapp.com/

CupArise: https://cuparise.org/

King’s Entrepreneurship Institute: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/entrepreneurship

King’s Careers & Employability: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/careers

In this episode, Dr. Dan Metcalf tells us about his PhD research and how it led to a career installing high resolution microscopes at the imaging company Nikon. He also talks about the qualities, skills and experience required to work in his team. 

We’re celebrating International Women’s Day with a special episode and we're joined by Drs Amal Abuzainab, Lovelin Obi and Rokhshid Ghaziani who are all academic researchers, teachers and involved in many other things alongside their main careers. In a very uplifting conversation, we hear about how they came to be academics, what kinds of barriers women can face in academic life (and how to overcome them) and the challenges of managing complex careers and responsibilities.

Emma Davenport teaches Critical and Contextual Studies for the Design department at The Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design, part of London Metropolitan University. She researches what people wear at work with a particular interest in academic dress. In this episode we explore how academics dress at work, crossing academic disciplines and establishing a career in a highly competitive labour market.

Miranda Asher is PhD student and a part time consultant. In this episode she talks about balancing her workload, the attractions and challenges of self-employment and the issues you should pay attention to when you work for yourself.

In this episode we're joined by Donald Lush, Careers Consultant for Researchers, King's College London (KCL) to talk about how we can use social media to support our career thinking.  Donald's positive and relaxed approach to using social media shows us how easy it is to develop our networks at a time when we may be feeling isolated from our colleagues. From collaborations to conversations, he talks about having fun and enjoying your new connections as well as providing some excellent tips on how to ensure it is productive.

If you are interested in knowing more you may find LinkedIn Learning (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/learningteaching/ctel/technologies/linkedin-learning) useful on how to develop your profile on LinkedIn as well as our resources on KEATS here: Networking for Career Inspiration (https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=41567&section=12).  You can also Book an appointment with a Careers Consultant for Researchers at KCL (scroll down to the bottom of this page) to discuss your online profile. (https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=2932966)

Follow us @kcldo1thing on twitter and please send us any questions/thoughts about the podcast.  Thank you for listening.

In this episode, Dr. Sarah Burton, writer and researcher tells us about her career in education and about her experience of gaining funding from the Leverhulme Trust, what that meant to her and gives some tips on making an application. Many thanks to the Trust for introducing us and making this episode possible.

Stephanie Arnold, until very recently a King's PhD student, and now Senior Scientist at Astra Zeneca, talks to Careers Consultant, Vicki Tipton about how she worked out what she wanted to do after the doctorate.  She goes on to talk about the value of taking part in different activities - from committee roles to mentoring - which helped her to take her next steps.  

Professor Evelyn Welch, Senior Vice-President for Service, People & Planning at King’s and Professor of Renaissance Studies talks about her own career journey from when a PhD was expected to last 10 years (hers didn't!), balancing temporary jobs with childcare and no maternity leave to today, in her new role as Senior Vice-President and a Wellcome Senior Investigator. She is keen to use her experience and role to support researchers to thrive in their careers through job design, career planning, secondments, collaboration, community and more. 

In this episode we hear from Dr. Nigel Eady, Dr. Amy Moore and Dr. Kathy Barrett. All our guests began their careers in research and now have roles at King's College London where they support the training and development of PhDs and Research staff. We hear from them about their own career journeys, what they do from day to day in their current roles and their professional challenges. They also share their reasons to be cheerful about the future of healthy workplaces for researchers and their top tips for someone thinking about working in their roles.

You can find out more about support for PGR well being at King's College London here and how we support our staff here.

In this episode we meet Chloe Locatelli, a PhD student at King's College London, who is currently close to completing her thesis on sex technology. We speak about the importance of her feminist approach to research, why her research has a 'wow' factor and how to engage a wide audience with an arts and humanities research project. We also speak about self-confidence, career thinking and the value of seeking advice and support as a PhD researcher. Along the way we consider how universities can open themselves up to more diverse perspectives and include a wider range of people in their research. You can find out more about Chloe and her research on her website

Dr Jason Myers is a Data Scientist with Faculty AI.  Prior to this, he completed his PhD with the 'Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Non-Equilibrium Systems' (CANES) Centre for Doctoral Training at King's College London. Jason joins us on Careers In Your Ears to talk about his (not always easy) experience finding work after the doctorate. He also shares insights into his current role and answers a question a current PhD student shared with us about the difference between coding in academia and in industry.  Jason gives us insights into tackling issues around diversity in tech.

If you have questions you'd like to ask our speakers on Careers in Your Ears, please tweet us @kcldo1thing or email careers@kcl.ac.uk. We'd love to hear from you.

King's PhDs and Research Staff can book an appointment via kcl.targetconnect.net by looking for 'PhD + Research Staff' under appointment type.

If you would like a transcript of this episode please contact careers@kcl.ac.uk.

 This edition of Careers in Your Ears, the podcast for researchers at King’s College London, is hosted by Kate Murray, Careers Consultant for Researchers and Deputy Head of King’s Careers & Employability.   Kate was on site at Roche, the pharmaceutical company, at their Welwyn Garden City site, and talked with Dr Max Bourgognon, a former post-doc at King’s and now Insights Manager; and his colleagues Dr Jessica O’Neill, Franchise Insights Lead, Neuroscience; Dr Claire Gibson, Franchise Insights Lead, Rare Diseases; and Dr Chiara Marchetti, Insights Manager.  The four talked about their decision-making in moving away from academia and give valuable tips and advice on navigating the post-PhD and post-doc period.  

'It's really an art' - join us for an enjoyable and informative conversation with Antonio Forte about the ups and downs of applying for fellowships, the importance of resilience and building a supportive network and the joy of thinking outside the box (and how this helps with applications). There is also a fascinating glimpse into the future in the form of shape shifting meta materials.

For King's researchers applying to fellowships you can also find recordings from fellowship funders on the CRSD webpages and get support and advice from the King's funding teams in addition to speaking to careers consultants about CVs and applications.

This episode is the second part of a conversation about race and identity in research careers which we recorded in June 2021. Alexandria Mitchell, a PhD student at King's College London (KCL) and co-chair of the KCL Race Equality Network (www.kcl.ac.uk/hr/diversity/get-involved/networks/race-equality-network) talks with Mary Okesola who is also a PhD student at KCL and Dr. Bernadine Idowu of KCL and University of West London. (Listen to the first part of this conversation where we find out how the speakers got into academia and what that was like without visible representation of female black scientists: www.anchor.fm/careersinyourears/episodes/Series-6--Episode-8-Race-and-Identity-in-Research-Careers-Part-1-e12ffs6)    

In this episode, you’ll hear the speakers discussing how the Black Lives Matter movement has affected EDI spaces in academia and science, and how we can move forward. You will also hear how, as academics, they deal with set backs (cue, conversations about resilience and the importance of not just having one, but multiple, mentors!),

Bernadine runs the annual BME Early Careers Conference. Follow them on twitter you can stay up to speed with future plans for the conference: @BmeEcr 

If you require a transcript of this episode please email careers@kcl.ac.uk with the title 'Transcript for CinYE S6E9'

Follow us on Twitter @kcldo1thing

In this episode of Careers in Your Ears, we talk with Tim Newton, Professor of Psychology as Applied to Dentistry and Dean for Research Culture at King's College London. We hear about Tim's journey in academia and why he ventured into Ethics and now Research Culture.  Tim shares 4 key pillars for the work of research culture; ethics, governance, integrity and community.  We talk about the role of community in supporting researchers' mental health, what needs to change and what's working well. 

• Learn more about Tim's work here: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/tim-newton
• Science R.I.O.T. Club: http://riotscience.co.uk/
• Science R.I.O.T Club on Twitter: https://twitter.com/riotscienceclub
• Dignity at King's: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/hr/diversity/dignity-at-kings/index
• For more information about support from the Centre for Research Staff Development at KCL: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/support/professional-development/centre-for-research-staff-development
• KCL PGR Wellbeing Hub: tinyurl.com/pgrwh  

For a transcript of this episode please email careers@kcl.ac.uk  

In this special episode for International Women's Day 2023, Dr. Risha Govind, Senior Clinical Informatics Scientist at the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, speaks about her career journey and the challenges faced by women like her from traditionally patriarchal cultures in getting a professional career started. The interview is hosted by Donald Lush, Careers Consultant for PhDs and Research Staff at King's College London.

In this edition of Careers in Your Ears, Kate Murray talks with Alexandria Mitchell, PhD student in the Comprehensive Cancer Centre at King's College London, about her reasons for deciding to do a PhD, the application process, how she funded herself, and how being a PhD satisfies her desire for research autonomy.  Alexandria also considers some of the differences in studying in the UK, from the US, and talks about what's needed for a more diverse research environment.

In this episode Donald Lush talks to Julia Yates and Tristram Hooley, two academics who research career thinking and planning. We discuss the latest research and the practical advice emerging from it as well as considering how the world of work is likely to change over the coming decades. Finally, we talk about whether careers advice and career planning should have an ethical dimension and, if so, how.

In this episode we're joined by Dr. Kate Daubney, Head of Careers & Employability, King's College London (KCL).  Kate tells us about her own research and her journey from PhD to heading up the careers team at KCL. She also shares her ideas about how researchers can go beyond the immediate knowledge content of their research to discover the skills and attributes they're developing along the way, and why now is an important time as any to start exploring all the brilliant things researchers have to offer. 

In this episode Kate refers to a couple of resources which you may find helpful:

• 'What do I have to offer' module on KCL's Careers & Employability KEATS pages.
• 'Mindset', a book on positive approaches to learning by Carol Dweck, PhD [she also has a good TedTalk on this subject]
• Book an appointment with a Careers Consultant for Researchers at KCL (scroll down to the bottom of this page)

Also you can find the "Women Working in Tech (part 2)" episode which we refer to, wherever you're listening to this episode of Careers in your Ears. 

Follow us @kcldo1thing on twitter and please send us any questions/thoughts about the podcast.  Thank you for listening.

This mini-series of Careers in Your Ears is hosted by King's PhDs and researchers. In this episode, Tisha Dasgupta, Research Assistant and PhD student in the Department of Women’s & Children’s Health, School of Life Course and Population Sciences at KCL, interviews Sam Mukhopadhyay, Head of Programme Management Office and senior events lead at Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (ESNZ). Sam talks about her career to date in the Civil Service and shares what the civil service is looking for in recruits and importantly what attributes and skills researchers have to offer this type of work.

Please note this episode was recorded in February 2023, when the UK Government had just newly formed the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

If you would like a transcript of this episode, please email careers@kcl.ac.uk with 'Transcript, CinYE, S8,E3' in the title.

KCL PhDs and Research staff can access specialist careers support: from 1-1 appointments and tailored workshops. More information is available on our KEATs page https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/page/view.php?id=5279350&forceview=1

This week's guest is Pippa Sterk, a postdoctoral teaching fellow at King's who was curious about where their research could take them. Seizing an opportunity, they successfully applied for a place on the King's Parliamentary Research Internship (for doctoral and postdoctoral researchers). Pippa tells us the valuable lessons they learned through this work experience and how it has shaped their future career plans.

In this special episode for National Careers Week 2023, Dr. Emily Prpa, Science Manager at Yakult UK and Ireland and Donald Lush, a careers consultant working with PhDs and research staff at King's College London, interview each other about their careers and working together.  They tell the story of their careers and then reflect on the process of career consulting from both their perspectives as client and consultant. Emily explains what brought her to book career consulting appointments and why she they weren't what she was expecting. Donald shares what he is thinking while he is working with someone and what he is trying to achieve. This is a great chance to hear two career stories with unexpected twists and turns as well as gain insight into how a careers consultant might be able to help you.

Join Aline da Silva Cerqueira, PhD student (and our episode takeover host!) researching sea birds and marine soundscapes in the Dept of Geography at King’s College London, and Dr Maud Borie, Lecturer in Environment, Science and Society in the same department, as they discuss an academic career and the politics of environmental knowledge.  Maud talks about her teaching, about wanting her students to be critical of received wisdom, the power that universities have over what is or is not researched, and who gets to conduct that research.

To hear more about Dr Maud Borie’s work you can follow her on Twitter @maud_bo, and if you are interested in seabirds and how soundscapes can support biodiversity conservation, you can also give Aline a follow on Twitter @aline_marine.

Let us know what you think about these podcast takeovers - get in touch with us if you're a KCL researcher and you'd like to interview an interesting guest for us!

In this episode we are delighted to be joined by Teresa Bautista Solans who shares her transition from a research career in theoretical physics to quantitative finance. It's a fantastic testament to the transferability of the skills developed in research such as critical thinking, analytical skills, and research communication which are so valuable in her role as a Senior Analyst and Model Validator at ICE Clear Europe. It is also a brave and honest account of finding a way through a mid-career change balancing researcher identity, home life, and practicalities with finding a rewarding career.

Useful resources:

ICE Clear Europe

Teresa Bautista Solans

King's Careers & Employability