Careers Beyond Academia: Options and Pathways for Researchers

Mental Health and Resilience - Finding Supportive Employers and Maintaining Wellbeing

9:30 - 10:30, Online

Uncover strategies to identify supportive employers, cultivate resilience, and strike a balance between professional and personal life.

Using Research Skills for Careers in Policy

10:45 - 11:45, Online

Thinking about taking your research skills beyond academia and into the world of policy? In this session, we will look at how to explore career paths in these sectors, where to start your search, highlight key skills and experience required for pursuing employment, and what different policy-focused roles actually look like day to day.

Careers in Charities and Not-for-profits

12:00 - 13:00, Online

Charities and not for profit organisations offer intellectually challenging, values driven careers that draw on many of the skills developed through doctoral and research work. This panel brings together professionals working across the charity and not for profit sector who have previously worked in academic research. Panelists will discuss how they moved from academia into the sector, the types of roles available, and what the transition looked like in practice.

Career Options for Staying at Oxford University Beyond Research

13:30 - 14:30, Online

Panelists will share their career journeys and how they navigated the move beyond research while staying within Oxford. The session will explore the variety of career paths available, the skills and experience that transfer well, and practical insights for those considering a similar transition. There will be time for questions and discussion. Hear from: 

• Dr Monica Palmero Fernandez, Research Practice Coordinator, Research Services, University of Oxford
• Dr Afra Pukol I Campeny, Educational Policy Officer, University of Oxford
• Dr Kristina Pikovskaia, Research Manager, Department of Economics, University of Oxford

Patents and Intellectual Property Law

15:00 - 16:00, Online

This panel talk will give you the opportunity to hear from a patent attorney and an intellectual property lawyer about their work, how they use their science background in their jobs, and the differences between these two professions.

KEYNOTE: Get Your Ducks in a Row - Understanding What you Want from Life After Your PhD or Postdoc

16:15 - 17:15, Online

What do 50 tiny plastic ducks have to do with careers...? Find out at this keynote session. Navigating careers beyond academia can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re managing the demands of a busy PhD or postdoc. This session is designed to help you get clearer on what you actually want from your next steps, focusing on the parts of yourself you can take with you from academia and apply elsewhere, rather than dwelling solely on what you might be leaving behind. 

Holly Prescott is a career guidance practitioner specialising in supporting doctoral and postdoctoral researchers, with 10 years’ experience helping researchers to feel more confident about their next steps and to make career transitions into a variety of sectors. She is also the founder of Post-PhD careers blog ‘PostGradual’ which, since its launch in 2021, has attracted over 75,000 unique readers in over 150 different countries. 

Careers in Tech: AI/ML, Software and Consulting

9:30-10:30, Online

IT skills ranging from software development to machine learning and predictive algorithm development are becoming increasingly important across a vast range of sectors, with the technology sector at the forefront of innovation and application. Whether you are wanting a role directly conducting research or see a future in management and consulting within industry and start-ups, this panel session will share the experience of researchers transitioning into both technical and non-technical roles.

From PhD to Publishing

10:45-11:45, Online

In this session, with the help of our panel of publishing professionals, we will explore the options for researchers in publishing – the roles, the skills, the areas of publishing where a doctorate is essential and the areas where it is a ‘nice to have’; how a doctorate degree is viewed and how best you can promote the skills you have developed on your DPhil. hear from:

• Manuel Breuer, Chief Editor at Nature Communications for Springer Nature
• Caroline Kuhtz, Production Editor at Berghahn Books

Careers in the Creative Industries

12:00-13:00, Online

This panel event will feature speakers sharing their insights in transitioning from academic research to a career in the Creative Industries.

Translating Research Experience for Non-academic Employers 

13:30-14:30, Online

Are your research skills and experience valuable beyond academia? The answer is ‘yes’! It’s just a matter of packaging them in a format that employers beyond academia will understand. In this session, we will provide tools for identifying your professional skills and converting your research experience into strong applications.

Scientific Research & Development in Industry: Panel Discussion

15:00-16:00, Online

A research career isn’t limited to academia. Meet PhD graduates from across the STEM subjects and working in diverse industry sectors, and join the discussion on how they have applied their research expertise in roles beyond the university setting.

Careers in Research Funding

16:15-17:15, Online

The session will explore the range of career paths available within research funders, the skills and experience that are valued, and what to consider when preparing for a career in this space. There will be time for questions and discussion. Hear from:

• Dr. Janina Pescinski, Training and Development Manager for The British Academy Early Career Researcher Network, The British Academy
• Dr Nikolay Ogryzko, Research and Innovation Careers Policy, UKRI

Introduction to International Development and Diplomacy

9:30-10:30, Online

In this two-part careers-adviser led session, we will first provide an overview of careers in International Development, discussing how the sector is structured, different types of roles and how to find jobs and work experience opportunities. In the second part, we will provide an overview of the varied and rewarding careers in diplomacy, and share methods you can use for identifying the relevant routes into diplomatic roles and how to find out more about your chosen career path.

Creating CVs and Cover Letters for careers beyond academia

10:45-11:45, Online

This presentation will share the building blocks of creating effective CVs and Cover Letters, including how to best translate our research  and wider experience into language employers want to see.

Recruiter Panel: Advice from the People Reviewing Your Applications

12:15-13:15, In person at the  

Chaired by Jonathan Black, Direct of Oxford University Careers Service,  this in-person panel session provides a unique opportunity to ask questions to senior managers and recruiters about what they look for when hiring researchers applying for roles beyond academia. Gain valuable insights into the process behind reviewing applications, hear tips on making CV and cover letters stand out, and gain advice on interviews and networking pre-application. This event will be followed by light refreshments and the chance to speak with our panellists in the Careers Service building ahead of the Careers Fair for Researchers.

Careers Fair for Researchers

14:00-17:00, In person at the  

This is a unique opportunity to meet representatives from a variety of organisations that are looking to hire researchers. Join the fair for details about the jobs and programmes they have available and discuss the careers paths you could follow in their sector.

The main purpose of Careers Beyond Academia: Options and Pathways for Researchers is to give the Oxford researcher community (research staff including postdocs, research assistants and research technicians and DPhil students) an opportunity to discover and explore as broad a range of career alternatives beyond research within academia as possible.

We are always looking for employers who recruit staff with the technical and transferrable skills that our researchers offer to take part in these events, and for former researchers to share their knowledge and experience of moving beyond the academic sphere.

Employers

There are three ways to get involved in the conference as an employer:

1. Sponsorship: Sponsors benefit from a range of promotional opportunities, and directly meeting talented researchers through headline attendance at our Careers Fair for Researchers and options to participate in the event programme of panel sessions.
2. Careers Fair: exhibit your organisation at our Careers Fair for Researchers, your opportunity to meet highly skilled researchers from all disciplines.
3. Panel sessions: If you already have members of staff who left academic research (PhD or a postdoc/research assistant/technician role) within the last seven years, we may be able to include them as speakers for one of the conference panel sessions. Panel speakers typically give a short, informal talk (no slides needed) about their current role, experience of leaving academia/entering their current sector, tips on how to prepare for career transition etc., and take part in a Q&A session at the end of the panel. Do you have a staff member who could take part in this way? Our researchers really appreciate being able to hear from others who have taken the steps that they are contemplating.

For more information or to discuss your participation, please email [email protected]

Former researchers

If you have moved out of academia within the last seven years or so, enjoy sharing your experience of making that move with others and are willing to do so in a conference session, please get in touch with us. We’re always looking for panel speakers and are grateful to everyone who finds the time to share their knowledge in this way.

Please contact [email protected] to find out how you can be part of our next conference.

Conference brochures

The conference brochures contain details of all of the sessions taking place at each event. These include bios for speakers and workshop facilitators and an overview of employers who took part in the employer networking lunches.

We are proud to have worked with speakers with fantastically varied research backgrounds and from a wide range of sectors and companies to take part in the panel sessions at each of our previous conferences. Browsing through their bios is a great way to start thinking about potential routes beyond academia. Be open-minded as you look, and don’t read only the panels most closely aligned to your research area; many of these bios give evidence of inspiring degrees of career flexibility.

• 2026 conference booklet
• 2025 conference booklet