Making your DPhil count

Building a career following your doctorate relies on knowing what you can offer and articulating this effectively as you build professional relationships and apply for jobs.

With this in mind, consider identifying, taking ownership of, and clearly articulating:

• what you love
• what you are good at
• why you do it.

Read our tips to boost your employability, then discuss your plans with fellow students, your supervisor (in your annual Training Needs Assessment), others in your department, a Senior Tutor, or a Careers Adviser.

Try to commit to one or two activities that you can manage alongside your studies.

A reality is that the majority of PhD graduates do not secure permanent academic research positions, many therefore utilise their transferable skills and experience in careers outside of academic research. It can therefore be strategic to explore careers beyond academia even if your primary goal currently is for an academic career – exploring both can increase your options and develop certainty about your career choices.

It can be advantageous to explore career options early on in your DPhil journey, and see how your research or opportunities available to you can help to facilitate a move into new career directions. 

A useful place to begin career planning is to read our Generating Career Ideas page which outlines exercises for both self-reflection of your interests and skills, and resources to explore diverse career sectors of interest. Review our Termplanner to look for events giving insights into career sectors of interest or to develop career planning skills.

The Oxford ‘Careers Beyond Academia’ conference held annually in Hilary Term supports researchers to explore new career directions through panels discussions and presentations alongside a Careers Fair and skills workshops (e.g. career planning and writing applications).

You can also take advantage of a range of Learning & Development programmes and ‘Insight into’ events run by the Careers team that largely focus on developing practical transferable skills and detailed understanding of different sectors. For example, currently our Insight into events feature: Pharma/Biotech; Creative Writing; Publishing; Policy; Consulting and Strategy; and Medicine. You can review these programmes and events on our "Skills Programmes roadmap" page.

If you are keen to progress your career in academia, we suggest investing time to:

Work on your publication plan

Publications remain a major aspect of your academic profile and your employability in many academic roles. Talk to your supervisor and other senior faculty or postdocs about when and where to start publishing; the advice here differs by field and department.

Get some Teaching Experience or Insights

Teaching experience is helpful for career paths in academia or education more generally, yet can be hard to come by in Oxford, especially in some departments or faculties owing to the college-hosted tutoring system. Our advice is to discuss opportunities with your supervisor who will need to approve your teaching activities in compliance with University policies. There are also free courses to give you insight and early training in teaching techniques run by Oxford's Centre for Teaching and Learning. You can also develop and evidence transferable teaching experience outside of the university, such as within schools (e.g. via The Brilliant Club), through tutoring, further education institutions, charities and community initiatives, and public engagement.

Participate in Knowledge Exchange and Public Engagement

25% of the score given to University departments in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment (a UK-wide system for assessing the quality of research in higher education institution) was based on demonstrable research impact. The 2029 REF ‘Engagement and Impact’ component is also weighted at 25%, demonstrating the importance of impact is prominent. Universities therefore wish to hire candidates who are motivated and skilled in this area. Additionally, research funding and academic job applications are increasingly requesting Narrative CVs which emphasise sharing diverse modes of research impact beyond publications.

Impact-related activities may be built into a doctoral research project for some students; others can get experience by volunteering to help departmental colleagues with projects or events. Talk to your supervisor or Director of Graduate Studies about opportunities for getting involved in departmental activities, and keep a look out for Division or University-wide public-engagement events.

Considering ways to broaden the impact of your own research beyond scholarship is also wise, perhaps using case studies from Oxford as inspiration or guidance from James Cunningham’s (2014) booklet ‘Positioning for Impact on Your Scientific Journey: Reflection and Action Book’. Funding councils and bodies also commonly share advice or examples of impact in relation to their grants and activities (e.g. ESRC ‘Defining impact’ guidance, and NERC research outcomes and impact case studies).

Get experience working on funding applications

Anyone planning an academic future needs to show they understand the world of funding. You can do this by listing any contribution you have made to drafting a large grant proposal or by listing your own applications to smaller pots of money, such as travel grants, funding to organise a conference, money towards your fieldwork expenses, etc.

Ask your supervisor about opportunities to bid for funding for your research or to attend a conference, or to contribute to larger applications being prepared in your department. You can develop an understanding of funding through Oxford Research Service’s funding webpage. Subscribing to funding newsletters, such as Research Professional or those of UKRI and other funding provider’s, can ensure you can become familiar with the funding landscape and are exposed to news and updates of funding calls.

Internships are not just for undergraduates! On the contrary, internships are increasingly used by DPhil and masters students to gain valuable insight into a new sector, widen professional networks, investigate potential research collaborations and generate tangible experience to add to the CV.

A wide range of both in-person and remote internships are typically available. 

Finding the right internship for you

Our popular programme of micro-internships (2-5 day placements in 9th or 10th week each term) are convenient for DPhil students because they are short, predominantly local and easily fitted around study commitments or fieldwork. At the same time, many DPhil students find enormous value in a summer internship (2-12 weeks, typically during the long summer vacation) because they can apply their research skills, forge strong relationships with the host organisation and even develop joint projects or papers. Our internships are available in a wide range of public sector, voluntary and commercial organisations in Oxford, across the UK and (for the summer programme) internationally. 

All current graduate students are eligible to apply for any of the internships offered through the Internship Office at Careers, University of Oxford. Summer internships are advertised from the beginning of Hilary term; micro-internships are advertised from 0^th week of each term. For more details and to sign up for email alerts, see our Micro-internships and Summer Internships pages.

Top Tip: When applying for a internship, highlight the skills and added extras that you can offer (for example, your ability to work independently, or flexibility over dates) because these may make you more attractive to the host organisation than most undergraduates applying for the position. You can get advice on your application from members of the Internship team during the relevant application period. See the events pages on CareerConnect or contact the team on [email protected].

Doctoral Internship programmes

Some DPhil students are required to take an internship as part of a funded doctoral study programme. Support and guidance about how to secure a placement and funding are provided by the relevant academic Division or funder. Please ask your supervisor or doctoral programme administrator for more details.

If your DPhil programme does not offer funding or opportunities to conduct an internship, you may still be able to arrange one. You will need to investigate the host's ability to fund you during your internship, and you will likely need to contact your funder and supervisor to explore options to pause or extend your funding without impacting your research.

Create your own internship

If you want an internship but cannot find a suitable advertised role, you are in a good position to organise your own, bespoke internship. See our guidance on how to do this, and consider booking an appointment with a Careers Adviser or member of the Internship team to help you focus on practical options and a workable strategy.

We give more tips and examples in our regular lunchtime workshops on Securing an Internship as a Researcher (dates and booking details on our term planner).

Please be aware that host organisations may wish to make a formal agreement regarding intellectual property for the duration of your internship. If this is the case, you may wish to consider the following:

• The research project at the University and your work at the employer must not be mingled. You must not take outputs or other “background” technology from the labs in Oxford and use them in the employer’s work or vice versa.
• You can use your knowledge and expertise, that is, your “know-how.”
• There must not be any disclosure of information from the University which is not already in the public domain. You cannot talk about your unpublished results or those of others from within the department / across the University. This will also apply vice-versa.
• In addition, you must not work on your Oxford project during the course of the internship. The terms of such an agreement state that any Intellectual Property (IP) created in the internship period shall belong to the employer. This even applies to IP created in your “own time” away from the company’s premises but during the period of the internship.

Each of the university’s academic Divisions offers a wide range of training courses covering both academic and professional skills. Most are open to all DPhil students so do check training offers from all divisions and central services.

Learning and Development programmes run by the Careers are excellent, hands-on opportunities for DPhils to grow core skills, specifically leadership, communication, creativity and commercial awareness. You can explore these opportunities on our "Skills Programmes roadmap" page.

• Career Management for Early Career Academic Researchers: an online course offered periodically for early career researchers of all disciplines.
• Imagine PhD: a free online career exploration and planning tool for PhD students and alumni in the humanities and social sciences (though master's and PhDs in all disciplines will find it useful).
• MyIDP a free, web-based career-planning tool tailored to meet the needs of PhD students and postdocs in the sciences.
• What Every Postdoc Needs to Know: insights into academic career progression and applications in the UK, and how to use research experience to transition to careers beyond academia.
• The Professor is In: very useful insights into building an academic career in the USA.
• Yale University’s Office of Career Strategy gives some helpful pointers towards the many paths open to people with PhDs.
• The Oxford ‘Careers Beyond Academia’ conference held annually in Hilary term supports researchers to explore new career directions.