Each year I supervise and mark dozens of undergraduate dissertations of varying quality and every once in a while a student comes up with a gem. Where I currently work…
Applying for a management position
Using my own experience following a recent job promotion I wanted to use this blog to give some advice on applying for a senior position in academia. Less than a…
Beware the predatory publisher
Academic journals are becoming big business leading to the rise of the ‘predatory’ publisher. One of the unfortunate side effects of the open access journal drive is that it has…
CV writing for every occasion
Let’s be honest, writing a CV is a boring but essential task that we all have to do. And although it is simply just a list of what we have…
The hunt for literature
For early career researchers or postgraduates starting a PhD one of the first things to think about is where to find reading material. A quick Google is unlikely to find…
Becoming an associate lecturer
The question I often get asked by those outside higher education is how did you get casual lecturing work? The answer is – I asked nicely. From my experience most…
Breaking the publishing barrier
As a PhD student my main focus was on getting the damn thing finished – as quickly as possible as far as I was concerned. But whilst doing my fieldwork…
Commuting my way to course leader
Five years ago I had a full time job, pensionable salary and an integral role in the news room of a daily regional newspaper. Then I gave it all up.…