Careers Support

Career development support available to research staff at the University of Edinburgh

Career Management

The IAD provides workshops, consultations, resources, skills audits, case studies and mentoring support and resources, to support you in thinking about your career options and taking the next steps in developing your career.

Career Management

1:1 Support for Personal Development

The University of Edinburgh offers staff members different opportunities for personal development and access to 1:1 support. 

A research staff career development consultation is a 45-minute one-to-one appointment with the IAD's Research Staff Careers Consultants. You can have as many consultations as you need and they are available all year round. 

You can discuss career options, pathways and planning strategies; receive practical advice on preparing a targeted CV or application form; practice a mock interview for a job you have coming up; receive general advice on any career issue. 

For research staff on fixed-term contracts and academic staff on open ended contracts with review dates (OERD).

Career Development Consultation 

How to prepare for a Career Development Consultation


Coaching is offered for short-term personalised development. Some examples for transitional career stages might be: starting a new post, finishing a large project, becoming a team leader, becoming a research supervisor, leading a new collaboration or taking on a different role in your research group or in your department/ School/ College. 

Your accredited coach is trained to listen and will not be giving you advice, rather they will facilitate you to think deeply around your own development through the use of questions and observation. If you are offered a place on our coaching programme, you will have three sessions of an hour each with a qualified coach. These will probably take place over several months. 

For research staff who are at a transitional stage of their research journey

Career Consultations are available on Tuesday - Thursday mornings.

Coaching 


The Leadership Development Consultations are 30-minute online conversations with an Academic Developer to create a unique training and development plan for research leadership to suit your needs. 

You can access these consultations to identify your key training and development needs for research leadership; receive information on support, guidance or training that might be relevant; support to create your unique development plan. The consultation will not cover specific funding, funding applications or promotions advice.

For research leaders and Principal Investigators; research and academic staff stepping into research leadership roles. 

Leadership development consultations 


You can book a 45-minute consultation with a Research Developer to explore strategies to build your research profile including how to develop compelling narratives around your research activities that enable you to move towards your career, research, and funding ambitions. These consultations do not offer: guidance on specific calls / schemes; feedback on Narrative CVs, draft applications, or mock interview preparation. 

For internal research staff pursuing research funding with UoE as host institution.

1:1 Research Profile Consultations


Find out what other one-to-one support opportunities are available both in the University of Edinburgh and external to the University.

1:1 Support


Supervising PhD Students

Research staff can be officially recognised as supervisors of Post-Graduate Research students at University of Edinburgh.  Research staff can be recognised as either a co-supervisor or an assistant supervisor once they have completed the PGR supervisor training and depending on their agreed role in supervising the student.  Speak to your line manager or PGR Director/Lead in your School or Institute to discuss if this role would be suitable for you.  Links to the training and the Code of Practice for Supervisors and Research Students is linked below.

Support for PGR Supervision

Code of Practice for Supervisors and Research Students

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