Tag Archives: Ellen Pearce

How researchers network

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Researchers rely heavily on networking at conferences and seminars and make little use of personal introductions, online social networking or proactive self-promotion, according to a report published by UK researcher development organisation Vitae.

Vitae surveyed almost 500 researchers at eight UK universities and found that less than a fifth regularly use online social networking to develop existing work contacts or make new ones. Only 14 percent feel comfortable asking someone they know to introduce them to an important person in their field, and 85 percent rarely send copies of their work to these prominent individuals.  

Overall, researchers’ networks show several characteristics of a ‘good’ network as recognised by career theory, such as a large number of work-related contacts spread across a wide geographical area. However, the people researchers know through their work also tend to know each other, which can limit the effectiveness of the network.

“The picture was of networking within a fairly limited set of contacts, with few attempts to become more visible to many of the people with power in the respondent’s field,” said the report.

A recent post on the Guardian Careers blog also highlights the importance of having a diverse network that includes weaker ties as well as close contacts, explaining that acquaintances who hail from a different social circle or industry niche are more likely to have “unique network intelligence” about available job opportunities.

“Working out strategies to connect personally with key people would help researchers manage their profile within their research field, but may also prove useful in applications for roles outside higher education,” says Vitae director Ellen Pearce. “Good networking is about being purposeful as well as widening your contacts.”

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What do the new industry-led tuition deals mean for academia and postgraduate study?

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The impending hike in university tuition fees in the UK is prompting companies to offer to shoulder the financial burden in order to attract top graduate talent. Pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) followed the lead of accounting firm KPMG on Wednesday by announcing that it will reimburse tuition fees to all its UK recruits from September 2012. It’s an enticing deal – worth up to £27,000 for those taking a three-year degree – but what are the wider implications?

The scheme is only available to undergraduates and graduates in the United Kingdom who are not yet employed. They will be reimbursed once they start working for GSK, and they must remain with the company for a minimum of two years.

These new deals – which academic employers are unlikely to match – add to the uncertainty of how increased tuition fees will affect postgraduate study, an issue acknowledged by the UK minister for universities and science David Willetts in a speech to university leaders last week. In response to concerns that higher undergraduate fees could mean less postgraduate students, he announced that Adrian Smith, director-general for science and research at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, would reconvene an expert panel that examined the state of postgraduate study last year to review the potential impact.

Ellen Pearce, director of research staff support organisation Vitae, said she welcomed the review. “The potential implications of changes in the undergraduate tuition fees aren’t fully understood,” she told Naturejobs. She said the routes into doctoral research were likely to become more diverse and complex in light of the increased fees. And there may be more mobility between higher education and business if financial reward – such as the deal offered by GSK – becomes a higher priority for students. “There may also need to be new models of postgraduate education that provide more flexibility,” she added.

Universities that plan to charge the maximum allowable fees of £9,000 per year include University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and the University of Exeter.

What’s your reaction to GSK’s plans? Do you think less people will go on to postgraduate study once the higher undergraduate fees are charged? What can academic employers do to compete with the reimbursement deals that will be offered by industry?