Researcher Realities annual event

We launched Researcher Realities in May 2023. It is an annual event featuring a mix of online and in-person sessions. Information about Researcher Realities 2025 can be found below.

Researcher Realities is an umbrella initiative that invites conversations among and across the research community about the hows of research – the lived realities of being a researcher. This includes conversations about the contexts and circumstances that inform decisions, what to do when things go wrong, how to navigate challenges, what success looks like, and much more. To shift the focus from outputs and outcomes to research processes supports our ambition to create and foster an open, transparent, and inclusive research environment. These conversations are envisioned to allow best-practice sharing, championing unheard and underrepresented voices, and building community. We encourage these conversations in different formats and settings, including an annual event (you can check the recordings from the inaugural 2023 event here, pop-up in-person events, and curated blog series. 

Researcher Realities 2025

Programme - Tuesday 11th March 2025

Session 1Navigating the arc of the academic research career (Online)
Time09:30 - 11:00     
DescriptionThe academic research career can be described as an arc, starting with establishing independence, moving to an expansion phase, and finally changing the priorities or winding down in later career. This arc has been the norm for many academic research careers. However, the increasing pressures of research coupled with higher competition and changing expectations of the role has made navigating this arc increasingly difficult for many. Progressing through the arc is no longer clear cut, and researchers need to make many difficult strategic and personal choices along the way. This session aims to uncover the realities of navigating the arc of the academic research career, discussing the many challenges academics face when getting started and establishing themselves, when expanding their teams and widening their ambitions, and when changing priorities or winding down activities.  A panel will be invited to uncover the realities of academic research careers sharing how they’ve navigated the arc, what choices they’ve made, and how they have progressed. Audience members will be encouraged to ask questions and to join in the discussion on navigating the arc of the academic research career. 
Speakers

Moderator:  

  • Dr Emily Woollen (Academic Developer, Institute for Academic Development) 
Booking linkhttps://edin.ac/3E2MmJ3
Session 2Pitching Interdisciplinary Research Projects to Funders (Online)
Time11:30 - 13:00
DescriptionTransitioning from writing funding proposals to discipline-specific funding councils to writing bids for cross-council funding schemes requires a) a deep understanding of what interdisciplinarity means and a clear articulation of how it manifests within the project; b) knowledge of the peer review process; c) carefully pitching in line with evaluation criteria. This session brings together interdisciplinary researchers who share their approaches to identifying suitable funding schemes and lessons learned from their application and/or peer reviewer experiences.  
Speakers
  • Prof Amy Chandler (Personal Chair of the Sociology of Health and Illness, School of Health in Social Sciences) 
  • Andrew Aveyard (Business Development Lead for Energy and IDCORE Company Engagement Manager, Edinburgh Innovations)  

Moderator:  

  • Dr Anna Pilz (Research Development Manager, Edinburgh Research Office)
Speakers Biographies 
Booking linkhttps://edin.ac/3WppR7F
Session 3The Many Faces of Postdoctoral Life: Identity, Transition, and Growth  (Online)
Time14:00 - 15:30  
Description

The postdoctoral space is a challenging one as well a rewarding one. Join, hear and share your experiences from the postdoc frontier. Often the discussion of the postdoc is that of a transition time, short and focused, between gaining a PhD and attaining independence; for others it is a time of precarity, near-misses and disappointment, while still others spend many productive years in one or many postdoc roles. 

 This session will bring together these discussion threads by introducing some of the transitions that take place in and out of postdoc study - understanding what it's like to move into a fledgling independent research career; or establishing your identity in the postdoctoral role, and some stories in-between. 

Speakers

  • Pushpi Bagchi (Principal Designer, Edinburgh Futures Institute) 

  • Shipra Bhatia (Research Fellow / Investigator Scientist, Institute of Genetics and Cancer) 

  • Luke Daines (GP and Clinical Lecturer, Usher Institute) 

  • Caitlin McDonald (Researcher, Edinburgh College of Arts)   

Moderator:  

  • Al Innes (Research Development Manager (College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine)   

Facilitators:  

  • Lorraine Jackson (Research Support Officer, CMVM) 
  • Joanne Ness (College Clinical Academic Manager, CMVM)  
Speakers Biographies 
Booking linkhttps://edin.ac/4aqF4Lg
Session 4In Conversation with Prof Sue Fletcher-Watson: Managing Career and Work-Life Balance  (Online)
Time15:45 - 16:45  
DescriptionWork-life balance is a common topic of conversation within Higher Education. We all have different ways of doing it, and many of our colleagues seek advice for improving theirs. In this personal conversation with Prof Sue Fletcher-Watson we will talk about career and, in particular, the how to of effective management of work-life balance. 
Speakers

Moderators:  

  • Eleanor Hennige (Careers Consultant, Institute for Academic Development)  

  • Dr Darcey Gillie (Careers Consultant, Institute for Academic Development) 

 

Speakers Biographies 
Booking linkhttps://edin.ac/3PIEQG7

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