Published in spring 2009 issue of 'overview'
Where do you get your information about researcher development issues? Obviously ‘overview' is an invaluable source of information as is the Vitae website (www.vitae.ac.uk). However there are also a lot of other sources of information about researcher development. In this article I quickly run down ten of my favourite blogs which might be of interest to people who are involved in developing researchers.
1 Just higher-ed!
www.jobs.ac.uk/blogs/just-higher-ed/
Catherine Armstrong's blog promises ‘the inside story of a first lectureship job'. However, it actually delivers much more than that with articles offering practical advice about academic skills and careers as well as some thoughtful articles on the wider context.
2 Manchester postgraduate careers blog
http://manchesterpgcareers.wordpress.com/
Written by the University of Manchester's Elizabeth Wilkinson (Head of Postgraduate Careers Development), this blog provides a mix of news, views, job searching opportunities and other generally useful stuff for postgraduates who are thinking about careers.
3 RIN team blog
Produced by the team at the Research Information Network this blog is a must for anyone with an interest in research. It is particularly focused on issues around research information management, publishing and libraries but is also includes some cutting edge commentary on how Web 2.0 is impacting on the world of research.
4 Mortarboard blog
www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard
The Guardian's Mortarboard blog is a general interest education blog. HE gets its fair share of coverage in postings to the blog, but who can resist posts like "Who needs teachers when you could have bankers? Or better still, robots?" and "A farewell to soggy semolina?"
5 PhD blog
www.prospects.ac.uk/p/articles/phd_blog_30.jsp
Graham Foster's warts and all blog on the Prospects website gives a good insight into what undertaking a PhD is like. It should be required reading for people before they kick off their doctorate, but also has a lot of useful tips and reflections for those currently struggling with the ups and downs of a research degree.
6 Careers blog for PhD researchers
www.careers.salford.ac.uk/students/phd/blog/
Fiona Christie's careers blog is another useful source of career related information for researchers. Based in the University of Salford this blog also has a range of content that is of interest to a wider audience.
7 HECSU blog
The HECSU blog provides a research perspective on all matters around the graduate and postgraduate labour markets. While it is not updated as regularly as we might like this blog still contains invaluable information.
8 UKRC Get SET blog
www.ukrc4setwomen.org/html/women-and-girls/getsetwomen-blog/
A series of one off posts by members of the UKRC Get SET network. All of the blog entries focus around the career stories of a particular woman who is working in a SET-related area. Many of the bloggers have doctorates or a background in research and all provide inspiration and an opportunity for discussion and interaction around their career story.
9 Real life of a PhD student
www.jobs.ac.uk/blogs/real-life/
Haziz Azad offers thoughts on the experience of researching and writing a PhD. Particularly essential for Maths and Computer Science researchers, but of wider interest. The blog includes discussion of skills, jobs (academic and non-academic), networking and teaching.
10 Science careers blog
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/sciencecareers/
This blog from the American Science Careers Magazine offers 'updates from the science-career trenches'. It is a pretty invaluable source of information for all researchers as long as you are aware of the US and science bias in its content.
What have we missed? We'd really like to hear from you if you write (or even read) a blog that I should have included in this list. Add any suggestions as comments below or email me on tristram.hooley@vitae.ac.uk
17 June 2009 at 09:20 PM
Tristram Hooley says:
15 October 2009 at 09:59 AM
Tristram Hooley says: