Postdoc support and information across the University
Postdoc support and information across the University
The University has some excellent resources to support postdoctoral research staff. You can find more information about them below.
It is also worth noting that the University supports national and international initiatives that are of benefit for postdocs, namely the the San Francisco Declaration of Research Assessments (DORA, University news item), open research and the UK's Researcher Development Concordat that focuses on improving research culture. Locally, both the School of the Biological Sciences (to which Zoology belongs) and the University are developing plans to tackle this. In the department, the Equality, Inclusion and Wellbeing committee is very active.
The Postdoc Academy (PdA)
The Postdoc Academy is the University’s own support organisation for postdocs, as well as representing postdoc interests at many levels in the University. They run many useful events including the Postdoc Induction, research training and mentoring, advertise Cambridge fellowships. Check out their handy event calendar.
Have a look at their website for any other relevant information and support regarding all aspects of postdoc life in Cambridge.
The Postdocs of Cambridge (PdOC) Society
The PdOC Society is run by postdocs for postdocs. They organise lots of social event and are a great resource for all things postdoc related. You can sign up to their newsletter!
What is it with all these colleges?
Cambridge is a collegiate university – check here and here to find out what that means. Postdocs can become affiliated to a College in various ways. Both PdOC and the PdA have information on the process, as well as how vacancies are advertised.
Researcher Development and other training
There is a wide variety of training on offer at the Universit. Also worth highlighiting are this Training website and LinkedIn Learning, where you can find a large majority of the training provided, and the PdOC guide on teaching opportunities.
For career advice and support you should reach out to the excellent Careers Service at the University. Their activities range from advice on career plannning, CV and research proposal checks to workshops and mock interviews.
Stay up-to-date with current seminars and talks
It would easily be possible to do nothing but attend seminars and talks every day while in Cambridge, so the trick is to make sure you find out about the ones that are most relevant to you. There are a great many email lists at the University you can subscribe to, but talks.cam is the place to find them all. Make sure to hit up every single one that sounds interesting to you!
University benefits
Don't forget to check the list of benefits you're entitled to as University staff.