Is the report really necessary? Not always. Could the report be replaced by a long-ish but informal email, by a phone conversation followed by a summary email, or by a short oral presentation at a departmental meeting, recorded by ‘bullet points’ in the meeting minutes? You may not have the…>
Academic Careers
Seven Top Tips for Resilience
When faced with adversity, how do you cope? Do you adapt, spring back to action or feel stuck? Resilience means ‘bouncing back’ from a difficult experience, as defined by the American Psychological Society. In this article, I have selected for you seven resilience boosting tips. These have been tried and…>
International publication standards
Publication standards differ for international academics from country to country. This article will explore some of the trends to observe and the differences to be aware of.
Introducing our inaugural event: Careers in Asia 2019
Earlier this year we asked jobs.ac.uk visitors whether they’d like an opportunity to meet with senior representatives from Asian universities here in the UK, to discuss their career opportunities. We found out that 89% of our respondents were interested in attending this kind of international networking and recruitment event. Because…>
Teaching From the Podium – Part 2
I am confident that we all have had a certain teacher or lecturer that made a huge impression on us. Perhaps it was their energetic approach, their eccentricity, their vast knowledge base, charisma, or their enthusiastic personality. In most cases, and unknowingly, these professionals were skilled at teaching from the…>
No Time to Think? Time Management
Time management is a fast-growing trend. Most of us have been to time management courses before, read books, and listened to YouTube videos on the topic. However, we have not really cracked time management just yet. The problem with time management is that we are trying to cram in more…>
Constructivist Approaches to Teaching and Learning
In my previous article (‘The delivery metaphor of teaching and learning’) I outlined some of the problems of treating knowledge as something to be ‘delivered’ or ‘transmitted’ to students. In this view of teaching and learning, the teacher’s role is to transmit knowledge and information, the learners’ role is simply…>
Teaching From the Podium
Communication comes in many different formats. In modern society, the physical contact of communication appears to be diminishing. We are often hidden behind screens. Sending messages. Providing feedback. Giving instructions. Completing forms. This virtual world of communication lacks warmth, authenticity, integrity, and emotion. I miss the times of sitting with…>
Balance for a Better Life
Many of us crave a work-life balance. We are inundated by social media, tons of information to take on, staggeringly long to-do lists, and pangs of guilt as we fall hopelessly behind with our commitments. The better job we do in our professional work, the more responsibility we receive. We…>
Undergraduate Dissertations: Getting the Balance Right
This is the time of year when many final-year undergraduates are grappling with a substantial piece of written work in the form of a dissertation. Despite this usually being a fractional component of the larger degree the dissertation can carry disproportionate weight in the mind of the student, drawing attention…>