Podcasts

Mid-career scientists need targeted training and development from funders and employers. Some are starting to provide it. 26 Oct 2022

What is it like to be a mid-career scientist? Five researchers field questions from junior colleagues, and describe what they

A philosopher and a behavioural economist suggest some remedies to tackle the “muddle of the middle”. 12 Oct 2022

Trying to achieve a perfect work–life balance is a misguided strategy at the mid-career stage, Julie Gould discovers. 5 Oct

Many scientists switch sectors mid-career and often face life-changing challenges at the same time. These include illness, divorce and caring

How do you define ‘mid-career’ in academia? Funders, governing bodies and working scientists debate a vexed question. 21 Sept 2022

Eindhoven University of Technology was set up to partner with local companies. Mutual trust and a respect for academic freedom

How do you convince an academic employer that you’re a safe bet, despite having no experience in the sector? Julie

The sector is broad, ranging from tiny start-ups to huge multinationals. Choose wisely. 16 Feb 2022

Some researchers run both academic labs and companies, challenging the idea that the two sectors operate in silos. 9 Feb

If academic research isn’t for you, when is the best time to switch sectors? Industry insiders offer their advice. 2

How porous is the metaphorical membrane between academia and industry? Julie Gould finds out. 26 Jan 2022

Virtual meetings enabled researchers to look beyond departments, institutions and sectors for career support, Julie Gould discovers. 21 Oct 2021

Some relationships last decades. How can they withstand the combined tests of time, geography and career stage? 14 Oct 2021

Reverse mentoring, peer-to-peer, group sessions. Choose one or more to tackle a tough career transition. 6 Oct 2021

Julie Gould explores the tools, roles and techniques that help researchers to reach career goals. 29 Sept 2021

Many mentors have had to rethink their approach as the pandemic has made physical meetings impossible.

The scientific workplace can be a melting pot of different cultures and mentoring styles, leading to some interesting lab dynamics.

Scientist mentors describe how supporting junior colleagues alongside many other responsibilities is a true labour of love. 8 Sept 2021

Julie Gould explores professional identity and motivation by asking five researchers how they keep a childhood love of science alive,

Postdocs and other early-career researchers need better trained lab leaders, not just nicer ones, Julie Gould discovers.

Experience as a postdoctoral researcher might not fast-track your career outside academia, Julie Gould discovers.

How postdocs and PhD students are paying the price. Closed labs and rescinded job offers have snatched away opportunities. I

I investigate how brain drains and demographic time bombs are forcing some countries to rethink the postdoc.  

What is a postdoc and why undertake one? I get some metaphorical answers to a complicated question.  

Lockdowns are lifting but global infections are still rising. We take stock as we enter the next chapter of the

The latest from the hydroxychloroquine saga, as a questionable dataset threatens trust in science and forces major journals to review

With questionable coronavirus content flooding airwaves and online channels, what’s being done to limit its impact?

The role of antibody tests in controlling the pandemic, how public-health spending could curtail an economic crisis, and the efforts

The latest on the British response, and what have low- and middle-income countries done to prepare for the pandemic.

PhD programmes in "the rainbow nation" mostly lead to academic careers, but reform is needed to boost collaboration and integration,

The thesis is a central element of how graduate students are assessed. But is it time for an overhaul? Julie

Scientific research is not the endeavour of a single person. It requires a team of people. How can this be

Julie Gould asks six higher education experts if it's now time to go back to the drawing board and redesign

Students need to be clear about their reasons for pursuing a PhD and the career options open to them, Julie

Tom Baden's work into the neuroscience of vision has earned him the inaugural Nature Research Award for Driving Global Impact.

Two projects aimed at boosting female representation in STEM have won the second Nature Research Awards for Inspiring Science and

China is looking to lure young materials researchers from other nations, but its trade war with the US could hamper

Gaia Donati and Julie Gould discuss some of the career issues faced by physicists today.

Moving to a new branch of science is scary, but learning new skills and collaborating with different colleagues can be

Media interest in particle physics and the Large Hadron Collider boosted Jon Butterworth's interest in public engagement, reports Julie Gould.

Industry has long courted physicists for their data science expertise, but will this change as more undergraduates acquire these skills?

Moving abroad is a fact of life for many scientists. Astrophysicist Elizabeth Tasker offers some advice.

Julie Gould hears how a technical university in the Netherlands took radical measures to boost the number of female academics.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01499-7

Ben Britton says the online collaboration and communication tool has changed his lab for the better.

Machine learning and data management skills can raise your scientific profile and open up career opportunities, Julie Gould discovers.

Mona Nemer tells Julie Gould about her role as Canada's chief scientific adviser and how she aims to strengthen science

Learning how to code brings career benefits and helps science by aiding reproducibility, Julie Gould discovers.

Mark Dodgson and Lee Cronin discuss the revolutionary potential of artificial intelligence on university teaching, research, and scientific careers.

Simon Hettrick tells Julie Gould about the role of research software engineers, what they do and how you can become

Many grant funding decisions are random, with luck playing a large part. How can the system be improved, particularly when

How governments decide when to boost basic research funding, and when to scale back support.

An expert guide for early career researchers to UK Research and Innovation, the UK's new central funding agency.

Expert advice on how to get the details of a grant submission right, and planning for "curveball questions" if you

Julie Gould investigates the importance of advance planning when you're preparing a funding application.

Elizabeth Pier tells Julie Gould about her research into agreement levels among reviewers evaluating the same NIH grant applications.

Chris Woolston and Julie Gould discuss the findings of Nature's 2018 salary and job satisfaction survey

Two female researchers tell Julie Gould about their efforts to inspire other women to become scientists

The Association of Hungarian Women in Science (NaTE) has won Nature Research's inaugural Innovation in Science Award.

Lego Grad Student is the alter ego of an early career researcher whose schadenfreude-laden Twitter posts "capture an adult's distress

UK careers consultant Sarah Blackford describes how a "SWOT analysis" of your skills can identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

Career mobility is a fact of life in science and there are plenty of opportunities to study and work abroad.

In this podcast Bourguignon and two of his fellow panel members tell Julie Gould how better career tracking data from

In May this year I spoke at the 2018 ORPHEUS meeting about the diversity in PhD training. Whilst I was

Patriarchy, leaky pipelines, and the “two body problem” In the June 2018 Naturejobs podcast we focus on women in science.

People don't need to let sickness and dyslexia stand in their way of doing science. Julia Hubbard, a research fellow

Networking can have benefits at any stage of your career, say Peter Fiske and Alaina Levine. There’s nothing sleazy about

If you’re not loving what you do, try something new. That’s the message both from Ricardo Wilches and Eyal Schwartz. The two researchers

Transitioning from academia to industry is a common direction for a career move. But it is possible to move the

Transferable skills are beneficial at any career stage, whether starting out or retiring. The first Naturejobs podcast of 2018, A

The Naturejobs team put together a podcast that reflects the importance of top quality mentoring and coaching to early career researchers.

The Naturejobs team looks at careers in sports science and life as a PhD student in 2017 following publication of Nature’s biennial PhD survey.

Two researchers share their experiences in how to start and run a well-managed science research lab. Starting a lab can

A wide range of initiatives exist to help early career researchers achieve their goals, but there are practical challenges and

Time planning and goal setting can make your work and career planning more efficient, as well as help you prioritise