Nice new corner! Come and chat!

[NeverEverAnythingEver]

We have our new board! Calling all cademics/aspiring academics/fed-up academics - come and chat!

Great post. I have a PhD and worked for several years as a university researcher. A permanent academic job is way out of my grasp now, unfortunately, after a long career break. I'm wondering what else I can do as I would love to get back to work. I look at those with permanent academic jobs with so much envy...

Woohoo! At last!

Hoping for more advice here: I had a thread on Chat earlier this week asking for advice on when to tell HoD about pregnancy. I've only just found out, so it's very early, but not sure if I should let them know before semester starts. Due date is in the last week of semester 2, so will impact on assessment then as well as some year-long teaching.

Better rename The Staff Room too because staff can also mean employees and not necessarily just teachers so it is a bit ambiguous...

pointless nitpicking about the name of the board

Hi jclm it's a tough competitive world out there in academia, especially for permanent traditional academic posts, but there are all sorts of academic related posts that have become more common in recent years, such as research management - whether in research councils, administering doctoral centres, research funding admin etc. - all of which require research experience, ideally.

jclm How about academic publishing? (I have secret ambitions to tell people what to write and how to write it - though that's probably not what publishing is about... )

Maud I don't know what the right thing to do is. I would tell my HoD, but we have a very friendly department (though it has its own problems, like all other places).

I like it that the very first thread has become a discussion about the precise meaning of the name of the board.

How very, well, academic.

Hiya

I'm one of the PhD students. I'm interested in going into academia afterwards but currently lacking the confidence so would be good to hang out here.

You might be 'rate', buffy..

[wunk]

Thanks for the ideas (publishing and research admin etc). I am coming to terms with the loss of my research career and I'm so sad about it. But I never had a permanent academic job and probably would have buckled under the stress anyway... Now I'm looking for a nice easy job that I can balance with my young family, and have a very short commute and work from home.

Hello! Just checking in/place marking.

I started out lurking/posting a bit on MN Academics thread when I was doing my PhD, now I'm a teaching postdoc on a temp contract.

I always feel a fraud on MN calling myself a teacher, because I don't have the training, but I also feel a bit of a fraud here after goblin's comment. Maybe it's ok for me to be an idiot who just happens to work as an academic?

It's fine Jeanne! There is an apostrophe!

True. And I admit, apostrophe or not, I'm always a bit bemused by MN responses to that word!

Having worked in "academia" for many years I am aware of those who make a self definition of being an "academic"

Why so sarky, goblinhat?

I suppose I could just make you all call me "Professor Doctor" - would that be more satisfactory? The term 'academic' is one widely used by most people to mean |"a member of the academic staff"; it's hardly "self-definition.

And as a recent number of the THE pointed out, there are more than a few universities where other staff outnumber academic staff I could rant about that I'm sure we're learning our proper place.

Hello all, I'm an academic.

ooh, hello. great to have spot on Mumsnet.

I'm an academic, but never really know how to describe myself (official title = reader, which no one outside academia understands).

Well, what bothers me isn't titles. I am a TA.

All I am wanting is people who will chat to me based on similar experiences. At the moment I'm worried about supervising postgrad dissertations for the first time, and about publishing my PhD book, and I'm stressing about lecturing writing. I don't care if goblin calls herself an academic or not, but if she can advise me on those things I'd like to hear it.

When I supervised my first PhD student I was promised help. Then it turned out it wasn't quite so straightforward getting help. So I bought books, as you do. I bought books on how to write PhD theses and how to pass vivas. And tried to do my best for my student. It worked out fine in the end. The books are in the office and I can look them up next week if you like.

Oh, that's very kind - I don't have PhDs yet! Just MPhils. But to me, it's still nervy.

I started a thread about ECR advice, btw - just mentioning because I assume it's useful for MN to see us filling this place up. Here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/academics_corner/2462944-Tips-for-ECRs?

But I asked, aside from wanting advice, because I don't think I follow where goblin is coming from. If she has experience of teaching and research and so on, and doesn't want to call herself an academic, then I want to hear from her. But to me, using 'academic' is how you actually manage to find people who will help you, so it's not about titles. It's about finding someone else who has something of the same experience.

I remember fondly the thread where many, many mumsnetters said if someone defined themselves as an academic they were just being smug and snobby

Anyway hello all. I'm gearing up to write fellowship application. Don't know if I have the will though, tbh. Need to start this week if I do, as soon as I've finished this paper

I remember it too - it was my thread. Like an idiot, I think I put it in Chat. Lots of 'helpful' posters commenting 'well you should just say you teach students'. Even my much loved teaching job includes more than teaching students!

Good luck with the application. Can we nag you if you've not got it done, and will that motivate you?

I need to email a colleague and I'm procrastinating. That's so shamefully trivial, if I write it here I'll be shamed into doing it.

Academics' corner has been going on long enough that everyone knows what it means in this context, surely?

Anyway - joining in here. Having anxiety dreams about trying to deliver two lectures at once, or keeping on putting the wrong powerpoint on... and then waking up and fretting about when and how I'm ever going to get a decent research profile together. Real end-of-summer blues, here?