Lecturer role - moving to non teaching research associate

[LCM001a]

Hello, I need someone advice

I am currently in a lecturer role in the social sciences, I have been there just over a year, and gained my PhD earlier this year while working full time. I don’t want say too much about the job, but let’s say the teaching load is high and the students need a lot of support. I’m also not happy about the culture of the workplace, and the state of the university sector as a whole.

Here is the thing, I do not want to teach, I would rather have a research only post. I have seen a research associate job advertised at a high ranking Uni, in a research area close to mine. I would be working across a range of projects using a variety of methodologies which would give me some really good experience and the chance to build my network further. I see it as a positive move in the direction I want to go in and I’m not too worried about it being a fixed term role.

However, would this be seen as a step down by the PI? Also would a research associate role give me the opportunity to develop my own research? should I contact the PI and ask about it?

any advice would be greatly appreciated

I'm on an education contract and not research active so my advice may not be much use, but...

What's the long-term goal? Do you want a career as an academic? If you do, teaching will be a big part of that, so if you really don't like teaching it might be worth looking outside of academia now rather than going through all the pain and sacrifice of building an academic career only to hate it. Permanent research only posts don't really exist in the social sciences afaik.

Are you on a research and education contract now? What sort of time allocation do you have for research? If you have the standard 40pc allocation, you probably won't get more freedom with your research than that.

If you're on a teaching contract, consider whether you want to be applying for research and education contracts. Do you have enough publications for that? The amount needed will vary hugely by field. Have you published your PhD work?

The RA role will be on a given project rather than your own presumably. I wouldn't be experienced enough to advise whether it would help your career.

I worked in leading and very large research centre until very recently. It won’t be seen as a step down - we view lecturer and research associate positions as entry level, the first rung after a doctorate or post-doc. A side step maybe, but a smart one.

Bear in mind in research centres there are no student fees to pay for everything, so there is more pressure on winning research findings. Nothing to be intimidated by, but show awareness of business development in the application and interview and it will stand you in good stead. Good luck!

And in terms of developing your own research, it depends whether you are 100% funded by the PI’s research project or not. You could transition to working more on your own research in time if you win funding or move into a different position. I would not ask this question of the PI - it suggests you don’t actually want to work on their project, you just want a foot in the door in a research role at their institution. As far as the PI should be concerned, their project is your life’s dream.

I'm a "career RA." This is my long-term goal.
More money would be nice. Lecturers get paid better. But not being trapped by my salary requirements is also nice. I know people out of work because they will not consider stepping "down" in the hierarchy.

1. PI just wants highly competent & nice person for the job.

2. Opportunity Developing your own research... you can expect that ... sort of. CPD for who are designated "junior staff" is built into many grants & contracts now. Reality is, some projects never get round to it. Some Unis leave the situation open & nothing structured happens. At my stage, I'm hyper competent so I end up with lots of extra time to learn new things which keeps me satisfied & engaged.

3. Contacting the PI & showing enthusiasm for the role is a good thing. Asking about scope to develop your own interests at this point would be bad; it will sound like you don't prioritise their research & their research won't get done well if you are asking now about being paid to work on things not their project. However, If you get to interview & feel the interview is going well, you both seem to like each other, when it's your turn to ask questions, ask them about opportunities to develop new skills or CPD or opportunities for you to get involved with research projects outside of the main project they are trying to get someone to work on.

Thank you all so much, this is incredibly helpful advice.

if you really don't like teaching it might be worth looking outside of academia now rather than going through all the pain and sacrifice of building an academic career only to hate it

I am hoping a sideways move away from a teaching role will work for me. I have taught for over 20 years, and its not that I hate it, its more that it has nothing left to give me.

I'm a "career RA." This is my long-term goal.

This is my goal too, and was my intention when I started my PhD but I got sidetracked into teaching, mainly because it was easier work to get based on my prior work and I needed the money!

show awareness of business development in the application and interview and it will stand you in good stead

would this be by stating that I wish to develop my grant writing skills, look for opportunities to develop their research further?

At my stage, I'm hyper competent so I end up with lots of extra time to learn new things which keeps me satisfied & engaged.

I am hoping this would be my situation, i have a couple of collaborations that I am developing and my worry is these would fall by the wayside while I work in this role. I dont know if this is enough of a worry to stop me making this move, but it is a concern as these collabortations could become something very interesting. I guess I am just going to have to apply and find out.

Thank you so much, I feel more confident that my application would be taken seriously and that it is a positive move for me.

Is your lecturer role permanent? If so you would be stupid to jump ship to a precarious RA contract.

In your shoes I would try and take all effort out of teaching, still offering good teaching but ringfence your time, say no to everything non-essential. I would also be applying for ECR grants so that you could end up being bought out of teaching. Develop relationships with staff who run big bids and ask if you could come on as a co-i on their next one.

Thank you. I feel like I am at a crossroads, I could do this within my current role but the University is very unsupportive of anything except teaching which is getting more and more demanding, the department i work in is about to undergo a change that is going to make working there so much harder than it already is, and senior management can be described as truly toxic. I have no work life balance, colleagues who are burnt out and miserable and a very long commute. I do not believe being a lecturer is the pinacle of achievement. It is a demanding, stressfult and at times frustrating job that promises a lot and often under delivers.

I would have liked to have tried moving to another lecturer post to maintain my money, but the sector is contracting at speed and there is no guarantee that anything will come up in the near future. Grants are very difficult to get, I could spend a long time applying for them and not achieve anything. I can cope with the uncertainty of a fixed term contract, especially when the role is closely aligned with my research area.

There will come a time soon when this move will not be possible, I feel that I need to explore this and find out if it would be a better option. Applying for a job does not mean I have to take it, neither does going to an interview, or even getting an offer. But if I don't try, I will never know.

would this be by stating that I wish to develop my grant writing skills, look for opportunities to develop their research further?

Yes, this is it. Show awareness of the funding landscape - which research councils, gov’t departments, trusts and foundations fund the department’s work? What practical skills could you contribute - technical knowledge on subject areas, genetic skills in bid writing, peer review, copy editing etc. Willingness to go to seminars and training courses to improve.

Grants are very difficult to get, I could spend a long time applying for them and not achieve anything.

You need to revise this attitude. Lots of people win research funding and if you want to work in a research institute then this needs to be you in future, so be more confident in your abilities. Good proposal writing is essentially just good project planning, and if you can’t plan a project well you shouldn’t be doing it anyway.

hahha yes, that is me told and quite right too.

I meant really that I could stay in a job I’m not happy in and still not get grants when I can take a chance to do something I would enjoy more and have the same battle.

but yes, I need a positive attitude

Sorry if that sounded harsh. You’re absolutely doing the right thing bybacking yourself to do something new. I just meant don’t be daunted about the prospect of competing for funding - it’s a really important distinction between a research centre and traditional academia and ultimately it’s how you will be able to follow your own research interests in time. And it’s not rocket science, you can do it!

That’s ok, I took it in the spirit it was meant.

thank you all for your time and advice.

If you’re on someone else’s project then no, mostly you don’t decide what you work on. I encourage my postdocs to develop their own projects within my overall project. I have deemed candidates “not appointable” if they don’t understand this. And there would be a performance review if they didn’t work appropriately within my overall project.

You won’t have the autonomy of a lecturer. And you may find it hard to get back into a permanent lecturer post.

So at the moment you have a permanent job with lots of teaching. You'd be moving to a non permanent job with lots of (someone else's) research.

The idea of being a permanent RA is lovely but jobs are incredibly hard to find. Much rarer than a lecturership. Especially in social sciences rather than biological sciences.

So if you got this job for 3 years, what would be your plan for after it?

I think age discrimination is pretty rife in post doc posts too, at least in my field. So that's worth considering. The assumption is that RAs are young and bright straight out of PhD as a first step onto better things. I was on a panel for a research fellow position recently and 90% applicants were late 20s. We had a few applicants who were 40s and the rest of the panel were very negative e.g. Why are they STILL looking at these roles? So you might find these roles dry up.

I’d be wary of giving up a secure job. I’d be tempted to apply for early career Fellowships that buy you out of teaching whilst retaining better salary and job security? And/or start build your own research group through a few PhD students? Once you win a grant and fellowship, you can change institutions - they’re getting a freebie for a while and someone whose proven they can bring in money

I love the idea of genetic skills in bid writing! Just wish I had inherited them! Good luck, OP.

An update: I did apply for the Research Associate job and I got it. I decided to accept and I start in a couple of months.

It’s a gamble that I hope will pay off, but only time will tell. In the end I decided that the risk was worth the possible rewards, and ultimately it is up to me to make the most of this opportunity. I’m very excited about the move, it’s a research centre in a university that is highly research focused, working on a project that is very interesting, that has the potential to have a positive impact beyond the research and that could open up so many more possibilities for work in the future.

In the past I would have held back, been more cautious but I promised myself that I would be braver, take chances and be open to the exciting if uncertain opportunities. I did the PhD in my 50s to change everything, and with this role I feel like that is finally happening.

thank you all for your comments and advice, it really helped.

Fab news, congratulations! Sounds like a really inspiring environment and I’m sure they’ve just won a wonderful and highly motivated colleague. I’ve in the past hired ‘unusual’ candidates - older, or from outside the field, or with a business background - and they’ve been amazing and brought so much to the teams. Hope you enjoy the new role

Well done! It sounds like the right move. Your gut was telling you something important.

The deal used to be that you made a sacrifice over the short to medium term, but got paid back over the long term - but that has now gone. It's sensible to think about whether the next project for the next couple of years is the right one, and then build from there.