Careers in academia

Typically, the first academic role obtained by early career researchers following successful completion of their research degree, (a ‘Postdoc’) is usually a fixed-term, research-focused position allowing doctoral graduates to further develop and specialise in their chosen field. You can find out more on FindAPostDoc.

These positions are fixed term and sometimes temporary/part-time teaching positions. Your responsibilities might include taking seminars, delivering lectures and marking. Read more about this role on Jobs.ac.uk.

This is usually the first permanent academic position for many researchers, but there are also an increasing number of fixed-term lectureships available. Lecturers have a responsibility to conduct research and teach undergraduates in their institution. The proportion of research to teaching will differ depending on the institution. To find out more, you can read Prospects’ and TargetJobs’ guides to becoming a higher education lecturer.

In many institutions, senior lecturers have a more teaching-focused role, while readers are more research-based. A reader is typically an intermediate position between an Associate Professor or Senior Lecturer and Professor. Jobs.ac.uk has a description of the Reader role.

Many institutions in the UK are now replacing the titles of senior lecturer and reader with Associate Professor. Whilst it is very similar to these roles, they are commonly recruited on a fixed-term contract initially which can become permanent after review.

This is the most senior academic position in the UK and represents an academic leadership role, in addition to teaching and conducting research within a department or faculty. Professors usually have a permanent role within their university.

To find out more about any of these roles, use a website like Jobs.ac.uk to explore current job advertisements for each position. This will give you a good understanding of what is expected at each level and the responsibilities that each position entails.

Some schools provide postgraduate research students with opportunities to undertake paid undergraduate teaching whilst they are studying. All graduate tutors also receive training through the Learning and Teaching Academy on teaching and learning methods. As such, a graduate tutor role is a great way to gain firsthand experience of teaching in higher education and insight into what it's like to be employed as a lecturer.