The ongoing phase makes out the majority of your PhD or postdoc period. Here you find resources that can be helpful in your continuous professional development by taking the lead in your own project, establishing a position in your research field and developing relevant networks. You will also find tools that can help you get a deeper understanding of your own competences and a better overview of future academic and non-academic career opportunities.
Manage your project
A PhD is formally a training programme and the first step towards becoming an independent researcher while a postdoctoral position aims at qualifying you for top academic positions. Therefore, it is important that you receive proper training in how to plan and manage a project, and get introduced to the important aspects of being a good project manager. This included a good understanding of your own role as project manager and your colleagues individual preferences in collaboration- and communication styles, knowing how to plan and conduct good meetings, how to receive and give constructive feedback and more.
Resources
- Free timeline maker
- Gantt chart, simplified (Youtube.com)
- How to make a Gantt chart in Excel (YouTube.com)
- Prosjekthåndboka (only in Norwegian)
Articles
- Nature Career: Six project-management tips for your PhD
- Nature Career: How agile project management can work for your research
- Nature Career: How to take the lead in your career
- Nature Career: The 11-step guide to running effective meetings
- Nature Index: This simple tool can help you manage multiple research projects
Competence mapping
Through higher education and your researcher training you develop both factual knowledge and a broad array of transferable skills. Becoming aware of, and being able to put words on your skills, values, motivations, personal traits and results can help you get a better understanding of your career opportunities. Your competences are important in your career decisions and surveys show that those who are able to communicate their competence and skills tend to get more relevant jobs. Awareness of your competences can therefore help you make a career development plan that is in line with your values and the skills you prefer to use, which for some can be the difference between success and burnout.
Resources
- Vitae Researcher Development Framework (RDF) planner
- Science Careers: my Individual Development Plan (myIDP; free tool)
Articles
Develop your teaching
If you are aiming for a permanent position in academia that involves part or full time teaching, you need to provide a teaching portfolio documenting your merits as a lecturer. Here you find resources that can help you develop your teaching.
Resources
- LINK – Centre for Learning, Innovation & Academic Development
- Tools for digital teaching
- Pedagogical advice for digital teaching
- Contact points for teachers at UiO
Faculty-based educational initiatives
- Centre for Teaching and Learning in Science (KURT; Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences)
- Research, Innovation and Competence Development (FIKS; Faculty of Educational Sciences)
- Centre for Health Sciences Education (HUS; Faculty of Medicine)
- Eilerts læringsnettverk (EILIN; Faculty of Social Sciences; under development)
Articles
Networking and personal branding
Networking is an important skill both within as well as outside of academia and can be done both electronically and physically. Here you find resources that can help you develop your networking and personal branding skills. You will also find information on why you should have a digital presence and how to use platforms like ResearchGate, ORCID, Google scholar, Cristin, LinkedIn, Twitter and the UiO personal profile (which ranks among top 3 in Google search results).
Resources
- Video: Virtual Networking for Nerds: How to Network and Find Collaborators from Afar (biophysics.org)
- How to edit your profile page at UiO
- Cristin at UiO
Articles
- Science Careers: Why science job seekers need to market themselves—and how to do it
- Science Careers: Opportunities Come Through People
- Author Services: In the words of your peers: how to get networking
- Nature Career: Networking for introverted scientists
- The Research Whisperer: Treating networking like a research project
- Nature Career: Four ways to build your network without attending a conference
- Science Careers: Before applying for your dream science job, Google thyself
- Science Careers: To advance your career, think of yourself as a business
- Nature Career: How to use Twitter to further your research career
- ACS central science: A Scientist’s Guide to Social Media
(Research) communication / dissemination
Communication skills are one of the most highly sought-after skill both in academia and other sectors. As a researcher, you need to be able to communicate your message properly and adapt the format and level of the content to your audience whether you are giving presentations and posters at seminars, pitching your project to potential collaborators, building up an argument when defending your research results or talking to the media. Here you find resources that can help you further improve your presentation skills.
Resources
- Communication, web publishing and profile at UiO
- UiO's digitale design manual (only in Norwegian)
- How to create scientific graphics: an inside look from Nature (YouTube.com)
Articles
- PhD on Track: writing
- Nature Career: How to write a superb literature review
- PLOS ECR Community: Two obvious tips to improve your scientific writing
- Nature Career: Good presentation skills benefit careers — and science
- Nature Career: Prioritize the needs of the audience when giving a presentation
- Science Careers: Can I quote you on that? Tips to help scientists talk to the press
- Nature Technology: Colour me better: fixing figures for colour blindness
Grant writing
Being able to attract external funding is becoming more and more important in a researcher career and you need to have a good understanding of how to write a competitive grant proposal, what a solid CV looks like and how to build one.
Start small. Build confidence, and your CV.
Make sure to check out UNIFOR's funds (only in Norwegian).
Resources
- Research support at UiO
- Contact points for research support at UiO
- Units' information on funding
- European Research Council - Starting Grants
Articles
- Science Careers: Help funders help you: Five tips for writing effective funding applications
- Nature Career: Secrets to writing a winning grant
- Nature Career: Three questions to address rigour and reproducibility concerns in your grant proposal
- Nature News: Crowdfunding research flips science’s traditional reward model
- Nature Career: What to do when your grant is rejected
Authorship, publishing and metrics
One of the qualification requirements for an academic position is your scientific qualifications, including scientific publications. The norms on order of authors on a publication differ between disciplines, but it is important that you get a general understanding of your rights and obligations as author and co-author, in addition to learning how to make a publication strategy and getting an introduction to the UiO publication system.
Resources
- Level 1 journals
- Level 2 journals
- Impact and metrics
- University of Oslo Library: publish
- University of Oslo Library: be more visible
- Cristin – a national system for research documentation
- PhD on Track: citation impact
- Recommendations concerning criteria for academic authorship. Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals by ICMJE (2018) (the Vancouver rules)
- Laws, guidelines, norms of good scientific practice at UiO
Articles
- Science Careers: How to navigate authorship of scientific manuscripts
- Nature Career: The authorship rows that sour scientific collaborations
- Nature Index: A three-step process for resolving paper disputes
Innovation and entrepreneurship
All researchers are innovators by applying established techniques and knowledge in new and innovative ways. Here you find resources on how to take the next step in the event of patenting and commercialization.
Resources
Work-life balance and well-being
More and more people are experiencing a fast-moving working environment and prolonged periods of stress. This can be detrimental to both mental and physical health and it is therefor important to find the right balance between work and free time to be able to recharge your batteries. Here you find resources that can help you establish a sustainable balance in your everyday researcher life like tools to recognize and deal with unhealthy stress and time management. Time management focuses on working smarter, not harder, and getting more out of the time you spend at work, hopefully making it easier to take time off. You will also find some resources on conflict management at UiO, which for those who are involved in it can be a major contributing factor to stress and mental health issues.
Resources
- Get some perspective: the illustrated guide to a Ph.D.
- Handling of conflicts at UiO
- Speak Up! at UiO
- The Science Ombud at UiO
- Occupational Health Service Unit at UiO
Articles
- Nature Career: work-life balance (collection)
- The Research Whisperer: Leveling up sayin 'no'
- Science Careers: Learn when—and how—to say no in your professional life
- Nature comment: A healthy work–life balance can enhance research
- Nature Career: Six easy ways to manage your time better
- Second Nature: Four Time Management Strategies That Will Make You More Productive
- Science Careers: For scientists' working hours, what does ‘done' mean?
- Psychology today: How Do Work Breaks Help Your Brain? 5 Surprising Answers
- The Guardian: CV of failures: Princeton professor publishes résumé of his career lows
- Johannes Haushofer CV of failures
- Lansing State Journal: Rejection is an important part of an education and of this MSU Ph.D. candidate's skirt
- Science Careers: Thoughts of work invaded my life—until I learned how to unplug
- Nature Career: Why comparing yourself to other graduate students is counter-productive
- Science Careers: Why scientists should take more coffee breaks
- Nature Career: Four tips to ward off impostor syndrome
- Science Career: It's OK to quit your PhD