This Nature Careers article offers a practical, realistic view of why consulting can be worth doing as an academic – not only for income, but to build insight into real-world problems, strengthen external relationships, and develop a clearer sense of how your expertise translates beyond the university, and accelerate knowledge exchange. In particular it sets out the typical benefits academics and society report from consulting (insight, networks, reputation, impact) and discusses the challenges to be navigated at an institutional level. “You should never underestimate the convening power of being an academic. We have independence and legitimacy that allow us to bring together people from industry, government and civil society.” Bob Doherty, Professor of Marketing and Sustainable & Responsible Business, University of York. Read more from Bob. What will you take forward? One thing to consider: What is the clearest consultancy offer you could make to an external partner in one sentence?
From principal investigator to institutional leader: choosing what to let go of in order to lead well
Nick Plant Role: Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Research and InnovationDiscipline: Systems ToxicologyInstitution: University of Leeds Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story My career has involved transitioning from a research-focussed role to a leadership-focussed one. That shift required some deliberate decisions about what to stop doing and where I could have the greatest impact. If I could advise my younger self, I would say two things. First, be kinder to yourself. The decisions you make are the best you can make at the time. Looking back and ruminating over them does not change them. Second, be true to yourself. I spent too much time worrying about what others thought, rather than concentrating on what was right for me. One assumption I had to unlearn was that changing direction might be seen as a failure or a step away from “real” research. In fact, if you do what you do best, people will respect that. And if they do not, that is their problem, not yours. Over time, I have realised that I can make the most impact by supporting others to be their best selves. Research …
Crossing disciplinary boundaries: shaping a career between history and archaeology
Jonathan Finch Role: Professor of Archaeology / Director, White Rose College of the Arts and HumanitiesDiscipline: Historical Archaeology (Post-Medieval)Institution: University of York Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story I trained as an historian but gradually moved toward archaeology, particularly the landscape, eventually taking up a position in an archaeology department rather than a history department. The shift was not a rejection of one field for another, but a recognition that my interests and strengths sat across both. Moving between disciplines required confidence. Interdisciplinary research can feel difficult, particularly when established disciplinary traditions appear fixed and guarded. Early on, it can seem as though expertise in another field is sacred or unattainable. Over time, I learned that this is not the case. If I could advise my younger self, I would say: trust your own instincts but take advice from those you trust. You have a unique skill set. That combination of training, methods and perspectives can be turned to your advantage. Working across disciplinary boundaries has allowed me to add value in ways that might not have been possible had I stayed within a …
Taking opportunities, leading through listening and collaboration, and empowering communities through research
Jasjit Singh Role: Pro Dean International, Faculty of Arts, Humanities and CulturesDiscipline: Sociology of ReligionInstitution: University of Leeds Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story My career has developed through a series of academic, leadership and communityfacing roles, leading to my current position as Pro Dean International in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures. Throughout this journey, I’ve been driven by a commitment to connecting academic research with realworld challenges and ensuring it has tangible impact beyond the university. If I could speak to my younger self, I would say this: even when you feel constantly busy, strategically developing and taking opportunities — especially the daunting ones — is worth it. The experiences that seemed overwhelming at the time have shaped my trajectory in unexpected and rewarding ways. One myth I have had to unlearn is that everyone else has everything figured out. They don’t. Leadership develops in real time, through listening, adapting and learning as you go. I believe I make the most meaningful impact through deep listening, because it creates the foundations for innovation, insight and collaboration. My approach to …
From fair trade chocolate to food systems leadership: building impact through collaboration, systems thinking and strategic career moves
Bob Doherty Role: Professor of Marketing and Sustainable & Responsible BusinessDiscipline: Business and MarketingInstitution: University of York Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story I spent thirteen years in the agri-food industry before entering academia in 2003. I had been Head of Sales and Marketing at Divine Fair Trade Chocolate for five years, and that experience gave me networks, practical insight and credibility across the science–policy–industry boundary. I entered academia without a PhD, running a Master’s programme while completing my doctorate part-time. My early research focused on individual organisations like Divine, but over time I deliberately pivoted towards examining food systems more broadly. I realised that if you want to address big challenge problems, you need to adopt a systems approach and build interdisciplinary teams. Collaboration has been central throughout my career. You should never underestimate the convening power of being an academic. We have independence and legitimacy that allow us to bring together people from industry, government and civil society. During my DEFRA secondment, for example, I was able to assemble industry leaders within days because of those networks. Some myths did …
Leadership in a time of jeopardy: realism about promotion, leverage and the realities of academic middle management
Jamie Blaza Role: Research Fellow and ProfessorDiscipline: ChemistryInstitution: University of York Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story I was appointed to the University of York in 2018 to establish cryo-electron microscopy and launch my independent research career. In 2021, I was awarded a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship. I lead the York Bioenergetics Lab within the larger York Structural Biology Laboratory. My career path has moved through Leeds, Singapore and Cambridge before York. Along the way I have learned that academic careers are often framed in grand language, but the day-to-day reality can look quite different. One myth I have found helpful to challenge is the way academic careers are dressed up with elaborate titles. With my team, I often say that much of what I do would simply be called middle management in any other organisation! You look after your team, secure funding, and negotiate upwards. Framing it this way made the role clearer and more manageable for me. On leadership roles, in an ideal world you would apply when it suited your career stage. In practice, roles often need to be …
Redefining progression: building influence and expertise as a long-term researcher outside traditional academic hierarchies
Contributor role: Research Fellow Discipline: Environmental Science / Chemistry Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story I gained my PhD in 2007 and have been employed as a postdoctoral researcher since then. While still precariously funded, I am no longer an early career researcher. Instead, I see myself as a “long-term researcher” — someone whose role now includes some responsibilities and activities more akin to those of an academic or mid-career researcher, even if the title does not formally reflect that. This was not an intentional career path. For several years I worked part-time (0.4 FTE) in research while pursuing a separate career. For a complex set of reasons, I eventually returned to research as my sole career and am now navigating a university system that, in my view, benefits greatly from experienced researchers like me but does not provide many formal routes for recognition or progression. Over time, I have found being a more senior researcher – working across multiple projects and taking on informal leadership responsibilities – more enjoyable and rewarding than my early postdoctoral years. It suits my …
Moving from the NHS into academia, building confidence, and learning that asking for help strengthens rather than weakens you
Saniya Rabbani Role: Lecturer and Talking Therapies Clinical Tutor Discipline: Psychology – Clinical and AppliedInstitution: University of Sheffield Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story I moved between sectors, from the NHS into academia. That transition required confidence and patience with myself. Looking back, I would tell myself to believe in my own abilities and reach. To grasp opportunities that are in alignment with myself, even if I feel hesitant about doing so. I would also say: don’t try to do everything alone. Consult friends, family or colleagues to talk about plans and thoughts if you’re feeling unsure. Be open, people are happy to help and support. I had doubts about performance and not being enough. I was keen to continue my independence within the workplace and to manage alone. In reality, the opposite has been true. Being open, honest and accepting my inner thoughts and feelings has been impactful. It allowed me to see that I was not alone and that others merging into academia experience similar doubts. It was all quite new to me. Opportunities can sometimes feel difficult to come across. However, many …
From big fish in a small pond to tiny fish in a vast one: recalibrating identity, patience and progression after moving institutions
Anonymous contributor Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story After my PhD, I worked for five years in a very small post-92 institution. One real advantage was that it was easy to take on responsibility and to engage with university leaders, right up to the Vice Chancellor. I sat on several university level committees and was vice chair of one; I was seen as a safe pair of hands, and colleagues often came to me with questions about assessment policies, ethics, REF processes and more. I usually had the answer at my fingertips. Over time, though, I felt I had outgrown the institution. I was looking for something with more hustle and bustle, having done all my own studies in the Russell Group. I moved to Sheffield and am now in my fourth year. I imagined that a Russell Group institution would solve the “problems” I had experienced in a small university. There would be more people, more training, more money and more student buzz. All of that was true! What I did not anticipate, however, was how hard it …
Moving institutions into a professorial role, overcoming imposter syndrome, and learning to prioritise the work that really matters
Anonymous contributor Role: Professor of Biomechanics Discipline: Medical Engineering Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story I did my PhD, post doc and academic career up to Associate Professor at the University of Leeds between 2004 and 2022. I then moved institution to take up a professorial role at the University of Sheffield. The move, particularly as I was effectively being promoted to Professor, generated a lot of imposter syndrome. I was extremely anxious about leaving somewhere I was established and worried that people would not like me coming in at a senior level. I doubted myself more than I expected to. It turned out that those fears were not real. I genuinely feel that I joined my tribe when I moved. I have been very well supported and have had many opportunities. Looking back, I would tell myself not to judge my worth by other people’s interest in working with me and to try not to doubt myself so much. Within my new role, I have taken on responsibilities beyond my own research, including being PGR Lead within the School. The …
Building a 40 year academic career on my own terms, leading authentically, and redefining what progression looks like across institutions
Contributor role: Lecturer in Marketing (Teaching and Scholarship) and Chair of Marketing Dept Advisory Board Discipline: Marketing Institution: University of Leeds Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story I have been a lecturer for 40 years and have worked at various Business Schools in the UK. I began as a Lecturer in Business Policy at Plymouth on a three year contract before relocating north via Leeds Beckett, Manchester Metropolitan and eventually settling at Leeds in 2006. The northern universities have looked after me well, with permanent contracts and better terms for promotion. At Leeds Beckett, my strengths in marketing rather than business strategy were recognised and I was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Marketing. I led on various projects, from Dissertation Co ordinator to assessor for undergraduate European marketing students. A highlight was assessing my students in French at our partner institution in Caen. I also joined a team of psychologists as a Marketing Consultant to study consumer behaviour for a major UK retailer. At Manchester Metropolitan, I continued as Senior Lecturer and became Programme Lead for undergraduate Marketing and Brand Management …
Redefining success on my own terms, pushing back against imposed limits, and leading with passion rather than permission
Anonymous contributor Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story As a T&S member of staff at my institution, I found myself in a position where it was decided how my career would advance. The decision was made without my opinion and what was decided undermined my qualifications and experiences. From my point of view, there was clear prejudice but leaving my institution was not the answer (at this point I had encountered prejudice everywhere!). So I took myself out of this biased and condescending vision of my future that had been constructed for me and created my own. In pushing back against others’ views of you, there is a lot you need to keep in mind. Honesty is not always the best way forward, especially when EDI issues are involved. Instead, spend time learning from every injustice and pivoting from the lessons you identified. Doing this, I realised I needed to be connected to myself in a way that allowed me to work alone if I needed to and to be very picky about who I worked with – people …
Building long-term impact through international moves, field shifts and strategic patience
Contributor role: Research Fellow Discipline: Medical Physics Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story My career has involved moving between institutions, countries and research directions. After my PhD, I was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in Japan, working in a field related but quite different from my doctoral work. Moving into a new language, culture and discipline at the same time was a significant professional reset. It felt, in many ways, like beginning again. The first phase required perseverance. Establishing methods, understanding a new research landscape and building collaborations took time. Publications did not appear immediately. However, later in the fellowship – and even after it had formally ended – the work began to bear fruit. A subsequent move to the US involved a similar shift in field and environment. Although the language was familiar, the professional transition still required rebuilding systems and approaches. Again, it took time to get experiments working and establish momentum. The outputs followed later. Looking back, those experiences reshaped how I think about career progression. Outputs do not always align neatly with effort in the short …
Stepping into senior leadership and learning to think more deliberately about the balance between institutional responsibility and personal research.
John Flint Role: Deputy Vice President – Research Discipline: Urban StudiesInstitution: University of Sheffield Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story Over the course of my career, I have transitioned into senior leadership roles within my institution, initially as Head of School, then as a Faculty Director and currently as Deputy Vice President for Research. Looking back, I would advise my younger self to be more deliberate and clear about the extent to which I wished to balance senior leadership with research and teaching. I do not regret the direction my career has taken. However, I think I could have thought more carefully about the longer term consequences of that balance. There are examples of colleagues who effectively combine senior leadership with continuing excellent research and innovation or impact. It can be done. I would also say that some colleagues assume they would not enjoy or be effective in senior leadership roles. In many cases, that will be the right judgement for them. However, there are also individuals who, despite initial doubts, find that they enjoy these roles and derive real …
From flood engineer to boundary-spanning impact fellow: designing a career at the intersection of science, policy and lived experience.
Martina Egedusevic Role: Impact FellowDiscipline: Nature based solutionsInstitution: University of Exeter Please note: This story reflects the personal experience and perspective of its contributor. Academic careers vary widely, and others may experience different challenges and opportunities. Career Story My career sits at the intersection of engineering, environmental science and public decision-making. I trained as a hydraulic engineer in Serbia and spent seven years working on flood protection and river basin management across the Danube, Sava and Morava catchments. The 2014 Balkan floods were a turning point for me personally and professionally. My family home was affected, and I experienced first-hand the gap between emergency response and long-term risk reduction. That experience led me to pursue a PhD in Natural Flood Management in Scotland, focusing on how land use change and woodland creation influence flood risk. Since then, my work has increasingly moved across sectors: academia, consultancy, government, NGOs and communities. I have worked on nature-based solutions, disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation in the UK and internationally. I am currently an Impact Fellow at the University of Exeter, working closely with policymakers, practitioners and communities to translate research into real-world change. Looking back, I would tell myself that impact does not come from doing …
Reflect on and review your networks
Leaders need a range of types of people in their network. It’s important to periodically review and refresh how you are engaging with your networks. Is it up to date with your current plans and achievements? Are you making the most from your network and are they getting the most from you? Conduct the short mapping exercise in the Imperial Academic’s Success Guide to reflect on who is currently in your network, where you might want to strengthen existing ties (including updating them on what you’re doing now!) or seek out new connections. You may also be reminded of people who you are now in a good position to support or mentor. What will you take forward? One thing to try: Name one relationship in your network that would benefit from refreshing, deepening, or simply reconnecting without an agenda. When will you contact them?
Use mentoring and sponsorship
In their report ‘RAIL: A model for keeping the academic Mid-career on track’, Eastern Academic Research Consortium found that overwhelmingly learning from ‘lived experience’ was the most cited enabler for academic careers. Lived experience came in many forms but broadly was about having more senior people guide you through your career path. Mentoring and Sponsorship were highlighted as key enablers to mid-career success. To learn more about these, make use of the guidance offered by the White Rose University Consortium: If you want to approach a potential sponsor, then you may find the advice on identifying and approaching a sponsor from the FLF Development Network’s Influencing Toolkit helpful. What will you take forward? One thing to try: Identify one person you could approach and one small next step you will take.
Explore tailored research leadership resources
Established researchers express a wide range of leadership and management needs such as recruitment, performance conversations, delegation, effective meetings, coaching and mentoring skills etc. There is an overwhelming amount of advice out there: some relevant to established researchers, some less so. Rather than re-create it all here, we recommend and connect you directly to open access resources that are tailored to research and academic leaders: What will you take forward? One thing to consider: What is one leadership challenge you’re dealing with at the moment? Which single external resource could you engage with this week to move forward?