r/AskAcademiaUK

I have been an Associate Lecturer for 6 years now. I started the year before I began my PhD, and have taught post PhD for two years. (On 10/12 month contracts so not 4 years of continuous service).

I applied for a job that is virtually the same as mine now that I have done for the past two years, with some extra pastoral duties. This position was at the same institution I currently work at, and I did not even get an interview. Anecdotally I have heard of this happening, but I am kind of baffled: am I seriously not good enough to do a job I’ve been doing for the past two years? How am I supposed to take this forward? I know I am an excellent teacher and well liked, I have an excellent feedback record and exceptional academic performance across my courses, so I don’t think I am actually not good enough as an educator. I’d be grateful to hear from anyone with experience on either side of the hiring process.

Full disclosure: I am a dual UK-Aussie citizen and everything that took place in this post happened here in Australia. But I would like some feedback from back home.

I (30m) am neurodivergent and I work at a research institute while I'm attending grad school. I work together with a researcher, "K" (34f). K is ethnically South Korean with a Japanese background, and she looks like an adorable anime girl (I'm a huge weeb and I'm proud lol). In case it isn't obvious, I am into her. K is the only woman in our research unit but she gets along fine with the guys. She's been eztremely supportive of me both professionally and personally, and although she's perfectly healthy herself, she's always available whenever I have issues because of my mental conditions.

Earlier this month, we had a lockdown due to a threat that did turn out to be genuine, but it was resolved. K and I were required to remain in the same room together with two other employees who I'm friends with (they are 27m and 26m and this is relevant because, to me, younger people just aren't intimidating or scary). We were just stuck in a room that didn't have AC and K was sweaty, so she took her shirt off and she stripped down to a spaghetti strap sports bra and her pants. This is where things went downhill. One of the guys, the 26m one, patted her back in a joking sort of manner. It wasn't really violent but it was enough to make K go "oh god".

Nothing else happened besides me making a joke to my two friends about how the three of us were stuck in a confined area with a cute, nearly-naked woman. K laughed at this joke, but afterwards, when she was bending down, she noticed that the guys were staring down her sports bra. At this point, she started crying, and she said "oh my god please". She spent the next several hours just crying nonstop, and she sometimes kept her arms crossed around her chest, and she also tried covering her shoulders with her hands. She was sweating so much the entire time and she was also shaking, and it was the first time I've seen her in a non-flattering context. But she remained in her sports bra and pants for the several hours we spent stuck in the room, and she never bothered to put her shirt back on.

Besides that one instance where my friend touched her back, nobody thought about laying a finger on K.

Is it common to interviewers look unimpressed and nonchalant?

I just had an interview for a 100% scholarship at an UK university and the interviewers looked completely 🫤 as I was telling I graduated as top of my undergrad cohort, had my undergrad thesis awarded by the a National Association of Research, coordinated teams and managed publications at a famous newspaper in my town.

I mean... I come from an International Relations background, and I am pursuing a scholarship for a masters in STEM (which is totally valid second the scholarship guidelines) because I aim to work in the Monitoring and Evaluation field. I even said I admire the UK's care policies and wanted to pursue a dissertation on a comparative analysis to improve indicators in my home country.

But, trust me when I say, they looked SO. F*. DONE. Like... it was so quick also. They arrived late because they were in another interview and mine finished right on time.

Really... is it a common experience? Am I cooked?????

Also, I forgot to say lots of my application, like had developed an app and stuff. Do you know it they consider also what you wrote? Or is it just the interview?

Guys, can someone help me read the room? I'm so anxious about this 😭

Hello everyone,

I have this situation where I need to work full time but am on a PhD scholarship that comes with stipend, I have no visa restrictions, but the university generally limits the number of working hours to 6 on a PhD program.

Supervisor is fine, but am worried about the rules and tax system, what's the worst case that can happen if the university finance team knew about this? and do they usually follow up on students number of working hours? and what's the common between students ? do you usually work and you get away with it? has anyone ever been caught up on the number of working hours ?

Please let me know as am really in this situation where I don't know what can happen while other threads just mentions that you're ok if the university didn't know.

Thank you in advance.

What does the post-grad opportunity in the UK looks like for MEMS and Semiconductor domain. I’m in devices and system integration.

As I’m going to start my PhD in the UK, moving from US. I want to know as an international student, what would be my post-graduate prospectives. As well as, long-term residency. I’ll consider both industry and academia.

I am an assistant professor in the social sciences at a UK university looking to start a new research project in Japan over the coming 2-3 years. At this early stage, and since I never worked or carried out research in Japan before, I am proceeding slowly and trying to create a small network of colleagues interested in similar questions in Japan to start with. I am thinking of applying to a visiting JSPS fellowship for an initial short visit in a host university. Do you have any advice on how to best approach this? Spanning from how to best approach colleagues in potential host universities to more general information about academic life in Japan and what universities are particularly strong in fields like sociology, human geography, and urban design? Any insight or sharing of your personal experiences (even if not exactly the same as the above) would be great. My ideal would be to find a balance between spending a few months in Japan for research every year, outside of teaching months in the UK.

I currently work in academia in Japan, and have become accustomed to academic CVs that are quite long (6+ pages) listing all of one's education, work experiences (including courses taught), publications, conference presentations, honours/awards, academic services.

But I recently read that CVs in my home country (NZ), are meant to be only 1-2 pages. As I eye up moving back, I wonder how people condense their CVs down? Or is it okay for academics (who need to list their publications etc as evidence of their exoerience/achievements) to be longer than what is often expected?

I would love to hear your experiences with CV lengths in any academic/non-academic context. Thanks for your help in advance!

I am a lecturer (2 years now), seeking for promotion soon. To be eligible, I need to get FHEA or teaching qualifications.

is FHEA difficult to get?? any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi, I’m faced with a unique situation where I can choose a PhD program among University of Birmingham, University of Southampton, University of Glasgow, and Loughborough University.

My domain is MEMS/Semiconductor Devices. I have an MS in EE from a top US school.

Except for Loughborough, all of them are offering the standard 21k/year stipend however the program at Loughborough is a EU funded project with double the stipend(44k/year), with secondments at ETH Zurich.

What do I do?

As the title says, I’m trying to understand how ESRC studentships actually work in practice 🤔

Can the funding be used for general living costs (rent, food, travel, savings, etc.), or is it restricted to very specific things? Are you required to provide proof of how the money is spent?

I’m guessing it might vary depending on the specific ESRC studentship / DTP, so would be great to hear if that’s the case!

Also, if the funding can’t really be used like a normal paycheck, do many people work alongside a full-time PhD to cover living costs?

Thanks in advance for your experiences!! 🏳️‍🌈

Hi all, I'd really appreciate some advice on a stressful publication fee situation.

About a year ago, I published a paper in an Elsevier journal based on my PhD research, co-authored with my supervisor. At the time, I was new to academic publishing and didn't even know what an APC was.

The journal was not open access by default. During the review process, I asked about a fee waiver, but was told the editors couldn't grant one themselves, and Elsevier declined to approve one.

After acceptance, I was shown a page in the Elsevier system indicating that open access publishing was covered by my institution's agreement. It listed:

• APC: £2,080
• Institutional agreement discount: –£2,080
• To pay (on validation): £0.00

I took a screenshot of this page.

Based on this, I understood that no personal payment was required from me, and that anything further would be handled between Elsevier and my institution during validation. I was not taken through a clear payment step and did not receive what I'd recognise as a normal invoice. The paper was then published.

When this issue first came up, I contacted my (then) university's publication/library team. They said they would handle it, but nothing seems to have happened since. I've since moved to a different university as a postdoc, so I'm also unsure which institution is actually responsible for resolving this.

I've now been contacted by a third-party debt collection agent acting from Romania on behalf of Elsevier, claiming an outstanding balance of £2,080. When I sent them the screenshot, they replied:

**"**Elsevier can confirm that the institution has rejected the article funding during validation"

Their latest email says they've tried to reach me several times and that, unless I call within 48 hours, they will assume I don't intend to resolve the matter voluntarily.

I did not knowingly agree to pay this charge personally. The post-acceptance page clearly showed £0.00 to pay, under my institution's agreement.

Has anyone dealt with something similar? Thanks in advance for any advice.

I have two PhD offers, both fully funded. One is at LSE, and the other is at Exeter.

The research fit is good at both, albeit in different ways. I also like the supervisory teams at both institutions. LSE is obviously the more prestigious option (especially for my research area), but I dislike London. I'm in my 30s, and I'd prefer not to live with others in a house share situation, but it would be that or a small studio if I took up the LSE place. Conversely, I like Devon a lot – I really value closeness to nature, and Exeter is much cheaper than London, so I'd be able to rent a one-bed flat.

I'm hoping to pursue a career in academia, and given how competitive that is, I'm nervous about choosing Exeter.

What would you do?

hi all. i'm deciding between two phd offers in the uk, both for english literature.

one is at a much more prestigious institution (oxbridge), but a friend of mine is a student in the department and said that the academic who would be my primary supervisor isn't very engaged (they're a bit of a superstar in the field, so quite busy) and i'd likely be supervised mostly by my secondary supervisor, who is a fairly early career researcher.

the other is at a less prestigious institution (lower-tier russell group), but the primary supervisor there, who's mid-career, seems very engaged and responsive.

the research fit is a bit better at the more prestigious institution. i want to go into academia, but i know that's unlikely in either case given the state of higher ed atm.

which would you advise i go for?

Hello all,

Attended an interview for a university job last week, received a call from one of their extension numbers, but I missed it as I was on another call at the time. I called back minutes later and told them I (forgot to mention my name) was returning a call, but they said "wrong number" and hung up. Have not received any contact since. No idea what to make out and am extremely anxious.

i’m doing a short survey for my dissertation on social media and how comfortable people feel sharing opinions online, especially when things can become controversial, and I could really use your input.

it’s completely anonymous and takes about 4–5 minutes

i’m trying to get a wider mix of people:

https://forms.office.com/e/ieEnq0Gstb

Happy to trade survey for survey too. thank you so much if you take part!

I am currently doing my Master's and I am doing a psychology dissertation for it.

For context, I did a dissertation before for my psychology undergrad, and never had any issues whatsoever with my supervisor then, we got on really well and I got an A for my dissertation.

With my master’s dissertation, I have had repeated issues with my supervisor since the start. In my first meeting with her, she asked me to give an example of a hypothesis, and when I did, she told me this is not a hypothesis, you don’t even know what a hypothesis is. I kept trying and giving her different examples, and she just kept telling me it wasn’t a hypothesis. It felt like she wasn’t even listening to what I was saying, it was like a reflexive response to any example I gave. She told me that all my classmates had come up with amazing hypotheses and that she will show me the standard I should be at, and she emailed me some to show me. She wouldn't answer any questions I asked her, even when I ask her things like when I need to have something done by, she dodged the question and just said I’m too behind and I need to get it done as soon as possible. I left the meeting with more questions than I went in with. And I am not shy of asking questions, I was asking them.

In my most recent meeting with her, we were going through my questionnaire to make sure it was okay before I apply for ethical approval. Early on, she recommended I change one of the questions, and when I asked her something about it she snapped ‘I won’t be arguing with you on every little thing while we go through this’ and didn’t answer me. Bear in mind I was literally just asking a question about it, I wasn’t even being argumentative.

My study is on choice overload and whether a mystery option helps reduce choice overload. So I had designed the study so that each participant was assigned to one condition, meaning each participant is asked to choose from either a large assortment or a small assortment, with or without a mystery option. After they choose, they answer questions about how difficult they found it etc. My supervisor told me that this is completely wrong and ‘isn’t a research design’ and that each participant must be shown all conditions. She wants me to show 8 conditions to every participant. Since I’ve been told not to ask questions, I’m just writing everything down and saying yes at this point even though I think her suggestion makes no sense. No choice overload study that I have read shows all conditions to each participant. I mean how can you attribute the difficulty of choice to the assortment and not the fact they're being shows 8 assortments to choose from?

Then she tells me its very messy to be asking the follow up questions about difficulty etc 8 times after showing each condition. She asks me to justify why I am doing this and why I think its appropriate. At this point I’m confused, because this was her suggestion, I did not create this idea, so I don’t know why I would be justifying it. In my design, the participant chose from one assortment, then answered the questions about it. I just said I’m not sure how I’d justify it. She then started getting angry saying I need to know how to justify my own study. I said that this was her suggestion for the design, so I’m not sure of the justification. She then got even angrier and started asking am I saying my original design is correct, because it isn’t, and I must change it. I then said I’m not saying her suggestion is wrong, I’m saying I don’t know the justification for it since it wasn’t my idea. She then told me that if I don’t stop, she’s going to write in the supervisor report that I was being defiant and not listening to her.

As we went through the survey, she kept telling me to change things, and I would say okay but let her know that I had taken the measures from the literature, and they were not designed by me. So then she would tell me to change a question and then smartly say ‘let me guess, you're going to say you took it from somewhere else’.

At the end of the call, she thought the call had ended and she started shaking her head in a disapproving way, not realising I could still see her.

I had a panic attack after the meeting ended; I was in hysterics. I genuinely can’t continue on working like this. I literally feel like I'm being gaslit, how can she tell me to do the design a certain way and then tell me to justify it because the design SHE recommended is messy. I understand that your supervisor is there to help and you should listen to them, but how is it fair that I am not allowed to ask questions or have discussions about changes we are making. I also don’t agree that her suggestion to change the study design is correct. Her threatening to write that I’m being defiant in the report has been the final nail in the coffin. There is no communication going on here.

I would like some advice please. How should I deal with this. I know people think you should just listen to everything your supervisor says and keep peace, but even that isn’t an option. I can't even ask questions without being threatened.

Say you have a student, applying for PhDs, who has accepted a backup offer while still waiting to hear back from other applications. These applications were submitted before the offer was received, and you agreed to provide references to this student previously. Now it is a while after the backup offer was accepted (perhaps more than a month), do you still write the reference?

I’ve noticed that a lot of PhD students and postdocs seem to treat teaching-track lectureships as somehow less prestigious or less meaningful than research-heavy academic jobs. It sometimes feels like academia only values research outputs and treats teaching as a fallback option for people who “couldn’t make it” on the research track.

I want to do an Access to Higher Education course and my long-term goal is to get into something related to tech. So, software engineering, hardware, etc. Using software engineering as an example, would I need to have done a specialized computer science access course to get into university for it? Or is a general science access course acceptable?

I have a strong professional resume, but not so strong academically. My bachelor's degree has a grade of 7.52/10 (2:1) and my master's degree has a 3.57/4 (Distinction). Both are in Computer Science.

I am already a senior data scientist with over 5 years in the field. I have a publication (in a national conference). I want to apply for a MPhil in Biotechnology. But the requirements are a high 2:1 for the bachelor's degree.

Would having a master's degree help? I really want to transition to this field and I believe studying at Cambridge would be an incredible gateway and it accepts CS background.

Thank you in advance!