So as most people outside of Australian academia probably don’t realise, we’re basically forced into Unisuper as our superannuation provider whether we like it or not. Unisuper, for whatever reasons (they explained it in a convoluted email), has decided to change the insurance company underwriting their life and death/permanent disability insurance policies. Now I’ve been…
Unsurprisingly, most of my posts for a while will relate to issues regarding changing jobs within academia. Today has thrown up an issue that I hadn’t anticipated. Perhaps I should have seen it coming, but hindsight is always 20/20. I just got reviews back regarding a manuscript that I submitted back in June. Yes, it’s…
Academia is hard. Not only in terms of the difficulty of the work that we actually have to undertake – teaching, research, administration, community service…But it’s also a strain on our mental health. It hit me today, not for the first time, that I’m questioning why I’m doing this. To set the scene…I just left…
I often get some criticism for discussing international politics, because as some like to point out “you don’t live there, so stay out of it!“… So, here’s the thing – I work on research projects overseas. What happens politically in some countries affects our ability to undertake research projects. I write this post in response…
I attended my first morning tea at my new job this morning, and it seems a few people are off to the US for a conference. Funnily enough, before all of this changing jobs stuff came about, I was actually planning to attend the same conference, but then everything happened and I no longer have…
It’s interesting moving from a postdoc at one university, to a postdoc somewhere else. Things you take for granted, or things you just assume are universal, can in fact be very different. In my department at my old university, we were actively encouraged to seek out and take on extra paid consulting jobs in addition to our…
So, after almost 7 years as a postdoc here, it’s almost time for me to move on. I’ve accepted a 3 year postdoc interstate starting in 3 weeks. I don’t know how I feel about it. My contract was coming to an end, and wasn’t going to be renewed due to lack of funding. Industry…
My first blog entry! I’m starting this blog to muse about postdoc life in Australia. From the higher education sector in general, to the grant funding merry-go-round, to wanting to curl up in a ball and cry when your project fails… I’ll try to update regularly!
It's a Postdoc Life for Me! 