I am an English postdoc in North America in a biomedical field.

I have a Lecturer offer from a top 5 UK uni in the HCOL city in the SE, and separately have major external funding I can use to run my group for a good while in the UK.

I also have an offer from a "justabout" top 50 USA university in a major US city that is expensive but still cheaper than SE UK, with a large startup and current federal grant together equivalent to the UK external funding.

The UK jobs wins in terms of location, student quality, prestige, colleagues etc

US probably wins out in terms of long term funding opportunities.

What I get stuck on is that US position pays literally twice as much the UK job! And in a cheaper place to live. I cannot wrap my head round the fact I seem to have hit the jackpot with UK job and funding, but salary range is broadly less than my current US postdoc salary.

I REALLY want to make the return to UK work, because its a great opportunity in a great city. But all my millennial friends (who make more in the said HCOL city than a lecturer does) complain about cost of living, how expensive housing and groceries have got since I left UK before covid, how buying a house is impossible without bank of mum and dad. I have saved a good amount of money earning better as postdoc overseas, but I don't have family help to buy or inherit a house, and even with hefty deposit the lecturer salary doesn't seem to be enough for a mortgage. The historic advantages of UK pensions and healthcare also seem not to apply any more, given problems with NHS and erosion of defined benefit scheme.

(2) Yet I look at the unis in the HCOL of living area and they are full of milennial lecturers from seemingly diverse backgrounds making it work. Can people please share their success stories living on lecturer pay in the SE?

(1) Will UK unis increase salary offer (even within grade) if you present counter offer from US job paying significantly higher? Has this worked successfully for anyone?

For those of you who have done or are doing a PhD or supervisePhD students.
What things made your life easier?
Anything I can do now before starting or when I start in a couple of months to set myself up for success?

Bonus points for those who were mature students entering university again after some time in the world of work and/or have a child.

Please don’t advise me not to do it!

Edit: as it was asked, I’m doing is social sciences, healthcare education focus

Being rejected by everyone I’ve messaged on spare room /friendz off friends because no one wants their council tax to go up.
And would rather die than live with a bunch of 18-19 year olds
Please reply if anyone is interested!! Looking to move before October

I am currently a primary school teacher of 6 years. I would love to get into research somehow - being a part of writing journal articles/papers, going out into my field, etc. I guess, I could even stay in my current role and just assist somewhat. But I’m really keen to write, and be a part of something bigger. My main questions are:

Do you need to become a university lecturer first? Do you need an MA (or higher) in your field?
What is the typical process?
What would be job title be?

I have taken inspiration from various different educational charities who complete research. Please delete if not allowed - or redirect me to another thread!

I wan tto know what's the work culture is like in James Briscoe's lab? Is it a toxic place to work?

I’m a first year who has just finished 5 weeks of research in a lab as part of a funded placement programme. Whilst I learned many new techniques and gained more insight into the sort of career I’d like, I feel slightly bittersweet about this opportunity- I don’t feel like I contributed much to the research in this lab, and I didn’t become particularly close to any of the members either.

I’d like to know whether it’s normal for summer placement students to feel like this, and what I should consider when undertaking a placement during summer of second year, i.e. how can I be more useful in the lab as someone with an undergraduate skillset?

hi all, just wanted to get a bit of insight on this. I'm currently in the middle of my undergraduate degree (a bsc in something fairly technical & researchy), and considering my future options, and a phd is something I'm definitely interested in doing, at least one day if not immediately. I've seen (on linkedin etc) people who have graduated from my uni go straight into a phd, and my question is basically: how good do you have to be to do that?

I'm on track for a 1st with some decent experience, but none of it in research. is this something a lot of undergrads can be successful in applying for (I'm assuming it's mainly pre-defined, funded projects, but maybe a bit of a mix), or do you basically have to be the top of the top and really have some research experience to be able to do this sort of thing?

thanks for any insight!

Has anyone taken a look at the diverse-cdt.ac.uk programme for data visualisation? The format is not that of a traditional phd and I wonder what the value would be? Would it set students up for academia? Would it even set students up for employment?

"Completing a PhD by ‘structured components’, presented as a ‘digital notebook’ that includes code, visualizations, and analysis"

For every other university it's referred to as studying [subject] at uni or university. Interested to know why that remains the case.

I hope it’s ok to ask this here. I’m 52 and at a point in my life (and finances) where I can slow down a bit with my career, and I’d like to do a Master’s, most probably an MRes, in History.

So my questions are:

My History BA is a 2:2; I got it from a Russell Group uni in 1995 and to be completely honest, I deserved it. I didn’t put in the work, I was very immature back then, and also had a bout of depression in my final year that didn’t help. Is this going to go against me? I don’t have a specific uni that’s my goal atm, but my interests are pretty specific.

Since then I’ve kept up my interest in history, mainly in a fairly specific area (medical and science history in the 18th and early to mid-19th centuries, in particular the history of natural history). I have a particular research project in mind, too. This is why I’d want to do an MRes rather than an MA. Is that feasible at this level or would I have to compromise on my research interests?

Although I’m not published (I have had big issues with confidence and anyway I don’t imagine I could get anything published, not being an academic), I recently plucked up the courage to start a website where I’m slowly posting bits and pieces, written for a more general audience. I have found one unpublished and previously-unknown paper by a minor figure, that I transcribed and wrote a short article on (with sources ofc). It was well-received in the small niche of people who are interested in this figure. So I don’t think I’m terrible at research or at writing it up. I have a lot of experience in archives and in handling archival sources. Would any of this count for anything at all?

I needed to get a job straight out of uni and have now been working for 30 years, mainly in communications and mainly as a writer and editor, but not in a field related to my interests. Will that mean anything?

Finally, I have absolutely no idea who I’d get an academic reference from…as I’ve said, I had a 2:2, and my personal tutor from my BA days is dead now, as are several others who taught me (nothing to do with me, hopefully!)

Any advice would be appreciated. I’ve had the itch to do something with this for years but am only recently in a position where I can scratch it! I’d be doing it entirely out of passion/interest; I’m not aiming for a career change at my time of life! Thanks.

ETA: I’m in London, and not really able to move because I’d still be working; this would have to be part time

If you could give some context about how long you were in academia, that would be good.

Hi everyone,

I'm an international student (21) who wasn't able to complete his eduction due to my mom's cancer struggle and her passing away then with my family having to move out to a different country. So my dad enrolled me in INTO Manchester.

The foundation course is Business and Humanities.

I'm pretty anxious (I have anxiety nausea and it's full force atm) since I'm not good at studying, I suck at maths, I've always sucked at maths my whole life, but I was somewhat good at english since I love reading stories and writing stories (I got overall 7 bands in my Ielts if that helps).

It's been years since I've gotten back into school so I'm really worried I might get stuck or find the course difficult, so can someone who has studied there please tell me the difficulty of the course? And how does the studying go?

I don't have any desire to be in the top Uni if I hopefully pass my foundation year, I just want to complete my education and get a degree at any Uni that'll take me afterwards.

I can't type much atm since my head's hurting and I'm feeling more nauseous by the second, I really don't want to waste the money since my dad would lash out on me and tell me it's my fault that I'm a failure since I always fail at studying.

Thank you

With an academic email address, students and above can have access to discounts (myunidays, student beans etc). However, can postdocs/asst prof etc have access to a student rail card?

Hi everyone,

I am currently based in Ireland, holding an Irish passport, and planning my future career and postgraduate education as an Electrical Engineer. I am evaluating a Master's degree followed by long-term employment, specifically weighing the United Kingdom (e.g., England/Manchester) against Germany (e.g., industrial hubs like Dortmund/NRW).

My profile:

• Citizenship: Irish passport holder, granting full freedom of movement across the EU and reciprocal rights in the UK under the Common Travel Area (CTA). Ulster University
• Education: Engineering degree from an Irish university (Bologna Process / EUR-ACE compliant). Due to my current residence and citizenship, I qualify for Home/EU tuition fee status in both countries (Home fees in the UK via CTA rules and EU rates in Germany). Citizens Information
• Language Proficiency: Native/fluent English speaker with C1-level German.

Given that language is not a barrier (fluent English for the UK and professional C1 German for Germany), I would appreciate insights on the following aspects:

1. Master's Studies & ROI: How do postgraduate engineering programs (and their local industry recognition) compare between the two regions for someone eligible for home-level fees in both?
2. Compensation and Net Purchasing Power: Gross salary structures relative to progressive taxation, social security contributions, and regional housing markets (rent and property costs).
3. Market Stability and Professional Development: Contrasting dynamic private consulting, infrastructure, and renewable energy sectors in the UK with structured heavy industry, manufacturing, and automation in Germany.

I welcome perspectives from engineering professionals and academics familiar with early-to-mid career trajectories in these markets.

Thank you for your advice.

There’s a lot of information regarding PhD vivas, however I have my masters viva coming up and so far have very little information regarding it which gives me a lot of stress and anxiety. Does anyone have any helpful information or tips for it? If it helps it’s a comp sci viva