The Postdoc Academy (formerly the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs) was established in 2013 as the lead University organisation relating to the postdoctoral community.
This was a recognition of the vital and growing significance of postdoctoral staff to the University’s success – and part of major commitments that the University has made to postdoc support.
With its unique overview of the postdoctoral community in Cambridge and beyond, the role of the Postdoc Academy is to enable each individual postdoc to realise their potential in their own ambitions and in contributing to the University and society as a whole.
Our aims are:
- To provide a central point of reference for information about the situation and experience of postdocs to assess need, coordinate delivery and measure progress
- To communicate to postdocs information about all the resources and opportunities that are available to them and how to access them
- To ensure that postdocs and their families have access to a range of pastoral and other support relevant to their wellbeing
- To ensure that postdocs have opportunities to develop their careers in different ways
- To ensure that postdocs have opportunities to network as a community and are embedded as a cohesive part of the University community
- To ensure that the importance of postdocs is recognised more widely and that postdocs are heard and represented at different levels of University governance and management
- To create and support relationships between the University and industry, public and charitable sector that support opportunities for postdocs and create an entrepreneurial spirit
- To ensure that the University meets or exceeds best practice in supporting postdocs
- To facilitate the delivery of HR excellence to postdocs as a specific staff grouping.
We do this by:
- Collecting and assessing information relevant to the needs and experiences of postdocs
- Communicating information about, and facilitating access to, the existing support available
- Identifying areas of need and potential improvement, collaborating with other services and organisations, and/or developing solutions
- Providing facilities and services and/or advocating to implement solutions
- Sharing best practice locally, nationally and internationally to effect change in support for postdocs.
Our core work covers the following areas:
- Professional Development
- Entrepreneurship
- Leadership Fellowships
- Policy
- Postdoc Networks
- Leadership Training
- Corporate Engagement
- Communication
- Colleges
- Pastoral Services
- Postdoc Centres