They haven't always been referred to as postdocs but for many years they've been
the engine that drives Cambridge's world-class research.
There are now about 4,000 postdocs working throughout collegiate Cambridge and that's an
increase of 160 percent since 2000.
That's a very significant change for an
institution with an 800 year history.
One of our major commitments is that we
will always excel in research but this requires investment and the university's
full commitment to supporting people who are at the front line of research, that
is our postdoctoral community.
In 2013, construction started on the Eddington
development. A vibrant new centre for researchers and a permanent dedicated
centre for postdocs.
So the postdocs are the driving force
behind cutting-edge research coming from the University of Cambridge and they are
the ones actually doing the work and producing novel findings.
They are the future leaders of academia, of policy, of strategy, of society, of Industry and our
entire world.
Research is now much more a global activity, a collaborative
activity, an interdisciplinary activity, providing space for postdocs who are
really leading in the next generation of research that we will undertake is critical.
My research is about exoplanets which is one of the most exciting topics
there is currently. It drives a lot of young researchers. So the final question
that we're trying to get is how frequently there is life in the universe
it's a very old question and it's something that we haven't found life yet
but we're getting there and that's really exciting that's what really drives
many of us.
My research is an action research
project and what we are doing is building communities of learning between
universities and between criminal justice organisations if we can help to
think about what kinds of mechanisms mean that socially we can integrate more,
we can work together in productive ways, we can be challenged out of our comfort
zones to think how do we do these things better
that actually we could help as universities and as criminal justice
institutions, to know how do we build a better of more cohesive society.
Machine learning has only been attributed to speech recognition, to
vision, to data mining, to videos but I think that combined to robotics we can
have more robots sharing the same environment that we human beings have
helping elderly people, in schools, in houses.
In the last 10 years we
understand much more about the causes of type 2 diabetes and especially about the
complex genetics that contribute to why some people develop the disease and
other people do not develop the disease.
I'm looking at how we can engineer
surfaces and materials to capture as much of the sun's light as possible
we're all using energy and as the world population grows the energy crisis is
going to get bigger solar is poised to make a huge impact in
the coming century and I'm very happy to be part of the effort in making that happen.
I see people who come in with depression and schizophrenia and how
badly they're affected by their disease. In five years time we may actually have
any treatment for these people and I find that to be really exciting.
Postdocs are imperative to research but with increasing numbers they face huge
challenges both professionally and personally.
Science is an evolution, it's a long-term process. I think the nature of short-term
contracts often brings in short-term thinking. Not many professions require you
to move and change positions so frequently.
So I went through four different universities
in four different countries in almost in as many years it
means that you have to rebuild your life every so years in a different place,
different country, different set of laws. It's nice, it's really rewarding to to
meet different people but it's also it takes its toll because your friends are left
and when you bring a partner for instance, you have to ensure that they
can go into the country and that's tough.
While the postdocs are settling into
their new working pattern it's their families who find it very hard to sort
themselves out and find their own way around. It can often be a lonely and
bewildering time and we're there to help.
You have to be thinking about your
career development through, throughout every single poster right from the start
because contracts are short you you never really get comfortable in an in a
single project before you're starting to think about the next one.
If I think about why postdocs are important for what the university does
I think they can bring a sort of embodiment into into research and into teaching the sort of
is a lifeblood to the university but there's a way that stuck me as a
university we have to think if that is a lifeblood how do we keep it alive in
ways that are also sustainable for people.
P doc is Postdocs of Cambridge, a Society for postdocs it's been going for
about 14 years now. So a heavy number of people in the university who are often
feel a little bit invisible... certainly outside of colleges and their departments .
Colleges provide these sort of spaces to students and those who are
fellow into colleges but most of the postdocs are not so that's where
Postdocs Centres' role is very important that they can bridge that gap
So the Postdoc Centre is almost like a college without walls.
It's very important for postdocs to have this sort of informal opportunity to meet up
Having a space that's free to access that you can come together as a group to
do the things that not only help you to do you day to day job but help you
develop your career in the long term it's kind of essential.
EPOC stands for the entrepreneurial postdocs at Cambridge. EPOC is only a young
organization and without the support of the opda we would never been able to
grow as fast as we have done and been as successful as we have done in this short amount of time.
Northwest Cambridge has been a major part of my life for the
last several years, it's a really exciting, pioneering project which will
transform the University and it will transform the city.
Eddington is an unprecedented development that the University of Cambridge has embarked on.
It provides subsidised housing for staff, it provides nursery/primary school,
community centres, all sorts of amenities this is extraordinary in the higher education sector.
I hope that Eddington will provide connection and community
for the postdocs who live and work in Cambridge and the opportunity to be part
of our intellectual community that shares collaborates and forges new paths.
When you realise that you're in front of a big discovery I think many, many
researchers have that sort of rush. I think that's also what keeps a lot of us
in in research - when you discover, it's beautiful
I think that the same way the Industrial Revolution was very important back then
even though it took many jobs away, it drove society forward I think that
robotics combined to machine learning can do the same thing.
Postdocs come from
virtually every country in the world and you can just bump up against people from
fantastically amazing backgrounds from all over and it's bringing together
people from different disciplines together and just building off this
community I think this is something which is unique to Cambridge so why
would you not want to be here.
I came here because I wanted to be
internationally relevant and have international currency and I think I've
stayed here because I've found that the International wealth of knowledge and
people and experience that is in this kind of small City, has kept me alive
I don't think I ever intended to stay here but it sort of has been my doorway into
the world.