Amidst hyper-competition for funding and jobs, the academic career path is becoming harder to pursue for most early career researcher (ECR)s. Furthermore, few ECRs think about their future career trajectory during or after their doctorate, and many lack sufficient access to training and career development opportunities. In this session, Mat will share the perspective of European doctoral candidates and junior researchers on what is needed to make a sustainable research career, and discuss what factors contribute to researcher ‘precarity’. Finally, Mat will explore how to remain employable in spite of the new challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Mathew Tata, Eurodoc, General Board Member.

Mathew is a postdoctoral researcher from the UK and currently works as a neurobiologist in Stockholm, Sweden. In addition to serving as a General Board Member in Eurodoc, he also chairs it's Employment and Career Development Working Group.