How postdoctoral fellowships build academic careers

The lived experiences of four postdoctoral research fellows at Leeds University Business School

Postdoctoral fellowships provide early-career researchers with a unique opportunity to hone their skills, expand their expertise, and make significant strides in both research and teaching.

In this blog post, we delve into the experiences, challenges, and lessons shared by four postdoctoral researchers from Leeds University Business School. These fellowships – three of which were Faculty Postdoctoral Fellowships and one which was a UK Research and Innovation-funded Fellowship - were designed to equip recent PhD graduates with the resources and mentorship needed to advance their academic careers.

Although they worked within the same research centre – the Centre for Employment Relations Innovation and Change (CERIC), Drs Ester Bolt, Abbie Winton, Jack Daly, and Lilith Brouwers each embarked on distinct journeys, with unique goals shaping their fellowship experiences. Through their reflections, they hope to inspire recent PhD graduates who are considering the next steps in their academic journey

Drs Ester Bolt, Jack Daly, Abbie Winton and Lilith Brouwers

A fellowship to develop academic and industry engagement - Dr Ester Bolt

Ester Bolt, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2023–2025), focuses her research on employee well-being, turnover and retention management, and professional identity. Her work is particularly centred on the nursing profession, with a comparative lens spanning the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Malaysia.

Ester’s fellowship is guided by three key goals: publishing high-quality academic articles, securing research funding, and fostering industry collaborations to amplify research impact.

Reflecting on her journey, Ester shared: “I was honoured to receive the prestigious University of Leeds Michael Beverley Innovation Fellowship (2023–2024). This fellowship provided invaluable opportunities to expand my healthcare and research networks across Malaysia, the UK, and the Netherlands. It enabled me to conduct fieldwork (for my projects on nurse identity in Malaysia, and in the NHS in the UK), attend and sponsor events (such as the Active Ageing Festival at Taylor’s University in Malaysia), and strengthen collaborations with international colleagues.

“When not conducting fieldwork, I focused on writing and publishing my research findings. I am happy to have authored several academic articles, including those on nurse turnover, professional identity, and the consequences nurses face when transitioning between healthcare employers. One of the highlights of my fellowship was writing an article that was published on The Conversation, (an independent news and commentary website produced by academics and journalists) that addresses the self-sacrificing culture pervasive in nursing.”

While the fellowship offered many growth opportunities, Ester acknowledged its challenges. One of the most significant hurdles was navigating the overwhelming number of opportunities.

“Postdoctoral fellowships provide invaluable experiences, including professional development sessions, research training, international conferences, networking events, and teaching. Balancing these with the demands of writing and publishing research was a challenge.

“To make the most of the fellowship, I learned to prioritize opportunities that aligned closely with my career goals. None of this would have been possible without the guidance of an incredible team of colleagues, mentors, and researchers within CERIC and beyond, who supported me in developing impactful research.”

Balancing collaboration and personal goals – Dr Jack Daly

Dr Jack Daly (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2022-Present) focuses his research on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in traditionally male-dominated occupations and industries. His fellowship goal was primarily  to publish high-quality articles, but he has also undertaken the role of co-investigator on funded projects, including: “Examining the scope for improving performance through diversity and inclusion in National Highways’ supply chain” and “Can workforce diversity stimulate transformation to a more sustainable future”.

Reflecting on his journey, Jack commented: “Throughout my postdoctoral fellowship, I have been lucky to collaborate with a fantastic group of academics within CERIC and beyond to develop impactful research. Whilst the fellowship has allowed me the space to transform the ideas born from my PhD research into high-quality journal articles, it also gave me the scope to develop my academic skills further in new research projects.

“My time throughout the fellowship has allowed me to develop my professional network not just with international academics but with links into the industry, providing me the opportunity to put our research into action. Collaborating with a multitude of stakeholders within the highways and construction industry, alongside ongoing research in the financial and legal sectors, has highlighted both the importance of conducting meaningful research and how we can translate this into substantive changes within firms.

“The fellowship offers almost unlimited opportunities for your professional development, be it research or teaching focussed. Personally, it gave me the space to develop new research streams as I began developing research into critical feminist perspectives on current climate change strategies.

“Yet this provides its own challenges as an Early Career Academic. Balancing the competing demands of ongoing research and developing ideas into articles has required strong discipline and focus that can sometimes wane.”

Collaborative work: my experience on a major European project – Dr Abbie Winton

Dr Abbie Winton (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2023-present) has been working on a UKRI-funded project ‘Humans in Digital Logistics’ which explores the use of technology in warehousing across Europe and how it is shaping the nature of work in the sector. Primarily, Abbie was keen to work on a project that fostered academic and non-academic collaboration, something she felt was missing in her doctoral studies.

Reflecting on her journey, Abbie said: “I was blessed with an outstanding supervisory team throughout my doctoral studies, but I ultimately struggled with the fact that the work was primarily a solitary pursuit. It was important for me, therefore, when applying for a postdoctoral fellowship that this new experience would allow me to collaborate more closely with colleagues who shared similar interests in the world of work and technological change.  

“Throughout the experience, I have been grateful to work with many colleagues in the UK and beyond who have stretched my abilities as an Early Career Researcher. For me, the best ideas come from collaborative working and I have been fortunate to work with a team at Leeds who give me the space to develop my own research portfolio but is also highly engaged in working together to get our research published in high-quality journals. Since we have almost finished our data analysis and have a few papers in the pipeline, this will be our primary goal for 2025.

“We have also been successful in securing funding from Leeds University Business School’s Impact and Engagement Support Fund to further develop local networks of non-academic stakeholders involved with the support of warehouse workers, particularly those with a migrant background. As a team, we have a shared ambition to ensure our research is of use within our local communities and have adopted a co-productive approach to developing recommendations off the back of our rich evidence base.

“Fostering and maintaining these relationships can of course be challenging, particularly in cases where stakeholders are engaging with limited time and resources, but it certainly pays to step out of the academic bubble once in a while.”

Impact: time and space to make a difference early in your career – Dr Lilith Brouwers

Dr Lilith Brouwers (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2022-2024) focuses their research on informal work, hyper-precarity, agency use of marginalised workers, labour mobility power, and research ethics when researching marginalised groups. Their PhD research was the first project to map employment relationships in full-service sex work in England. During the fellowship, Lilith focused on creating research impact on local, grassroots, national and international level.  

Reflecting on the Fellowship, Lilith shared: “After researching a topic that has strong implications for policy and social change, I felt I owed it to my participants to make sure the findings reached people with the power to make change happen. Early career researchers rarely have the chance to make impact the focus of their time and attention, so I feel very thankful to have had two years to build my networks, share my findings, and to educate and support people in the field.

“I started by applying for the Leeds University Business School Impact and Engagement Support Fund, and this financial and practical support was essential in developing my programme of impact activities. I then published the report “I feel safe when I’m working with her”: Sex workers’ experiences of management and other third parties, which lays out the research findings of my PhD research in an accessible form for practitioners and policymakers. The report launch was attended by organisations from four countries, and was accompanied by a podcast (with thanks to Jack for hosting!) and a blog post.

“As a result of this impact work, my research was directly cited in the Comment Protecting the Human Rights of Sex Workers by the Human Rights Commissioner to the Council of Europe.

“I have had the chance to build strong networks with grassroots organisations as well as international institutions, leading to speaking engagements, the chance to train practitioners, and the chance to consult on large national research projects.

“While impact is important, the time in the fellowship is limited and it would have been great to have been able to devote more time to writing and applying for research funding: no academic career is possible without academic outputs. Thankfully, I have found a great new academic home, and have joined the ESRC-funded project - L-earning: rethinking young women’s working lives - as a Research Fellow in Gender and Work, where the team were looking for a new member with extensive impact experience.”

Illustration by Dr Ester Bolt

Postdoctoral Fellowships provide an excellent platform for early career researchers (ECRs) to advance their research skills and gain insights from more experienced colleagues. These Fellowships not only foster individual development but also strengthen the academic community by building capacity in key research areas and in emerging fields.

Supporting the personal development and progression of our ECRs is an integral part of the School’s culture. Beyond Fellowships, we offer support systems led by our senior academics, including access to resources, collaborative grant opportunities, and external networking initiatives. These efforts are designed to nurture ECRs' career trajectories and help them establish a strong professional foundation.

Our ECRs benefit from mentorship and tailored training schemes, co-authorship opportunities, and workload allowances to support participation in professional development activities. We also encourage and assist ECRs in applying for internal funding schemes, equipping them with valuable experience in grant writing and portfolio development.

Additionally, our ECRs participate in postgraduate supervisory teams with guidance and leadership from senior academics to develop supervision skills, enabling them to become future research leaders.