For researcher development teamsI help stretched researcher developers put their researchers in the driving seat
Ready to run provision you can point to with confidence? I'll design it, deliver it and hand you the evidence.
You're doing skilled work with a thin team, a squeezed budget and nobody experienced to hand any of it to. I'm Dr Emma Williams: physicist, former postdoc, and 24 years in researcher development. Workshops, programmes and coaching, built around your researchers and your brief.
"This is our most popular programme, consistently oversubscribed, and it boasts an exceptional retention rate of over 80%, a figure that is virtually unheard of in the current climate."
Free to use
Want researchers who move forward even when budgets don't?
Start with these free tools. Use them yourself, or pass them straight to your researchers.
The Researcher Canvas
Their research and career on one page. The visual tool behind Get That Fellowship.
Thinking of leaving academia?
A short quiz to see where they are, and which way they're leaning.
The Leaving Academia toolkit
Twelve free tools from the book, to move on at the right time: from peak to peak, avoiding the plateau.
"Emma mentioned some skills and experiences I wasn't considering them to be useful in the application."
Ways to work with me
Find your way in
Start small or go big. The white cards are for researchers, the lilac cards for universities.
The books
Four books on fellowships, postdoc life and moving on.
Two Amazon bestsellers, one featured in NatureYour Next Move
One hour of career coaching, just between us. You leave knowing your next move and why it's yours.
UNIque for you
Eight weeks with 20+ women across universities, working out what you want from your career and how to go after it.
Workshops
Fellowships, careers, CVs, LinkedIn and more, half day or full day, designed around your researchers.
UNIque for your women researchers
You send me the email addresses. I handle everything else, and you get the reports.
Programmes and evaluation
Routes to independence, leadership programmes and evaluation that shows the impact you know is there.
"Very organised, really invested in making the experience valuable for all involved and a nicely structured workshop with a good balance of speaking and work. Materials provided as well, which was amazing. Emma was so on top of everything I had minimal input!"
Not sure which fits? Tell me what you need and we'll work it out together.
Book a 30-minute chat
Why me
I've sat on both sides of your desk
I was a postdoc once: the MRI physicist at Cambridge's Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, wondering what came next.
Then in 2002 I became the person running researcher development, building the University of Cambridge's programme in its early days. Thin team, plenty to prove, a programme I wanted to be proud of. I know what you're carrying.
And I know what your researchers are up against. They're super literate, super numerate, problem solving, project managing warriors, and too often they're stuck. My job is to get them moving, and to make it easy for you to say yes. Our world needs the brightest and best in every sphere.
24 years in researcher development · 500+ researchers coached across 600+ sessions · 420 women through UNIque · Four books
Let's talk
Provision you can point to with confidence starts with a 30-minute chat
Tell me what your researchers need this year. We'll work out whether I'm the right partner and what it could look like.
"Emma supported prospective fellows at York, providing advice on everything from application writing to choosing the best schemes. She also provided training and interview practice for our FLF candidates. Everyone found her helpful, knowledgeable and supportive."
Not ready to talk yet?
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