Navigating a research career is tough

But no one said you have to do it alone.

Are you at peak postdoc, gliding the plateau or hit the plummet? Or PhD poised for next step?

Stopping to take stock and explore your options is so important but too often I see researchers head down, working in their careers, not on them.

• Want to explore the next academic step?
• What to explore careers beyond academia?
• Are just overwhelmed by your options (trust me you have more than you think!)

I’ve been working with bright, sparky people like yourself for over 20 years in workshops and talks. But there is nothing like one to one coaching to move you forward. Time to get those career thoughts out from racing around your head. There is always clarity in the conversation. And my approach is practical and straight forward – you will be leaving with action steps!

*personal chemistry, no molecules involved as I’m a physicist

You’re in the right place if…

• You want to apply for a fellowship. I’ve helped with applications to most major schemes: Future Leaders Fellowships, Leverhulme, Royal Society, and others.
• You want to apply for a lectureship.
• You want to apply for a non-academic job. I’ve helped people land roles from science communicator to civil service.
• You have an interview coming up, academic or otherwise, and need a practice that will challenge and support you.
• You are just not sure of your next career step and want a sounding board.
• You need an accountability partner to stay on track with your career progress.

Hello! I’m Emma

A physics degree, PhD and postdoc at the University of Cambridge taught me two things: how to solve genuinely hard problems, and how much of academic life runs on unwritten rules nobody ever explains to you.

I moved into researcher development in 2002, leading Graduate Development and then co-heading Academic Development at Cambridge. Same puzzle, different desk: brilliant people, no map for what came next.

Researchers are super literate, super numerate, problem solving, project managing warriors. What most are never taught is how to point all of that at their own career.

I coach researchers, PhD students, postdocs, lecturers, professors, and everyone weighing a move outside academia altogether, to take their next step positively, proactively and in time. Driving seat of your career, not passenger seat of somebody else’s plan.

In April 2025, I was named an Inspirational Woman in STEM and Construction. That same year, my third book Leaving Academia was highlighted by Nature as one of nine career guides, and shortlisted for the Business Book Awards. It follows What Every Postdoc Needs to Know (2nd ed. 2024), described by Oxford’s Careers Service as “the postdoc bible,” and Get That Fellowship with the Researcher Canvas. My work coaching, writing and training as an independent researcher development consultant spans universities and research institutes across the UK and further afield.