Catherine, university lecturerCatherine started her academic career in the History Department at Warwick University. She followed her degree with an MA in Religious and Social History. Then she researched ‘Colonial Early Modern England’ for her PhD. ‘After my PhD I began looking for an academic post but opportunities to teach in my area of history were few,’ says Catherine. ‘It took three years and 50 applications to get my present job as the American History specialist at Manchester Metropolitan University.’ I developed a portfolio career to keep me afloat financially. The department at Warwick was supportive and gave me the opportunity to teach North American History. I lectured the second year course in Colonial Social History, sometimes on an hourly basis and sometimes on a temporary contract. I also helped with the history provision in the adult education open studies centre. My teaching skills were developed by completing the Warwick Teaching Certificate which leads to Associateship of the Academic Academy. Another part-time job was as a marketing assistant at jobs.ac.uk. I attended conferences for them and wrote articles for their site. My job seeking started with a scatter gun approach and became more focused with time. Only four or five jobs a year came up that were really what I wanted, but eventually my persistence paid off and I look forward to developing the American History provision at Manchester Metropolitan University.’ back to top Christopher, pharmaceutical scientist‘I researched biomarkers for my PhD in the Occupational and Environmental Health Department at Newcastle University,' says Chris Jones. 'Previously I had obtained a degree in chemistry and a Masters in Molecular Toxicology and Pathology at Leicester University. During my Masters degree, I had a placement in a pharmaceutical company and enjoyed the experience. It taught me a lot about drug discovery and toxicology and helped me decide to do my PhD in a related area of research. My PhD studies involved analysing blood and urine samples of Chinese workers who had been at risk of exposure to high levels of toxic chemical during their employment. The biomarkers (urinary metabolites, protein and DNA adducts) confirmed exposure to high levels of toxic substances, and these levels correlated strongly with physical symptoms including headaches and nausea. When my PhD was nearing completion, I considered doing postdoctoral research in a university and opportunities were available for me to work in the USA. I was more attracted to employment in the pharmaceutical industry, partly because my placement experience had been positive and also because I enjoy industrial research and have access to the latest technology. The financial rewards and a permanent job are also an attraction. Currently I'm employed by Astra Zeneca as a drug metabolism pharmaceutical scientist in Cheshire. I've been promoted to assistant team leader which involves, amongst other things, leading a small team of DMPK scientists to deliver in vitro metabolism data to support discovery projects. It's a challenging job which I find very rewarding.' DMPK is a multidisciplined area, so individuals have varied backgrounds including biochemistry, biology, chemistry, mathematics and engineering.’
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