An academic career is never a straight line. Or at least, I’ve never seen one which was a straight line from the inside. Some look straightforward from the outside, but for the individual are full of weird coincidences, backtracking, and random chance.
I’d refer to what my career has been so far as a ‘portfolio career’ – that is, one made up of lots of little bits and pieces of work. Short term contracts, different departments, roles, and even different universities. I’ve worked up to 9 contracts at the same time in varying amounts, and I’ve worked at 5 different universities in Australia, usually 3 at a time.
But 2023 is different. 2023 is big. This year, I have a full time postdoctoral position at a new university in Denmark. It’s the first time in 10 years I’ve had a single job with full time hours, and the first time it’s been an academic one. I graduated with my PhD in the middle of 2019, so it’s been 4 years of chasing opportunities.
So this will be a new journey in lots of ways. New discoveries, new challenges, and a whole lot to write about.
See you around.