Luis Alvarez / Getty Images

Getting an Academic Research Position

For researchers in the natural sciences seeking to take their next career step, either as a new postdoc or in a new faculty role

11 experts in research career development, including experienced academic researchers, Nature Portfolio journal Editors, and coaching and careers specialists

9.5 hours of learning

10-30-minute bite-sized lessons

4-module course with certificate

About this course

‘Getting an Academic Research Position’ will show researchers how to get an academic research position that suits them perfectly. It will teach them the skills to find, select and apply to suitable roles, send tailored applications, and impress potential employers at the interview.

What you’ll learn

  • How to find potential career opportunities that align with your personal attributes, desires and goals 
  • How to apply for positions in a way that will highlight your strongest attributes and most relevant qualities
  • How to present yourself authentically and effectively during all stages of the interview process, giving you the best possible chance of success
  • How to assess whether a job you are offered is suitable and choose between competing job offers

The course

Free Sample
Exploring your values, interests, skills and career goals

9 lessons 2h

Get access

Free Sample
Finding a research position

6 lessons 2h

Get access

Free Sample
Applying for a research position

9 lessons 2h 30m

Get access

Free Sample
Excelling at the interview

8 lessons 2h 30m

Get access

Free Sample
Getting an Academic Research Position: Free Sample

No subscription yet? Try this free sample to preview lessons from the course

4 lessons 1h 10m

Start this module

Developed with expert academics and professionals

This course has been created with an international team of experts with a wide range of experience, including:

  • An international team of researchers with experience hiring for academic positions
  • Nature Portfolio journal Editors with extensive expertise in career development
  • Professionals with backgrounds in continued professional development, researcher coaching, and mentorship and graduate career services

Hanah Margalit

Professor, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

David Payne

Managing Editor, Careers & Supplements, Springer Nature

Gaynor Roberts

Head of Continuing Professional Development, Springer Nature

Liane Siu Slaughter

Career and Communication Coach, Clear Water Science Consulting

Laura Stark

Director of Graduate Career Services, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University

Advice from experienced researchers

The course also has additional insights through interviews from:

Nowsheen Goonoo

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Mauritius

Antentor “AJ” Othrell Hinton Jr

Investigator and Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University

Jack Leeming

Senior Editor, Careers, Nature

Mark Richards

Senior Teaching Fellow, Imperial College London

C. Daniela Robles-Espinoza

Assistant Professor, National Autonomous University of Mexico

Meng How Tan

Associate Professor, Nanyang Technological University

Discover related courses

Networking for Researchers

Create and nurture professional relationships for mutual benefit

Advancing Your Scientific Presentations

Communicate your results in an engaging and memorable way

Access options

For researchers

Access to courses is by subscription via your lab, department or institution

Already have access?
Register or log in to access a course.

Unsure?
Find out here.

No subscription?
Subscriptions are not available to individual users
You can, however:

For institutions, departments and labs

Find out which of our subscription plans best suits your needs

Does my institution provide full course access?


When registering, you’ll be asked to select your institution first. If your institution is listed, it has subscribed and provides full access to our on-demand courses catalogue.


My institution isn’t listed!


Select „other“ and register with an individual account. This allows you to access all our free sample course modules, and our entirely free course on peer review.
You might also want to recommend our courses to your institution.

I am in charge of purchasing training materials for our lab / department / institution.

Start this course


Full course access via institutional subscription only. More info

Institutions, departments and labs:
Give your research full access to our entire course catalogue

Luis Alvarez / Getty Images