Prosper

A white background with coloured, abstract icons with the following quote in large text: " I found the career coaching very useful. We discussed my interests, what I might be interested in doing outside of academia, and how to better sell myself. It was really good for identifying what skills I have and how these could be applied to a myriad of different contexts elsewhere".

A white background with coloured, abstract icons with the following quote in large text: " It was a good chance to connect with a variety of postdocs from outside of my department - from different disciplines, backgrounds, parts of the campus etc - which is something we don't otherwise get the opportunity to do".

A white background with coloured, abstract icons with the following quote in large text: "You are more hireable than you think you are. A lot of postdocs think that they're only really good at what they do, but you possess a wealth of transferable skills that would be welcomed in a wide range of professions.".

A white background with coloured, abstract icons with the following quote in large text: "Take the time to actually sit and think about what you're good at, because it's very easy to just forget about it until you don't have a job anymore and you're panicking. Even if it's just an hour a week - take the time to think about your skills and career options".

Dr James Charles was a member of the University of Liverpool Prosper cohort in 2025 - we caught up with him to talk about his career journey, future plans, and experience with Prosper.

You can read the full case study over on our Portal: tinyurl.com/james-charle...

A large group of people sit at round tables in an ornate library room with tall bookshelves lining the walls. Multiple large monitors display presentation slides as a speaker stands at the front addressing the audience.

Today, we welcomed our third cohort of Prosper business-as-usual postdocs at the University of Liverpool’s delightful School of the Art’s Library space. 📚

Over the next six months, cohort members will have access to a structured career development program, career coaching and a buddy scheme.

Large conference in a modern meeting room with round tables and seated attendees listening to a female presenter. A presentation slide on screens reads “Session 3: Maintaining Prosper Community ” and “Facilitated by Stefania Silvestri.”

Panel discussion in a modern meeting room, with six speakers seated on stools at the front addressing an audience at round tables. A presentation slide on a screen reads “Session 4: Celebrating Prosper impact through storytelling” and lists speakers’ names.

We want to say a big thank you to everyone who came to our second, annual Prosper Practice Exchange event in Birmingham yesterday!

Many thanks as well to all our event speakers for contributing to the event and sharing your valuable insights with attendees.

#PPE2026

We are getting ready for our second Prosper Practice Exchange event at the Eastside rooms, Birmingham.

Excited to see all of our attendees soon!

#PPE2026

Today, we delivered a short WIP talk at #REDSConference2026 about our game-based activity aimed at dismantling the cultural barriers of interdisciplinary collaborations.

Thank you to REDs for the inspiring talks, and for allowing attendees to come together and discuss what creativity is.

We’ve made some improvements - Prosper

📣 bit.ly/4q4XEiQ Our site has been live since late summer 2023 and we’ve been continuing to evolve and improve it with your input ever since. We made some changes to improve the way you can search and navigate the site.

Read more about the changes on our blog:

Dr Sharon Lin was a member of the University of Southampton's first Prosper cohort in 2025 - we caught up with her to talk about her career journey, future plans, and experience with Prosper.

You can read the full case study over on our Portal: bit.ly/3Kr1C6l

Places are fast running out for our second Practice Exchange event in Birmingham next February 3rd – attendance is free but due to the highly interactive nature of the event, space is limited – so register now! Link: bit.ly/472b7A7

Prosper snapshots - Prosper

There are all sorts of different ways to use Prosper and the Prosper Portal to enhance postdoc career development at your institution.

We’ve compiled a select few examples here to demonstrate the variety (and perhaps provide some inspiration...): bit.ly/4pPulRn

Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

💡 We're excited about the launch of this great project by @astonpress.bsky.social and @universityofleeds.bsky.social to explore the uses of publicly available AI tools across the doctoral research ecosystem - join its launch webinar here: bit.ly/47TTaEe #AI

Thanks to all who attended our final PI Network session for 2025 earlier - and many thanks to Andrew Moss at @durham.ac.uk for leading.

For those who missed it, we'll be uploading materials to our Portal soon. In the meantime, be on the lookout for fresh PI Network sessions come the New Year!

We're at the Hilton in York today for UK Research and Innovation and C-DICE's workshop exploring the vital role of postdocs (quite a lineup of speakers, including Prosper's @fmcbride8.bsky.social)

🏰 The venue is right across from Clifford's tower, which is looking lovely in the November sunshine ☀️

Participants from our Prosper cohort deep in discussion at tables during the first workshop of their programme.

We're excited to be spending today with our current @prosperpostdoc.bsky.social cohort for the second workshop of their programme. Today we're focusing on exploring diverse career pathways, both within and beyond higher education.

We have another great PI Network session coming up next week on the 11th, from 12-1pm: bit.ly/4oYJCyN

Join Dr Andrew Moss from Durham University for a session about how organisational research culture strategy can support the development of ECRs.

There are only a few spaces left, so register now!

📅 📣 Reminder that we're hosting our 2nd Prosper Practice Exchange on 3rd Feb 2026, at The Eastside Rooms in Birmingham: bit.ly/472b7A7

We have limited space and places are going fast - so register now! You can find more info and register at the link above and below

bit.ly/472b7A7

For anyone wanting to revisit Dr Taryn Bell's excellent PI Network session on Narrative CVs - video and session materials are now live on our Portal: bit.ly/3LvMzIr

(including the link to Taryn's wonderful curated Padlet of all things NCV!)

📅 Our next PI Network session is Tuesday 11th November, 12-1pm - where we'll be joined by Andrew Moss of Durham University to talk about how organisational research culture strategy can support the development of research ambitions for ECRs. For more info and to register: bit.ly/3Kr1gMD (🧵2/2)

Many thanks to Taryn Bell for facilitating an excellent PI Network session yesterday - all about the power of Narrative CVs for career development (both for your postdocs, and your own!)

For those who missed it, or wish to revisit, we'll be putting materials on our Portal later this week (🧵 1/2)

📅 If you were (or are!) a Prosper participant, join us on 18th November for a chance to meet and connect with other Prosper 'alumni' - bit.ly/4h8K6Q2

The event is open to Prosper alumni from any HEI - you can get more info and register from the link above, or the QR code below.

Reminder that we have a PI Network session coming up in a week's time - there's still time to register via the link below!

📅 21st October, 12-1pm - a session all about how narrative CVs can be used to support career development, led by Dr Taryn Bell at the University of Leeds: bit.ly/4nTAb2S

We're proud to support this valuable initiative for postdocs across the White Rose universities @prosperpostdoc.bsky.social

📣 Register your place at our next Prosper Practice Exchange! bit.ly/472b7A7

We're heading to Birmingham on 3rd February 2026 for our second annual event.

Attendance is free, but due to the highly interactive nature of the event, spaces are limited – so register now: bit.ly/472b7A7

White Rose University Consortium - Prosper Read more about how the White Rose University Consortium (comprising the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York) implemented Prosper

@whiteroseuc.bsky.social has made Prosper one of its flagship offerings, running cross-institutional Prosper cohorts for postdocs at @york.ac.uk, @universityofleeds.bsky.social and @sheffielduni.bsky.social

Read our institutional case study on our Portal to learn more: bit.ly/4gWQ1HT

📅 11th November, 12-1pm - join Dr Andrew Moss at Durham University for a session focused on how organisational research culture strategy can support the development of research ambitions for ECRs: bit.ly/3Kr1gMD

(🧵2/2)

We've a great couple of PI Network sessions coming up for you to add to your calendars:

📅 21st October, 12-1pm - a session all about how narrative CVs can be used to support career development, led by Dr Taryn Bell at the University of Leeds: bit.ly/4nTAb2S

(🧵1/2)

📅 SAVE THE DATE!

Following a week and a half of fantastic events and conferences, we're delighted to announce the date for our next Prosper Practice Exchange. This year we're heading to The Eastside Rooms in Birmingham on 3rd Feb (10:00-16:00).

Registration will be open soon, so stay tuned!

We're having a great time on day 2 of #VitaeCon2025 - fantastic talk from Dr Julie Bayley, and a Prosper shout-out from our long-standing collaborator Dr Anne Marie Sowerbutts at The University of Manchester

We're at the @britishacademy.bsky.social Early Career Researcher Network's National Postdoc Conference today - getting ready to talk about Prosper! #NPAW2025

💡 Key quote from opening session by Professor Rebecca Earle:

"Your skills are more transferable than you might think"

We're at #IRCC25 in Warwick today - lots of great discussion and a good chance to network and catch up with colleagues from across the sector! Lots of stimulating discussion re: global research culture, contract precarity, support for mid-career researchers, the PCE pilot, and more!

"I’m currently preparing an application for a UKRI policy fellowship. The role appeals to me because it’s not pure abstract research – it’s role that translates your research into concrete policy. I guess you could say it’s a hybrid role between academia and non-academia, or ‘academia-adjacent’. It’s a step into the world outside academia and Prosper helped give me the confidence and perspective to go for it." - Dr Shunqi Zhang, social sciences researcher and member of the University of Southampton's 2025 Prosper cohort

Dr Shunqi Zhang was part of the University of Southampton's first Prosper cohort. We caught up with her to talk about her career journey and her experience with Prosper - read more on our Portal here: bit.ly/4mjnSf9

#LovePostdocs #NPAW2025