‘Post-PhD transition fund’ urged to ease pressure on postdocs

Each UK doctoral graduate should be paid a three-month stipend immediately after they submit their PhD thesis to give them time to find suitable employment, a new report on early-career researchers recommends.

In a collection of essays published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) and the British Academy on 29 February, the idea of a “post-PhD transition fund” is suggested by Gemma Tidman, a Leverhulme early career research fellow in comparative literature at Queen Mary University of London, who suggests the support would “relieve new postdocs of the pressure to accept any old work, however poor the conditions”.

“Three months is not much, but it could be a lifeline for those needing the headspace to recover, complete PhD corrections, job hunt or retrain,” states Dr Tidman, who argues that this “post-PhD support should be available to all PhD graduates, regardless of funding status”.

The stipend would be available for any PhD graduate without a salary above the living wage and would be “activated upon thesis submission” explains Dr Tidman.

“Those just out of a PhD need money: this much we know. But they also need time. Time to rest and recalibrate after years with all eyes on the finish line,” she adds of the proposed payment, which at a quarter of the minimum £19,237 tax-free PhD stipend would equate to £4,809 per student.

Dr Tidman explains that the payment could help to prevent PhD “burnout” and could be piloted by funding agencies with a view to improving the well-being and job prospects of doctoral graduates.

The UK government should also improve the career prospects of recent PhD graduates by introducing a “research tax credits scheme” to encourage non-university employers to take on new doctoral degree recipients, says Dr Tidman, who notes the existence of a similar scheme in France.

“Helping employers discover the valuable skills and experience gained during a PhD would produce a virtuous circle, in which postdocs have increasingly rich and varied job prospects; businesses profit from highly skilled employees; and universities must begin to offer genuine careers again – with progression from early-career academia through to late – so as to retain their primary asset: their people,” writes Dr Tidman.

jack.grove@timeshighereducation.com