Academic career (doctoral students and teaching)
Do you have a doctorate and would like to embark on an academic career as a researcher or teacher? These jobs are as stimulating and exhilarating as they are difficult to land. We can provide you with teams, resources and advice to help you in your quest and give you every chance of success.
Graduate campus
The mission of the Graduate Campus is to provide information and support to students intending to pursue a doctorate or post-doctorate. The Graduate Campus helps you to achieve your personal goals at UNIL and prepare for a successful academic career.
In most disciplines, the period directly following the award of a doctorate is known as a postdoc, or postdoctoral experience. Other names and functions exist, varying from one country to another and from one institution to another, but all are understood as an obligatory step on the path leading to a professorship or a stable research post.
All the statistics confirm that the chances of obtaining such a post are not increased, which has the effect of prolonging the wait, and the number of successive posts. The need for international mobility and a large number of publications makes the process even more difficult, as does the succession of short-term contracts. Achieving your personal career goals in this context is therefore a real challenge.
But an academic career has its share of highly motivating aspects! The creation of new knowledge in interaction with the body of current knowledge and an international scientific community, teaching and guiding the next generation of researchers: most people involved in this profession wouldn't change it for the world!
On the other hand, you need to take a good look at what's ahead and decide whether this is really the right path for you. This means asking yourself honestly about your motivations, your interests, and what you are willing to sacrifice (or precisely not sacrifice).
If this choice has been made, or at least you've decided to give it a try, we now need to talk about the options open to you, and the requirements specific to your field.