Vitae

Vitae is a national organisation for the personal, professional & career development of doctoral researchers and research staff in higher education institutions and research institutes.  It builds on work and activities of the UK GRAD Programme for postgraduate researchers and is funded by the Research Councils UK.

The site offers information and guidance on many aspects of postgraduate research.  The Careers section provides you with information and guidance to think about how you can manage your career.  It can help you to think about what you want to do, navigate recruitment processes and manage your career over the long term.

What do researchers do?  Doctoral graduate destinations and impact three years on 2010

This publication provides comprehensive evidence of the value of doctoral study to researchers, their employers and society at large. It identifies six distinct 'occupational clusters' of doctoral graduates and illustrates how you contribute to innovation and knowledge transfer through using your knowledge, skills and experience in research and non-research roles across all employment sectors.

What do researchers do?  First destinations of doctoral graduates by subject 2009

This publication shows the analysis of first employment destinations of doctoral graduates 2003-2007 from UK universities by discipline and subject, including illustration of the range of occupations undertaken by doctoral graduates.

What do researchers do?  Career profiles of doctoral graduates 2009

This publication provides a collection of 40 career profiles and around 1000 first destination job titles of doctoral graduates.

What do researchers do?  Career profiles of doctoral entrepreneurs 2010

This publication provides a collection of 30 career stories from doctoral researchers who have gone on to become entrepreneurs.

Recruiting researchers: survey of employer practice 2009

This survey collected the views of over 100 non-HE employers on recruiting doctoral researchers.  The survey found that more than 70% of employers would welcome more applications from doctoral researchers and that theyare keen to recruit researchers both for their technical skills and for their 'first class brains'.