About the PDC
Promoting a positive postdoc experience and empowering researchers to progress their career
The aim of the Postdoctoral Development Centre is to support postdocs and researchers to progress their career, in and out of academia, as well as ensure they have a positive experience at Queen's. It is principally achieved by providing appropriate information and bespoke resources, as well as promoting a supportive environment and culture.
What we do
The PDC is the first point of contact for postdocs at Queen's and it co-ordinates initiatives around six themes:
Information:
- We welcome new postdocs and facilitate the transition from a PhD, other role or different place
- We communicate relevant opportunities via our website, social media and targeted emails and newsletters
- We answer queries and direct individuals to appropriate resources and contacts
Development:
- We organise and highlight workshops and learning & development resources
- We provide and promote opportunities to develop new skills
Career:
- We facilitate career exploration by showcasing career options in academia and beyond
- We support self-reflection and career planning
- We provide feedback on CVs and mock interviews
- We offer a platform for researchers to discuss career decisions one-to-one
Policy:
- We review, improve, develop and clarify policies applying to postdocs
- We develop guidance on "good practice" for postdocs and their managers
Representation:
- We co-ordinate a network of postdoc and academic representatives, promoting a consistent positive experience across the institution
- We provide a voice to postdocs, enabling them to input in Queen's offering and practices
- We support postdoc-led researcher societies
- We represent the interests of postdocs in relevant University committees
Recognition:
- We co-ordinate the PDC Postdoc Awards
- We ensure the many contributions of postdocs to Queen's are recognised by our systems and processes
- We showcase achievements in our newsletter
- We celebrate National Postdoc Appreciation Week
The actions of the PDC are part of a wider effort by Queen's to offer outstanding support to its researchers through the implementation the Concordat to support the career development of researchers. It also aligns with other institutional plans like the Research Culture Action Plan and the overall Strategy 2030.
Who we support
The offering of the Postdoctoral Development Centre is tailored to the needs of research staff who are employed on a postdoctoral research contract (e.g. a contract that requires a PhD, most of the time fixed-term), which are usually termed "Research Fellows" at Queen's. The PDC's support is however open to ALL research staff at Queen's, whatever they have a PhD or not, or a permanent contract or not. There is a range of different roles in the University and we expect that all researchers will find at least part of the PDC's offering to suit their needs. Registration priorities for specific groups will only apply to highly-tailored programmes with limited places.
Fellowship holders (postdoctoral researchers who obtained their own funding) are also expected to benefit from the PDC, especially those at the earliest stages of their path to independence. All fellowship holders are also included in the Fellowship Academy, which provides bespoke support for fellows.
PhD researchers, including clinicians undertaking a PhD and MSCA-funded PhDs, should seek support from The Graduate School, not the PDC, in particular when it comes to workshops and one-to-one support. Students are however welcome to attend events such as online Career Exploration Interviews etc. when places are available or unlimited. Get in touch with us if unsure.
Visiting scholars, who join a research team at Queen's for a given period of time as part of a collaboration agreement (see visiting scholar procedure) are not technically employed by Queen's and won't automatically receive PDC and staff communications. Visiting scholars do not normally benefit from staff training opportunities but we will do our best to accommodate visitors attending workshops and events when possible and to make them feel part of the Queen's postdoc community (we may sometimes have to limit access to University staff, for example in the case of high demand courses with limited places; 1:1 support is normally limited to full staff members and not visiting scholars). Please get in touch so that we add you to our mailing list.
We realise that some teaching staff, especially in the Arts and Humanities, may carry out side research activities without being employed on a research contract, and as such would not receive our communications but may be interested in what the PDC offers. Please don't hesitate to contact us to sign up for our updates.
Who we are
Dr Alice Dubois
Research Culture Manager
Alice holds a PhD on innate immune mechanisms and proteolysis from the University of Tours in France, and moved to Queen’s University Belfast as a lung immunity postdoc in the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine in 2014. After four years as a postdoc, she moved to an exciting administrative position, establishing a brand-new hub to support postdocs and their career development: the Postdoctoral Development Centre. Initially based in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences, Alice piloted some structures and policies for postdocs at Faculty level, and worked with colleagues across the University to widen the PDC to support all university postdocs, which was achieved in 2021.
As PDC Manager, Alice oversaw the general strategy of the PDC, its programme of activities (workshops, events, postdoc awards), delivered inductions, one-to-one career support, worked with postdocs and academic representatives from Schools, Centres and Societies, as well as with a range of collaborators in the university and beyond to improve our policies and environment for postdocs. She was notably involved in introducing the allocation of 10 career development days per year for postdocs, creating the PDC Postdoc Awards, the PDC website, the Postdoctoral Leadership Programme, the PDC Representatives’ Network, the Assistant Supervisor role and supporting the creation of the central Postdoc Society.
Since April 2024, Alice took on the new role of Research Culture Manager, which involves managing the Research Culture sub-team, including the PDC Officer and Research Careers and Employability Officer from the PDC. While she is still responsible for Queen’s implementation of the Researcher Development Concordat, PDC strategy and work on policy applying to postdocs, her other former responsibilities are now held by other PDC team members, and she instead focuses on broader aspects of Research Culture. This includes the design and implementation of the university’s Research Culture Roadmap, contributing to delivering the Northern Ireland Research Culture project (funded by Wellcome), and supporting institutional planning and submission to the ‘People, Culture and Environment’ section of REF 2024.
Email Alice: a.dubois@qub.ac.uk
Dr Lisa Douglas
PDC Officer
Lisa joined the PDC in August 2024 and oversees the development and delivery of researcher development opportunities, training, events and guidance, ensuring these initiatives meet the needs of the postdoctoral researcher community at QUB. She also actively engages with the postdoctoral community through one-on-one support and collaborates with and supports the PDC Representatives’ Network and Postdoc Society. She was previously a postdoc at QUB herself; working in the School of Pharmacy where her research focused on novel therapeutic approaches for chronic airways disease.
During her time as a postdoctoral researcher, Lisa benefited from numerous development opportunities organised by the PDC and more broadly at Queen’s. She therefore has firsthand experience of the advantages these opportunities offered and how they helped shape her career. Lisa is passionate about aiding other postdoctoral researchers in their personal and professional development and has a special interest in enhancing and supporting researcher wellbeing and contributing to a positive, welcoming and inclusive research culture at Queen’s.
Email Lisa: l.douglas@qub.ac.uk
Jill Wright
Research Careers and Employability Officer
Her role involves helping postdocs explore alternate career paths outside of academia, supporting them with job applications and interview preparation. She will also focus on how we can better prepare postdocs for future transition through a suite of training and development opportunities to enhance skills. She will engage with employers across NI who are employers of postdocs and those that are new to the conversation to promote the talent pool of postdocs that we have in Northern Ireland across our two universities.
Before joining the team in June 2024 Jill worked in the private sector and brings with her extensive experience in early career development as well as running employability programmes in partnership with government bodies and local higher education institutions. Jill has established relationships with Queens and Ulster as a previous key graduate employer.
Email Jill: j.wright@qub.ac.uk
Erin Davidson
Project Assistant
Erin joined the team in December 2021. She is qualified in CMI Project Management and has extensive experience in project coordination and event organisation, designing visual communications and promotional materials, and managing websites and social media communications. Erin primarily supports the PDC but also provides support to the wider Research Strategy and Engagement Team with projects and events.
Before joining the PDC, Erin worked in the Staff Training and Development Unit (now the Learning and Development team in Organisational Development) for over 12 years, where she was responsible for organising training courses and events. She joined the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences as the Faculty Equality Coordinator and was responsible for the coordination and communication of all Gender Equality events across the Faculty, before joining Queen's Gender Initiative as their Projects and Communications Coordinator.
Erin is currently studying a part-time degree in Psychology with Counselling.
Email Erin: e.davidson@qub.ac.uk
How to get in touch
We work flexibly between our Queen's office and home. For that reason, we may not always have access to our phone and the best way to contact us is by email or MS Teams. We do not keep a permanent office presence so it is best to check with us if we are on site before dropping by our office. We'd love to see you though!
The PDC staff are based in a shared office on the ground floor of the Research and Enterprise building
63 University Road
Belfast BT7 1HF
Accessing the PDC by public transport
Our building is easy to access by train, bus and Belfast bikes.
Train station:
- City Hospital
Bus stops:
- City Hospital (lines 23, 38, 51, 103, 109, 523, 525, 530, 538, 551, 9a, 9b, 9c, 103b)
- Queen's University (lines 13, 22, 93, 209, 522, 524, 8a, 22a, 24a, 524a, 8b, 8c, 8d)
Belfast Bikes' stations
- Station 3933 (Queen's University Road)
- Station 3934 (Queen's University / Botanic Gardens)
- Station 3935 (Belfast City Hospital)
- Station 3924 (Bradbury Place)
Plan your train or bus journey with Translink
View Bikes availability and the map of Belfast Bikes stations