The Early Career Researcher Podcast

Charlie Rozier
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The Early Career Researcher podcast aims to provide a regular forum for discussion on all things relating to the life and work of Early Career Researchers working in the Humanities. Join us for weekly advice on applying for research jobs, careers advice, help with job applications, and support on issues such as mental health and wellbeing. We are: Charlie (works as a lecturer on a fixed-term contract, with eight years of lecturing experience in the UK); Rachael (several years of experience in academic and related fields, including lecturing and research administration, currently working as a postdoctoral researcher); and Olivia (several years of work experience prior to beginning a PhD, which she is currently in the final year of writing). Episodes are accompanied by our blogs, which summarise the topics discussed in the podcast, and provide useful links on where to get further information and help.

  1. Episode 35 How to Index Your Book

    12/15/2025

    Episode 35 How to Index Your Book

    Charlie and Rosie return in our latet episode, where we are joined by our mutual friend, Rob, to talk about a not very exciting but very important job: making an index for your book. Anyone who has written their own book or anyone who has produced an edited volume, will be familiar with the dreaded INDEX. These days, authors and editors are usually responsible for producing their own index. This may sound like a simple task, but you may be surprised at how tricky and time consuming it can actually be. As academics, we aren’t always aware of what an index is actually for and what role it plays in the publishing process. So we thought we would ask Rosie (our resident publishing expert), some questions, including: - What is an index FOR? - How does the process of making an index work? (What do publishers ask for, and do they give any help?) - What makes a good and a bad index for a publisher? - How have we, as academics, found the process of prudicing our index? Please do 'like', and follow/subscribe to the podcast, and feel free to offer your feedback and comments (reviews increase our visibility, so please do leave us your thoughts). You can follow us on BlueSky @ecrpodcasters

    52 min
  2. Episode 34: Copyediting in Academia (and how to get into it)

    10/20/2025

    Episode 34: Copyediting in Academia (and how to get into it)

    In this episode, Charlie an Rosie are joined by our new guest Jo, who had a successful academic career before starting her own business as a freelance copyeditor. Anybody who wants to publish academic research will probably at some point find themselves working with a copyeditor. The copyeditor has traditionally been an essential toolkit in academic publishing – they are the person who takes your text and polishes it up, gets rid of embarrassing typos, and makes sure your document makes sense. In this episode, we dive a bit more deeply into this role, and talk about what copyediting really involves, and the value it brings. But we also wanted to talk about copyediting as a career, in case this is something that you might be thinking about. We also talk about the state of the field, and if AI can ever really replace the human touch... Links discussed in the episode: - Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP): https://www.ciep.uk - Chartered Institude of Linguistics (Translation): https://www.ciol.org.uk - Trio Mandilli: https://www.instagram.com/trio_mandili?igsh=MW1iejU1MTJydXp6Ng==

    1h 8m
  3. Episode 33: Neurodiversity in Academia

    09/29/2025

    Episode 33: Neurodiversity in Academia

    This week, Charlie and Rosie are joined by new friends Jo and Ben, as we discuss the HUGE and multifaceted topic of neurodivertiy in academia. Jo, Ben, and Charlie reflect on our experiences of late diagnosis, managing the impact of our spicy brains on our academic lives, working relationships, and our lives outside of work, and then we give some advice and definitions on where to get support if you think you may need help on topics relating to this week's subject. Then we hear more about Ben and Jo's amazing work for the UK UCU (Universities and Colleges Union) specificaly relating to the links between casualisation and neurodiversity in academia. We hope you like our episode: give us a follow, subscribe, or write us a review! Links discussed in the show: UCU 'Survival Guide' for neurodiverse people: https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/13562/UCU-Casualisation-and-neurodiversity-guide/pdf/UCU_Casualisation_Neurodiversity_guide.pdf UCU Neurodiversity and Casualisation Manifesto: https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/13560/UCU-Anti-casualisation-and-Neurodiversity-Manifesto/pdf/UCU_Casualisation_Neurodiversity_Manifesto.pdf UCU 'Supporting Neurodiversity and Colleagues on Casualised Contracts': https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/13558/Supporting-neurodiversity-and-colleagues-on-casualised-contracts/pdf/UCU_Casualisation_Neurodiversity_Supporting_staff.pdf National Health Service home page on 'Exploring Neurodiversity': https://nhsdorset.nhs.uk/neurodiversity/explore/

    1h 18m
  4. How to Prepare for Leaving a Job (...and for starting a new one)

    09/15/2025

    How to Prepare for Leaving a Job (...and for starting a new one)

    Inspired by recent life events, Charlie and Rachael meet to discuss what it is like to leave a job (or a degree programme) in academia, and what ECRs should be thinking about when starting a new role. As we know well, leaving an academic post can be very stressful: it can involve a lot of uncertainty, self-doubt, and pressure. But there are also huge positives to starting in a new post, and we want to emphasise these and embrace the challenges! We talked about: how it can feel to be leaving a job and starting a new one (and how it feels when you don't have a new role to go to immediately); things you can do to make the transition easier; our reflections on what makes it starting a new job more enjoyable and easier. Discussed in the show: Jennifer Polk, From PhD to Life: https://fromphdtolife.com

    47 min
  5. Episode 31: Submitting Articles to Journals and Getting them Published

    09/01/2025

    Episode 31: Submitting Articles to Journals and Getting them Published

    In this episode, we welcome back Rosie, and witness the long-awaited return of one of our founders, Olivia! Like many people who are coming to the end of their time as PhD researchers, Olivia is now exploring the ways in which she can start publishing her research. One of these potential avenues, is to turn some of her research into an article for an academic journal, and so we thought it would be worth having a discussion about how that process works, from deciding which journal to publish with, understanding the effect that the host journal may have on the way the article is written, getting some insight into how the process of peer review works, and gaining all sorts of useful additional tips along the way. If you enjoy the episode and the show, then please do follow us on your podcast platforms, follow us on social media (@ecrpodcasters) and leave us a review! Links discussed in the show: Scopus journal metrics: https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.elsevier.com%2Fproducts%2Fscopus%2Fmetrics&data=05%7C02%7CC.Rozier%40uea.ac.uk%7C8dc245c322fe486fa66708dde63588be%7Cc65f8795ba3d43518a070865e5d8f090%7C0%7C0%7C638919839782327379%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=lMqI3IDajI0TI1HE%2FWntgx%2BCzdJ7rLAYWuye445Yrvo%3D&reserved=0 Web of Science Arts and Humanities Citation Index: https://clarivate.com/academia-government/scientific-and-academic-research/research-discovery-and-referencing/web-of-science/web-of-science-core-collection/arts-humanities-citation-index/

    55 min
  6. Episode 30: Dealing With Criticism in Academia

    08/18/2025

    Episode 30: Dealing With Criticism in Academia

    In this episode, Charlie is joined by special guest and academic history coach Nicholas Morton, Associate Professor in the School of Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent University (UK). Nic lends his insight into the process of dealing with criticism in academia. We discuss: 1) the places in which we often encounter criticism (including peer review of our publications, book reviews, and Q+A at conferences), 2) our strategies for how to cope with this criticism (including how to judge whether criticisms are valid or not and then how to draw up action plans), and 3) how to actually give criticism to others. You can find more about Nic in the following places: Nic's book, the Mongol Storm: https://basicbooks.uk/titles/nicholas-morton-2/the-mongol-storm/9781399803588/ Instagram: @nicholasmorton123 Youtube: @MedievalNearEast ...and please don't forget to follow us on Bluesky: @ecrpodcasters.bsky.social

    1h 11m
  7. Episode 29: Attending Large Conferences

    07/14/2025

    Episode 29: Attending Large Conferences

    In this episode, Charlie is joined by our long-time friend of the show Laura, plus two new guests, Isla and Josh, as we talk about what it is like to attend your first large conference. Laura and Charlie have attended lots of large conferences together, but Josh and Isla were attending their first ever events as PhD researchers. We talked about 1) why you might want to attend large conferences; 2) how you can get involved in presenting and funding a large-conference trip; 3) things that can make us nervous about large conferences and 4) what our top pieces of advice would be to help maximise your experiences. For more information about the International Medieval Congress, where we recorded this episode, see: https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/ If anyone is interested in Laura's book, you can learn more here: https://boydellandbrewer.com/book/the-queenship-of-mathilda-of-flanders-c-1031-1083/

    51 min
  8. Episode 28: Teaching Opportunities in Higher Education

    06/30/2025

    Episode 28: Teaching Opportunities in Higher Education

    Following on from last time, when we discussed teaching in schools as a post-academic career option, this week, Charlie and Stephanie meet to discuss teaching opportunities for early career researchers in universities (spoiler alert: Rachael never made it!) Stephanie (recently appointed as a BBC New Generation Thinker: hooray!) is studying to be elected as a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (links below) and so we thought it was a good time to talk about: - What teaching opportunities exist for ECRs in Humanities. - Some advice on what to agree to, and what you might want to avoid. - Some advice on how to get started, and how to maximise the fun parts of teaching as an ECR. We hope you like it! Please leave us comments or a review as you like. Links mentioned in the show: New Generation Thinkers: https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/new-generation-thinkers-selected-bbc-radio-4 Advance HE (UK Higher Education Academy): https://www.advance-he.ac.uk Old Bailey Online: https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoinghistoryinpublic.org%2F2025%2F06%2F19%2Fcourtroom-to-classroom-teaching-with-old-bailey-online%2F&data=05%7C02%7CC.Rozier%40uea.ac.uk%7C4c4d7f824f1843f7aabf08ddafc8abeb%7Cc65f8795ba3d43518a070865e5d8f090%7C0%7C0%7C638859998607650528%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=fKfi7wIqR0iomT%2F54hanLuRYR2wdWhsAZSEFw8NpWwk%3D&reserved=0 Medieval Murder Maps: https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsocialhistory.org.uk%2Fshs_exchange%2Fengaging-students-with-the-medieval-murder-map%2F&data=05%7C02%7CC.Rozier%40uea.ac.uk%7C4c4d7f824f1843f7aabf08ddafc8abeb%7Cc65f8795ba3d43518a070865e5d8f090%7C0%7C0%7C638859998607664087%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=tgttYrFdQSPlSccDPGHqopP81ZZhL20dgGHx5DKNQOU%3D&reserved=0

    1h 6m
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About

The Early Career Researcher podcast aims to provide a regular forum for discussion on all things relating to the life and work of Early Career Researchers working in the Humanities. Join us for weekly advice on applying for research jobs, careers advice, help with job applications, and support on issues such as mental health and wellbeing. We are: Charlie (works as a lecturer on a fixed-term contract, with eight years of lecturing experience in the UK); Rachael (several years of experience in academic and related fields, including lecturing and research administration, currently working as a postdoctoral researcher); and Olivia (several years of work experience prior to beginning a PhD, which she is currently in the final year of writing). Episodes are accompanied by our blogs, which summarise the topics discussed in the podcast, and provide useful links on where to get further information and help.

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