Career Development

Central to our ethos is an apprenticeship approach that supports people at all levels, from earliest career to retirement, through mentoring and collaboration. Below is a list of the ways in which we currently support our staff and students. We continue to review and improve these strategies as part of our Athena Swan process.

Career support for staff within the School of Archaeology

  • All staff have a designated line manager or mentor with whom they are able to have regular 1:1 meetings
  • An Personal Development Review (PDR) scheme is currently available to any staff-member annually
  • The provision of mentors or supervisors is an integral element of all Research Fellowship schemes, and these roles are fulfilled by academic staff within the School. In addition, the Head of School holds individual meetings with each Research Fellow annually.
  • The School’s Research Support Officer provides regular updates on grant application opportunities to all researchers, as well as one-to-one support for researchers in drawing together applications. The Research Support Officer also circulates information regarding upcoming training opportunities offered within the University. 
  • Teaching opportunities and training are offered in areas where researchers are best able to contribute. There is the potential to work with the taught course elements of the undergraduate degree (the BA in Archaeology & Anthropology) – a full list of the undergraduate courses is available here. There may also be opportunities for specialist tuition through undergraduate and postgraduate taught-course dissertation supervision; a full list of our postgraduate taught courses can be found here. 
  • SPECTRA is the official society of the postdoctoral researchers within the School that facilitates networking between its members, represents the postdoctoral community at appropriate School committees, and promotes the professional development of early career researchers. The Society organises meetings and workshops, and disseminates information regarding career opportunities.

  • A CDR (Career Development Review) system is in place for all fixed-term researchers at the School. CDRs are held annually, and researchers will be contacted directly by the CDR Co-ordinator (Laura Morley) with full details when their review is due. Please direct any enquiries to the CDR Co-ordinator or to HR.

Career support for students within the School of Archaeology

  • All students have a departmental and college supervisor with whom they have regular meetings
  • The Director of Graduate Studies is available to discuss career options with students
  • The School's Graduates society (Graduate Archaeologists at Oxford) is a student-led organization for graduate students. Among other activities GAO organises workshops for the development of graduate skills.
  • Skills training is also provided through the Social Sciences researcher development pages 
  • The School’s Research Support Officer provides regular updates on grant application opportunities to all researchers
  • Teaching opportunities and training can be offered in areas where postgraduate researchers are best able to contribute. There is the potential to work with the taught course elements of the undergraduate degree (the BA in Archaeology & Anthropology) – a full list of the undergraduate courses is available here

Useful links relating to career development and career management

  • Social Sciences Division - the Division provides details of upcoming programmes of events relevant to Early Career Researchers’ professional development. Resources are listed under the following career development themes: Milestones and personal development; Research integrity; Research methods; Writing & communication skills; Wellbeing; Teaching; Public engagement; and Fieldwork.
  • People and Organisational Development - POD provides a course directory of training and workshops on a wide range of topics in professional development.
  • Careers Service  - the University’s Careers Service offers support for career development both within and beyond academia.