Society for Endocrinology

Career profile: Postdoctoral Research Associate

Kim Jonas, Royal Veterinary College, London

Post-school Qualifications

BSc in Biochemistry, University of Kent at Canterbury
PhD in Reproductive Endocrinology, University College London

Career History

During BSc completed a sandwich year at a major pharmaceutical company working in the research and development team. Then studied for PhD and worked as a post-doctoral research associate at the Royal Veterinary College in reproductive endocrinology.

Kim’s Story

I come from the outskirts of London and studied for A-levels in biology, chemistry and theology at my local comprehensive school. During my A-levels I decided that I would like to pursue a career in science, so I went on to study for a BSc in Biochemistry at the University of Kent at Canterbury. As part of my degree, I did a sandwich year at Pfizer Ltd, and worked in the research and development team for a year. My work at Pfizer made me realise that I wanted to do a PhD, so after gaining a 2(i) for my degree, I started a PhD in Reproductive Endocrinology at University College London. Following this, I worked for 10 months as a post-doctoral research associate at the Royal Veterinary College in the area of reproductive endocrinology.

I wasn’t sure whether research science was what I wanted to do long-term, so I took a brief three-month sabbatical working in pharmaceutical marketing for a pharmaceutical marketing agency. During this time, I decided that research science was what I really wanted to do, so I applied for my current job at the Royal Veterinary College. I am currently working on a BBSRC funded three-year project looking at C type natriuretic peptide in the pituitary. I am just into the second year of this project and hope to apply for a fellowship to continue this work once the current BBSRC funding comes to an end.

What Kim has found difficult

The difficulties that I have encountered along the way so far are mainly related to finding the right post-doc position. Before finding my current position, I applied for a few other jobs in endocrinology and was short-listed for interview for most. But either I didn’t have quite the right skills in comparison to other applicants, or I didn’t feel the job was quite right. Fortunately, my current position and boss provided me with an opportunity to use skills I had developed during my PhD and also enabled me to change fields slightly and develop new skills too.

What Kim has found beneficial

Although there are difficulties along the way, there are numerous benefits too. Every day is different from the next, and every week yields some interesting (and sometimes baffling!) results. The feeling of discovering something novel or getting your first paper accepted for publication just can’t be matched. I don’t think that an academic career is necessarily the easiest of career routes to take and the question of what to do next is a difficulty facing many postdoctoral researchers in a scientific environment where funding in endocrinology seems increasingly difficult to obtain. However, the benefits of having a job that brings career fulfilment on a daily basis and provides you with an immense amount of job satisfaction makes tackling any potential obstacles worthwhile.