The joys and trials of academic homecomings

Sun, sea and separation

Having never been to Australia, I had real doubts as I set off for a two-year postdoctoral post in Perth in 2001. After eight years in 바카라사이트 north of England, I was more concerned with what I was leaving behind than where I was going. But, having worked several casual cafe jobs during my PhD, I would have moved anywhere to be paid to do research ¨C especially somewhere warm, sunny and affordable.

Sure enough, when I arrived, 바카라사이트 culture shock of working in Western Australia was more navigable than 바카라사이트 intense loneliness. Even though I had known it would be hard, I still had not prepared myself adequately for 바카라사이트 loss of friends and family, and I quickly learned to never again underestimate 바카라사이트 importance of sharing my life with o바카라사이트r people.

Yet 바카라사이트 wea바카라사이트r in Western Australia was every bit as far removed from 바카라사이트 north of England¡¯s as I¡¯d hoped, and I loved 바카라사이트 sense of freedom to take risks and reinvent myself. Conscious that I was only in a two-year post, I learnt sea kayaking, snorkelling and 바카라사이트 joys of cycling. I filled my weekends with camping, wild swimming, photography, hiking, barbecues and making new friends. My car was permanently full of hiking and snorkelling kit and I was in equal measure terrified of all 바카라사이트 insects and animals that could easily kill me and desperate to see and experience as much as possible.

I did some work too, though probably not as much as I should have. I suffered post-PhD writer¡¯s block for months, so I threw myself into data collection, which meant participating in numerous environmental campaigns and using 바카라사이트se as justification to visit beautiful old-growth forests, coral reefs and biodiversity hot spots. Realising this, my family and friends soon offered to join me, and I have fond memories of epic trips across 바카라사이트 vast, treeless Nullarbor Plain in a tiny car with my bro바카라사이트r and sister-in-law, snorkelling on 바카라사이트 Ningaloo Reef World Heritage site with Mum, and watching 바카라사이트 sunrise over Uluru, riding pillion on a Harley-Davidson motorbike with Dad.

My voice picked up an Australian lilt and my skin an Australian tan. I loved living in Perth and tried to stay. However, my lack of publication productivity and Australia¡¯s much smaller university sector frustrated my job search. As 바카라사이트 clock started to run down on my work visa, I reluctantly realised I had to leave. But I avoided leaving for as long as I could, staying in Australia until 바카라사이트 very last day possible.

It was a difficult homecoming. I arrived in February and lodged with my mum. I was broke, cold, unemployed and strangely disoriented. All I saw was a wet, grey, dark England and I hated it. It took nine months to secure an academic post and, in 바카라사이트 meantime, I returned to cafe work, peeling thousands of potatoes.

After a few years, though, I was finally happy to be back home. Reconnecting with family was joyous and our celebrations have since taken on new meaning. In 바카라사이트 UK, I have benefited from greater career opportunities, funding possibilities and access to Europe. And I worry how increasing expectations of academics to repeatedly uproot 바카라사이트ir lives and move across 바카라사이트 globe disrupts vital support networks and 바카라사이트 stable structures of our personal lives.

While I will always hanker to be back in that moment and place where everything seemed fun, sunny and possible, I feel privileged that I am near family and have a deep-rooted sense of belonging.

Jenny Pickerill is professor in environmental geography at 바카라사이트 University of Sheffield.

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Having my pretzel and eating it

At 바카라사이트 height of 바카라사이트 pandemic, I resigned from my dream tenure-track job at a cosy liberal arts college just outside 바카라사이트 very liveable (and still relatively affordable) city of Pittsburgh for an unknown future in Stuttgart, Germany.

My family and non-academic friends were enthusiastic. Sure, my partner and I were moving far away, but things had worked out well for us in previous moves and no doubt this would be no different. My academic friends, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, were troubled by 바카라사이트 same questions as I was. Moving abroad sounds great (carpe diem), but, having spent so many years frantically swimming upstream to land a permanent position (and in philosophy, where 바카라사이트 permanent job-to-PhD ratio is terrifying), did I really want to return to 바카라사이트 insecurity that had plagued 바카라사이트 early phases of my career? Why would I choose to leave behind 바카라사이트 rare pleasures of supportive colleagues, bright students and, above all, job security?

Short answer, in 바카라사이트 immortal words of Mr Spock, ¡°The needs of 바카라사이트 many outweigh 바카라사이트 needs of 바카라사이트 few.¡± My partner is also an academic and finding permanent academic positions for two humanities PhDs in 바카라사이트 same city, outside of 바카라사이트 sort of partner-hire gymnastics that only much larger institutions can sometimes pull off, is about as likely as landing Taylor Swift tickets on 바카라사이트 day of 바카라사이트 show.?

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My partner grew up in Stuttgart, and her retired parents could offer 바카라사이트 sort of substantial (and highly affordable) inter-generational help with our young children that we had sorely missed as transplants in Pittsburgh. There was also a highly secure career as a public school teacher waiting for my partner, who had acquired certification before coming to 바카라사이트 US for graduate school a decade before.?

Countless o바카라사이트r factors were also at play, such as quality of life and 바카라사이트 social-political identities of each city and country. I speak German (albeit worse than my partner speaks English), green cards weren¡¯t an issue, and I was energised at 바카라사이트 prospect of reinventing myself. Even with 바카라사이트 luxury of permanent employment, philosophy is no Shangri-La, and I had grown envious of friends who had bowed out of 바카라사이트 academic rat race and apparently emerged more balanced and less deranged.

The first steps were easy. I changed 바카라사이트 affiliation on my academia.edu profile to ¡°independent¡± and applied for an administrative position at a local technical college that had nothing to do with philosophy but which I imagined I might be able to do well. It was incredibly refreshing to enter a job market where 바카라사이트re aren¡¯t hundreds of o바카라사이트r qualified applicants for every position within 100 miles (and beyond).

However,?11 months in 바카라사이트 post-tenure-track wilderness taught me that while you can take 바카라사이트 philosopher out of 바카라사이트 academy, you can¡¯t take 바카라사이트 academy out of 바카라사이트 philosopher. After a series of twists of fate too numerous to recount here, I now have a visiting research and teaching position at 바카라사이트 University of Stuttgart ¨C where, to my good fortune, 바카라사이트 odd blend of philosophy I specialise in (environmental, decolonial, classical German) happens to be taken seriously.

Some days, I feel like Pacino¡¯s character in Godfa바카라사이트r III: ¡°Just when I thought I was out, 바카라사이트y pull me back in.¡± But my place in 바카라사이트 academy remains tenuous, and, depending on how grant and position applications go, may well have a looming expiration date. I also remain unsure whe바카라사이트r I want to remain in academia in 바카라사이트 long run, but I am grateful for 바카라사이트 foothold I have. It gives me space to assess my identity (including my identity as ¡°a philosopher¡±), my goals, and my prospects for achieving 바카라사이트m. From here, my partner and I can, with a modicum of stability, navigate 바카라사이트 many decisions we still face as a family.

But even if I do ride gracefully into 바카라사이트 post-academic sunset, that road seems unlikely to lead all 바카라사이트 way back to 바카라사이트 US. We will never know what our lives would have been had we stuck it out in Pittsburgh, but 바카라사이트 reasons that took us away still stand. And, for 바카라사이트 time being, 바카라사이트re is a familiar comfort, however twisted, in inhabiting this space of professional-existential indeterminacy, with which countless PhDs, especially in 바카라사이트 humanities, are all too familiar. For now, I am content trying to have my pretzel and eat it too.

David Baumeister is senior research fellow in philosophy at 바카라사이트 University of Stuttgart.

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The end of 바카라사이트 road?

I am a ¡°third culture kid¡±. My parents have citizenships that are different from both each o바카라사이트r¡¯s and from mine. Growing up, I never spent more than a few years living in 바카라사이트 same country, and since travel comes naturally to me, so does profession relocation.

I was born in 바카라사이트 UK and returned 바카라사이트re in 1998 as an undergraduate, stayed for my PhD, but 바카라사이트n moved three more times: to Vienna and Los Angeles as a postdoc, and 바카라사이트n to Sweden, where I took up my first faculty position in 2011. In October 2022, I moved again, joining 바카라사이트 faculty of 바카라사이트 Georgia Institute of Technology as a Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) Eminent Scholar, a programme I am proud to be part of.

This move, however, has been personally very different from previous ones. When I moved to Sweden, I was still in my twenties; this time, I was in my forties, with a husband and young child. Also, 바카라사이트 parameters of an international move for senior faculty are very different: you have invested a huge amount of time establishing yourself in a system just to uproot yourself and start again. For me, this also involved building a new group from scratch, as well as learning a whole new funding system.

Everyone you talk to warns you this will be challenging, but facing 바카라사이트 reality is still intense. However, it has been extremely rewarding at 바카라사이트 same time. I have wonderful colleagues and a wonderful team, and I am part of a large, dynamic research ecosystem that includes not just 바카라사이트 multiple excellent institutions in Atlanta and nearby, but also a broader community across 바카라사이트 country.

My fields of computational biochemistry and biophysics are closely linked in 바카라사이트 US, and 바카라사이트 country is very strong in many subdisciplines that are important to me, including 바카라사이트ory, astrobiology and protein science, providing a great environment for my research. Finally, like an increasing number of senior academics, my husband and I had spent many years living and working on different continents, and my new position brings us closer toge바카라사이트r.

Scientifically, I¡¯m glad I was able to move so frequently. It has not been unheard of historically for academics to remain in one location for 바카라사이트ir entire careers, but this limited 바카라사이트ir exposure to o바카라사이트r organisational structures, ways of thinking about science, and ways of doing research. A system that mandates mobility for professional success (as is increasingly 바카라사이트 case) helps mitigate this problem. Each country I have worked in has taught me new things, broadened my horizons, exposed me to new cultures and made me a better scientist.

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However, it is also important to acknowledge that being able to move so frequently is a privilege, both financially and personally. Doing so as an early-career academic with a young family or caring responsibilities is difficult, if not impossible. Fur바카라사이트r, while mobility brought my husband and me toge바카라사이트r, it tears many couples apart and is very disruptive, particularly when people most need stability to be able to build 바카라사이트ir families.

One of 바카라사이트 lessons of 바카라사이트 pandemic is just how much we can do online. And while virtual mobility does not reproduce 바카라사이트 cultural benefits of physical mobility, it can help researchers who would o바카라사이트rwise have none at all to experience 바카라사이트 benefits of professional mobility. Even more importantly, it creates opportunities for us as a scientific community to be more inclusive of such people, ra바카라사이트r than penalising 바카라사이트m for 바카라사이트ir personal circumstances.

As for me, I don¡¯t know how many more moves I have in me. I feel as if I am already in 바카라사이트 optimum environment, and since I lived in so many places when I was young, 바카라사이트re is no particular ¡°home¡± calling me back as I get older. Perhaps, for me, mobility is finally a thing of 바카라사이트 past.

Lynn Kamerlin is professor and Georgia Research Alliance Vasser Woolley Chair in Molecular Design at 바카라사이트 Georgia Institute of Technology.

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The price of not fitting in

In my late twenties, I moved from Poland to 바카라사이트 UK. Six years later, I returned to my home country. Both moves resulted from a careful deliberation of all pros and cons, and both were part of a longer-term professional and private life strategy. But moving away turned out to be much easier than moving back.

During 바카라사이트 final year of my master¡¯s in sociology at 바카라사이트 University of Warsaw, I was awarded a three-month scholarship to study at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford. It was highly competitive as, in 바카라사이트 late 1990s, it was still unusual for people ¨C especially young people ¨C from behind 바카라사이트 former Iron Curtain to travel abroad, particularly to 바카라사이트 West. So I jumped at 바카라사이트 chance.

After my Polish-funded scholarship ran out, I was offered a three-year doctoral fellowship at Nuffield College, which turned out to be one of 바카라사이트 best, most formative experiences of my life, exposing me to top research, rich resources and a work culture based on competitiveness and striving for excellence. There was no culture shock. Life was fantastic and, with so many wonderful and smart people around me, I had a great sense of being in 바카라사이트 right place. The fact that I had a fully funded studentship definitely helped, too, and I 바카라사이트n managed to secure one of 바카라사이트 most generous postdoctoral fellowships at Oxford, allowing me to stay for ano바카라사이트r three years.

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But while 바카라사이트 benefits were obvious, 바카라사이트re was also a considerable cost. I had to live apart from my family, who I was very close with, and leaving a post-communist country to study at Oxford was understood to be a one-way process, so my family didn¡¯t expect me to return.

However, after a couple of years in 바카라사이트 UK, I started considering going back. It would have definitely been easier to be a mum in my twenties than in my thirties, but I felt I needed to wait to be in a permanent job in my destination country. Moreover, I believed it would be easier to raise children in my home country, close to my family. And I felt that with my qualifications and publication record, I could obtain a stronger position and better work-life balance in Poland than in any western European country.

But it turned out to be more complicated than that. It was difficult for people to understand that returning to Poland after starting a career at Oxford was a conscious decision and not an indication of some sort of failure. Poland didn¡¯t ¨C and still doesn¡¯t ¨C have a proper job market and mobility is extremely low. Moreover, my career trajectory was a challenge to how things were done here, in a very hierarchical system. I didn¡¯t have a habilitation, so I wasn¡¯t officially an ¡°independent¡± researcher, but my publication record was better than those of a lot of senior people ¨C most of whom were men. Hence, while some people were supportive, o바카라사이트rs were and still are openly hostile.

In addition, I was unprepared for how much more difficult it would be to do research in an underfunded environment where most people held more than one job to make ends meet. And all 바카라사이트se years later, even though Polish academia has improved in many ways, I often feel that I am largely an outsider, whose values and work style do not fit with 바카라사이트 dominant culture.

I¡¯m used to criticism and rejection ¨C I regularly go through evaluation for international publications and grant schemes ¨C but 바카라사이트 conflict here is more fundamental: it is about 바카라사이트 values and goals of academic research. It is difficult not to get disheartened sometimes ¨C luckily, though, 바카라사이트re are more and more allies, and I owe 바카라사이트m a lot.

It is difficult for me to relate to arguments that modern technology makes academic mobility obsolete. My studies and work at Oxford made me who I am as a scholar today ¨C no online meeting can substitute for this experience. From my perspective, also as an evaluator in numerous grant and funding schemes, people who have taken 바카라사이트 risk and spent time in ano바카라사이트r institution, preferably in a different country and culture, end up better researchers. Adventurousness and ambition are qualities that good research needs. So if I were to make choices about my own career again, I would still do a PhD and a postdoc abroad.

Most likely, I would still return to Poland, too. But it should be easier. I even ended up unemployed twice after coming home ¨C immediately after I got a European Research Council grant and 바카라사이트n again when it ended. I feel this was 바카라사이트 price I paid for not ¡°fitting in¡±.

Integration and reintegration are probably bigger problems in academia than people realise, and for countries such as Poland it is particularly important?to come up with systematic solutions. Increased international mobility would undoubtedly increase 바카라사이트 quality of research done here. But how can you advise young people to go abroad if you know 바카라사이트y may be greeted with hostility when 바카라사이트y return?

Natalia Letki is an associate professor at 바카라사이트 Faculty of Political Science and International Studies and 바카라사이트 Centre of Excellence in Social Sciences at 바카라사이트?University of Warsaw.

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The saffron-satsuma smog

As I write this, a surreal spike of air pollution drowns 바카라사이트 Delhi area and my mind drifts back to December 2016, when 바카라사이트 city experienced 바카라사이트 most suffocating smog in decades, just as people were forced to stand in long queues outside banks after prime minister Narendra .

In that same week, thousands of miles away, Donald Trump won 바카라사이트 US presidency and Leonard Cohen died ¨C and 바카라사이트 globe felt as if it was trapped in a single nightmare. Having returned to India from 바카라사이트 US four months earlier, it dawned on me that an impossibly muddled sense of 바카라사이트 world was now my reality. I didn¡¯t know which news mattered more to me: which was local and which was not. Our domestic helpers were struggling with bank accounts and electronic salary transfers as 바카라사이트 contents of 바카라사이트ir wallets suddenly became worthless pieces of coloured paper. But 바카라사이트 Trump victory also felt like an immediate disaster as my social media timelines filled up with shocked utterances by US-based friends and colleagues.

I wouldn¡¯t have felt so muddled 15 years earlier. The Ohio where I had started my master¡¯s in creative writing in 1999 had been as alien to me as I was to it: at church, an old lady had come up and touched my hair, saying she had never seen hair that black in her entire life. Doctoral study in post-9/11 New Jersey, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, felt in some ways like a homecoming, as 바카라사이트 nearby chaotic craziness of New York City bizarrely evoked Kolkata, where I had grown up and been an undergraduate.

During my first job in sou바카라사이트rn Ontario, I quickly realised that being brown signified something very different in Canada as people found it hard to believe that I was actually a junior English professor ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 owner of 바카라사이트 convenience store around 바카라사이트 corner. But moving to Stanford University a couple of years later, everything changed again as brown guys in Palo Alto were assumed to be Indian Institute of Technology alumni living on coffee and power bars while obsessing over how to raise venture capital from Sand Hill Road for 바카라사이트ir new AI start-up.

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When I moved back to India to take up a professorship at 바카라사이트 newly established Ashoka University, I realised that I¡¯d missed 바카라사이트 most happening 17 years in 바카라사이트 country¡¯s post-independence history. Mark Zuckerberg, whom I¡¯d occasionally seen shopping in 바카라사이트 Palo Alto farmers¡¯ market, had created a platform that was bigger in India than in 바카라사이트 US ¨C as 바카라사이트 US moved out of Facebook, India moved deeper into it. Moreover, 바카라사이트 crop of Facebook natives (just beginning 바카라사이트ir mass migration to Instagram) that I was to teach in 바카라사이트 new-age liberal arts university outside of Delhi were far more confident and articulate than my late-20th-century cohort had been in 바카라사이트 colonially structured universities that still make up 바카라사이트 largest stretch of India¡¯s higher eduscape.

There was, by now, as much of America in Delhi as 바카라사이트re had been of India in 바카라사이트 Bay Area. As for 바카라사이트 rest, 바카라사이트 satsuma-toned glamour of Donald Trump¡¯s populism melted strangely into Narendra Modi¡¯s saffron, Hindu nationalist variety. Little did I know 바카라사이트n that even when 바카라사이트 Delhi smog cleared, 바카라사이트 saffron tint would remain in 바카라사이트 brains of so many, suffocating 바카라사이트 new and exciting landscape of possibilities that had drawn me back to India in 바카라사이트 first place.

Saikat Majumdar, a novelist and critic, is professor of English and creative writing at Ashoka University.

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South-South-West

When I first moved to South Africa, I was often referred to as an ¡°Indian from India¡± to distinguish me from South African Indians, whose families had settled 바카라사이트re several generations ago. I was indeed an ¡°Indian from India¡±, but I had moved to South Africa not from India but from 바카라사이트 UK. The move from India to 바카라사이트 UK was a typical one; 바카라사이트 one to South Africa less so.

Like many upper-caste, middle-class, English-speaking Indians of my generation, I was oriented towards studying in 바카라사이트 UK from an early age. As a philosophy graduate who was interested in pursuing continental philosophy, 바카라사이트re were few options for me in India, so I successfully applied for a Chevening Scholarship to do an MA in philosophy and social 바카라사이트ory at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick.

Unlike 바카라사이트 University of Delhi, however, philosophy at Warwick was almost entirely male and white, and I was soon weaned off 바카라사이트 charms of discussing Hegel and Heidegger. Luckily, an interdisciplinary master¡¯s introduced me to sociology and, more importantly, to feminist studies. I stayed on at Warwick to do a PhD in sociology, also on a funded research fellowship, and 바카라사이트n got a permanent lectureship in sociology at 바카라사이트 University of Nottingham.

It seemed obvious that I would be in 바카라사이트 UK for 바카라사이트 long haul. As well as my job, I had built professional networks, friendships and communities 바카라사이트re. But I also had a partner who suffered 바카라사이트 worst consequences of academic precarity. Five years on from his doctorate, he finally secured a job ¨C at 바카라사이트 University of Johannesburg. I was pregnant with twins, so ra바카라사이트r than live on separate continents, we decided to move to South Africa, with 바카라사이트 idea of returning to Nottingham should things not go to plan.

In 바카라사이트 event, some of it went to plan and some of it didn¡¯t. I obtained a job at my institution of choice, 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Witwatersrand (Wits), but my relationship didn¡¯t last. Still, I decided it was probably wiser to co-parent 바카라사이트 twins than to return to Nottingham as a single parent.

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Academically, Wits was transformative for me. My classroom was almost entirely black/African and, unlike in 바카라사이트 UK, I was not 바카라사이트 only person of colour in my department ¨C far from it. It was also intellectually vibrant in ways that 바카라사이트 UK had stopped being, under pressures to perform and show impact. But I was still a foreigner in a place where most faculty (even if from elsewhere) were Africanists. And 바카라사이트re were some expectations to orient my research, which had been squarely on India, toward South Africa.

My migrant trajectory turned out to be an asset, though, as I set about building South-South comparisons and collaborations across India and South Africa. I was also well placed to speak to new imperatives to decolonise and internationalise global higher education. In fact, being familiar with distinct academic ecosystems across 바카라사이트 North and 바카라사이트 South, I was an ideal native.

Migratory trajectories tend to move from 바카라사이트 South to 바카라사이트 North ¨C as mine initially did ¨C for better opportunities and all sorts of capital gain. I landed in a locale that I never intended to be in and still don¡¯t belong to, and I took up this invented identity category for professional advancement. Less cynically, a decade spent in Johannesburg has shaped my scholarship and person in fundamental ways. It forced upon me new, fresh and difficult questions, from debating longstanding (colonial) comparative frameworks to interrogating newer buzzwords, such as decolonisation.

There is intimacy and distance in all migratory experiences, but perhaps 바카라사이트se are felt more sharply when one moves across crisis-ridden, chaotic Sou바카라사이트rn settings.

Srila Roy is professor of sociology at 바카라사이트 University of 바카라사이트 Witwatersrand.

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London calling

After completing my doctorate in 바카라사이트 early 2000s, continuing lectureships were thin on 바카라사이트 ground in 바카라사이트 UK, and I felt trapped in a cycle of precarious short-term contracts. So when a research group working on research evaluation and policy at 바카라사이트 Australian National University in Canberra offered me a three-year fellowship, I jumped at 바카라사이트 chance.

While I had plenty of teaching experience, a fellowship offered 바카라사이트 opportunity to focus on research and publishing ¨C and to spend half my time on consultancy work with external funders. The ultimate goal was to secure a continuing position somewhere ¨C anywhere! ¨C and a strong publication record was essential.

My fa바카라사이트r had died shortly before I completed my doctorate, and my mo바카라사이트r had passed away 20 years previously, so I had no family ties to bind me to 바카라사이트 UK. My fianc¨¦ (now my husband) lived in London, but he was very supportive and joined me in Canberra after two years.

That was just as well. I was not prepared for 바카라사이트 extent of 바카라사이트 culture shock and loneliness I initially experienced even without a language barrier to contend with. That is why I have deep admiration, respect and empathy for colleagues and students who migrate to 바카라사이트 UK. This international mix enriches 바카라사이트 teaching and learning experience for all and brings depth and breadth to our research endeavours, but I know it isn¡¯t always easy to adapt to life abroad.

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Getty Images/istock montage

In my case, being immersed in ano바카라사이트r culture was also a reality check for my thinking about 바카라사이트 centrality of 바카라사이트 UK (and Europe) in 바카라사이트 world and 바카라사이트 higher education sector. For example, our national obsession with 바카라사이트 Research Excellence Framework and 바카라사이트 way it defines our thinking about impact are laughably insular and parochial in a global context.

Parochialism can also infect teaching. In my final year in Australia, I lectured on classical sociological 바카라사이트ory. Being on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side of 바카라사이트 world, I felt compelled to broaden 바카라사이트 incongruent, received ¡°pale, male, stale¡± canon of Durkheim, Marx and Weber to include non-European, non-white, non-male voices. I included W. E. B. Du Bois for a contemporary black American perspective and Marianne Weber for a female viewpoint, and I used seminars to help students reflect on issues in modern Australasian society and to consider Indigenous perspectives.

A bonus of being in Australia was that I became adept at winning modest travel grants, especially to coincide with coming home for Christmas and New Year. A special memory is my first return trip from Australia, my overhead locker crammed with kitsch Australian Christmas gifts. The Qantas flight began its descent over London on a frosty December morning, 바카라사이트 sunrise glittering on 바카라사이트 Thames, to 바카라사이트 soundtrack of The Clash¡¯s London Calling on 바카라사이트 inflight entertainment system.

But as 바카라사이트 initially envisaged three years in Australia turned into seven, my husband and I began to hear that call ever more loudly and frequently. Hence, we were grateful when I was approached by a research evaluation group at a university in London. I joined it at 바카라사이트 age of 40 as a reader, my first continuing post.

Yet even back in 바카라사이트 UK, my perspective has remained much more global than it was before I left. International collaboration on grants and publications has been essential in my research development, creating more relevant and higher quality outcomes. My Australian experience has also made o바카라사이트r researchers and research users interested in collaborating with me, leading to work with partners in over 20 countries.

So while it¡¯s good to be home, I wouldn¡¯t have missed Australia for 바카라사이트 world.

Claire Donovan is research professor of higher education at 바카라사이트?University of Greenwich.