Professor Emmanual Mourlon-Droul
What was your personal experience of the Academic Promotions Process?
My personal experience was positive obviously, since it worked.
What advice would you offer to future applicants?
Make sure and get clarification from your Head of Subject and Head of School that you fulfill the preponderance of criteria.
In terms of your preparation and timescales, what top tips can you offer?
It is important to bear in mind the timescales for some of the criteria (outputs, grants, PhDs) as this may impact your decision to apply in a given year or not. There are trade-offs to be made, and so it is good to sit down and think about the implications of choosing a given year to apply in terms of the evolution of your publications/grants/PhDs. It is also good, when thinking about career progression, to try to imagine how and when you could tick the boxes of some criteria. That sort of planning is not easy as there are plenty of factors you do not control. However, it is key that you have in your sketch for yourself a mental map of progress, with different variables that you will need to adjust.
What advice would you offer those just embarking on their academic careers?
Again, there are many things that are beyond your control, so for what you can have influence on, it is important to plan a minimum ahead. Good publications can raise your profile to obtain grants, which can in turn facilitate your recruitment of PhD students and writing up of other highly rated publications. Thinking ahead of how you want your research and teaching to evolve can allow you to try to start a virtuous circle of progression that will then materialise in the promotion process.
How will your promotion affect the work you are doing?
My day-to-day work is not really impacted (except probably in the way colleagues and non-academics see you) and I think it is important to remain cool-headed. Reaching that level brings other, new, higher expectations that bring exciting challenges! I am particularly looking forward to trying to contribute to ‘giving back’ what I received and allowed me to progress.
What are your development plans going forward?
I am currently in the middle of a large ERC-funded research project that will bring in most of its rewards in the next 3 to 5 years. So my horizon for now is to further develop this research, exchange new ideas, receive feedback and move on to the writing up stage for myself and further steer the progress of my team.
