Alternative careers beyond academia

Discover career paths in research outside of academia and other alternatives.

Research outside academia

Research is carried out in many organisations outside of academia, and if you’re keen to continue as a researcher the possibilities in these areas could be just what you’re looking for. Think about: 

  • working for a non-academic organisation that conducts research in your subject area
  • using your research skills but applying them to a different subject. 

You should take time to find out how research in other organisations differs from academic research. This will obviously vary depending on the type of research and the organisation, but some questions you could ask yourself include: 

  • how much freedom would you like to pursue your own research interests?
  • would you enjoy working in a research team towards a common business goal?
  • would you like your research to influence government policy?
  • would you enjoy planning and managing research projects rather than conducting the research yourself? 

There are a few examples below of specific organisations where research is carried out to help you get started – but carry out your own investigation to generate ideas specific to your interests, and to help you answer some of the questions above. 

Private sector

Researchers can be found working in private sector organisations across a wide range of industries. Some examples include: 

  • science and engineering research and development in pharmaceutical companies, manufacturing firms, IT companies, engineering companies and, often small, biotechnology companies
  • social research in market research organisations and commercial social research companies
  • other varied research and analysis opportunities including in financial services (e.g. for investment management companies), for business information providers (such as Bloomberg), and management consultancies. 

Public Sector

Public sector employers such as the Civil Service, local government, National Health Service, and many other publicly-funded organisations employ researchers across all subject disciplines. This can be to conduct research directly, or to manage research projects contracted to external organisations. Examples include: 

  • Civil Service departments:
    • Government Social Research Service
    • Government Economic Service
    • Forestry Commission
    • Ministry of Defence
    • Marine Scotland Science
  • Publicly-funded bodies:
    • British Museum
    • British Antarctic Survey
    • Historic Environment Scotland
    • Scottish Environment Protection Agency
    • BBC 

Third sector

Third sector organisations employ researchers for a variety of reasons; to gather evidence to help them to influence government policy, to define their strategic aims, to assess or evaluate effectiveness of their work, or to address the aims of the organisation. Examples of employers include: 

  • medical research charities such as Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and the Wellcome Trust which either employ or provide funding for medical researchers and often social researchers too
  • think tanks such as Chatham House, Institute for Public Policy Research and Reform
  • social justice charities such as Shelter, Oxfam and Children 1st. 

Find out more about the third sector on our Charities and Voluntary sector guide.

Charities and voluntary sector guide

New directions

Research – whether in higher education, or elsewhere – isn’t the only option open to you after your doctorate. Follow our suggestions to generate ideas of alternative career paths. 

Skills developed during your PhD 

Throughout your PhD you’ll have been involved in activities in addition to your research – and you may have enjoyed them and developed some expertise. For example: 

  • Did your PhD require you to develop skills in software programming or data analysis?
  • Did you help organise a seminar series or conference?
  • Were you involved in public engagement activities such as Edinburgh Science Festival or bringing your research into schools?
  • Have you written articles, book reviews, or blogs?
  • Did you informally supervise Honours or masters students, or spend your time demonstrating some technique you were the resident ‘expert’ in? 

Many PhD graduates have in the past taken this additional experience and built on it to develop their career in a different direction such as software developer, conference organiser, science communicator, technical writer or journalist, research staff trainer - to name a few roles linked to the examples above. 

Important questions which may help you to decide if you would like to pursue a new direction are: 

  • Are there things you do as part of your PhD that you enjoy perhaps more than the research?
  • Do jobs exist that match up with what you are doing?
  • What do they require in terms of qualifications, experience and skills?
  • How much experience do you have in your additional area of interest or how well-developed do you feel are those specific skills?
  • Are there opportunities to get more involved or further develop skills to fill any gaps in your experience? You may wish to look at some of the training courses offered by the university or other providers. 

Using your subject knowledge 

The subject area of your research may link naturally to other industry sectors, giving you the opportunity to keep an interest in your research subject but perhaps apply it in a very different way. There will be obvious links you can make - but others may be less clear. To help you consider what opportunities may be available here are some examples. 

  • History of Art leading to the museum or gallery sector – examples of roles could include arts administrator, education officer, or curator.
  • cancer research, or other health-related research, leading to relevant voluntary sector organisations (e.g. Cancer Research UK or British Heart Foundation) or the NHS – examples of roles could include communications officer, policy adviser, health promotion specialist.
  • Geosciences leading to the oil or renewable energy industry, or to a museum or visitor experience, such as Dynamic Earth.
  • English literature or language leading to careers in the publishing or advertising sectors. 

Ask colleagues in your research group or department if they know of any organisations which could link to your subject area in this way, or book an appointment to talk it over with a Careers Consultant. 

Graduate recruitment 

Many employers in the UK recruit graduates on the basis of the skills,  interest  and motivation they bring to a job rather than the level or subject of their qualification. You could therefore consider a wide range of career areas which are unrelated to your experience to date but match the skills you have developed and in which you are interested. To start: 

  • explore the types of graduate jobs available by looking at vacancies on MyCareerHub and graduate job sites such as Prospects and Gradcracker

MyCareerHub

Prospects

Gradcracker

  • check out our detailed sector guides for information about different job sectors.

Sector information

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