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I am struggling to find job security. Over the past two years, I’ve been rejected for positions as a senior research fellow, a lecturer and a research funding manager. My initial one-year contract, which was extended to 2.5 years, officially ends in three months. Every application feels like a lottery ticket. Every rejection feels personal, even when I know it shouldn’t. It’s as if I’m no longer good enough to be in academia. The stress is building. I feel like my career is at stake and, even more urgently, I’m starting to ask myself difficult questions about how to pay my rent once my contract runs out.
I know I’m not alone. At least five friends and colleagues at a similar career stage are also applying for jobs with months, or even weeks, left on their current contracts. It’s difficult to aim for independence as a researcher by landing a fellowship or getting a permanent position while navigating a career stage filled with fixed-term contracts.
I hold a PhD in behavioural science, as well as a doctorate-equivalent qualification required to become a chartered health psychologist. I currently work as a researcher on the mental-health impacts of climate change at Imperial College London, one of the world’s leading universities.
And I’ve done what you’re supposed to do to make it in academia: I’ve published papers, won research grants and consultancy funding, taught across disciplines and co-hosted a United Nations webinar on what solutions young people want to improve their mental well-being during the climate crisis. I’ve also presented and strategized at a European Commission meeting on climate and health, and have been featured on the BBC World Service’s The Climate Question.
I work with several youth-led organizations, co-lead the lived-experience advisory board for the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on climate change and mental health, and deliver training on how to have difficult conversations about the climate, including at the Natural History Museum in London. I have academic mentors supporting me. Outside academia, I have worked in several sectors, including for charities and non-governmental organizations aiding hurricane recovery in the Caribbean.
Many people have achieved much more, but on paper I hoped that I looked like someone who should feel secure in their academic career.
Identifying the issues
So, myself and my colleagues find ourselves whispering the same question: is this a personal failing, or a symptom of a wider systemic shift in academia? A meta-analysis published in Nature Human Behaviour in June1 reported that early-career researchers have a greater prevalence of symptoms of mental ill health, such as depression and anxiety, compared with the general population. Job insecurity is listed as one of the stressors. I feel especially drawn to this issue because, as a health psychologist, I can see how allowing this period of uncertainty to become a period of self-criticism could damage my health and be unhelpful in my job hunt.
Conferring with academic mentors, I can recognize why this is happening, and why it might not entirely be to do with my personal abilities and is instead about the wider world and many circumstances that are out of my control.
The job market does not exist in a vacuum. Global conflicts have driven energy prices up and destabilized economies. In the United States, the administration of President Donald Trump has shifted science funding priorities, causing ripples across global health and climate funding. In the United Kingdom, where I live, projections show fewer vacancies and rising unemployment — pressures that hit low- and middle-income countries particularly hard. These changes cascade through research ecosystems, reducing opportunities and intensifying competition. Professors are also feeling the pinch.
Another driver of competition is the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence to assist in the writing of grant and job applications. This has clear benefits for many individual researchers, who can now produce stronger applications, but it also means that competitive applicants can produce even more polished proposals. The net result is that the total number of submissions has surged. Review systems, already stretched, are buckling under the volume of applications. In response, the European Research Council introduced (and soon scrapped, after backlash) a major change that would have seen applicants whose funding applications did not score highly enough unable to reapply for up to four years.
In much of the world, it’s a hard time to be looking for work in any sector.
Competing in an impossible market
I first started to feel panic in July 2024, 18 months before my contract was due to end. I began applying for academic fellowships, widely seen as the next step at my career stage. As my contract’s end date approached this January, I won a small pot of funding to sustain me for an extra six months.
With the clock ticking on my contract, and limited success to show from my applications, I shifted from attempting to win research funding through fellowships to applying for a wider scope of academic and non-academic positions. But the time required to complete each type of application forces difficult choices. You cannot do everything while performing at a full-time job (see ‘Practical support for struggling jobseekers’).
Practical support for struggling jobseekers
Many of us are navigating the same pressures, as well as the same quiet fear of not being enough. There is power in remembering that your worth is not determined by a reviewer’s score, a funding panel’s decision or a job market in crisis.
As a health psychologist, I want to share coping strategies to use when job hunting, for those who are also struggling.
Five practical ways to support yourself:
1. Reach out to peers in similar situations, because it can be validating and grounding.
2. Seek mentors who can offer strategic guidance and share stories about their rejections, to normalize them.
3. If your institution or colleagues offer support to prepare for applications and interviews, take up the offer.
4. Ask for feedback on applications or interviews — really reflect on this and use what you’ve learnt.
5. Give yourself time to process a rejection before throwing yourself back into work. Go for a walk or speak to someone supportive.
Developing a fellowship proposal takes around a year and repurposing it for a different funder takes another three months. Academic job applications require about three full days to properly tune a CV, read up on the group’s literature and develop your research plan for the next five years. Adjusting a CV and drafting a cover letter for non-academic roles, by contrast, takes me around three hours.
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This is an article from the Nature Careers Community, a place for Nature readers to share their professional experiences and advice. Guest posts are encouraged.
Facts Only
* An initial one-year contract for a position is set to end in three months.
* The individual was rejected for positions as a senior research fellow, lecturer, and research funding manager over the past two years.
* The individual holds a PhD in behavioural science and a doctorate-equivalent qualification in health psychology.
* The researcher currently works as a researcher on the mental-health impacts of climate change at Imperial College London.
* The individual has published papers and won research grants and consultancy funding.
* The individual co-hosted a United Nations webinar on youth mental well-being during the climate crisis and presented at a European Commission meeting on climate and health.
* The individual works with youth-led organizations, co-leads an advisory board for the Lancet Psychiatry Commission on climate change and mental health, and delivers training on climate conversations.
* A meta-analysis in Nature Human Behaviour reported that early-career researchers have greater prevalence of mental ill health symptoms compared to the general population.
* Job insecurity is listed as a stressor for early-career researchers in this meta-analysis.
* Global conflicts and shifts in science funding priorities are cited as drivers affecting research ecosystems and opportunities.
* The adoption of artificial intelligence has increased the volume of grant and job applications.
Executive Summary
An individual in academia is experiencing significant job insecurity following rejections for senior research fellow, lecturer, and research funding manager positions, with an initial contract ending in three months. This situation is compounded by the difficulty of achieving researcher independence amidst fixed-term contracts. The individual holds advanced qualifications, including a PhD in behavioural science and a doctorate-equivalent in health psychology, and has established a significant publication and grant history, along with public engagement in climate and mental health advocacy across various institutions and organizations.
The uncertainty is framed by a perceived systemic shift in academia, supported by research indicating that early-career researchers experience higher rates of mental health symptoms, with job insecurity cited as a stressor. External factors contributing to the competitive environment include global economic instability from conflicts, shifts in science funding priorities, and the increasing use of AI to flood review systems with applications. Despite extensive achievements and external contributions, the individual recognizes that these circumstances place them in an "impossible market" for securing stable academic positions.
The response involves seeking coping strategies, such as connecting with peers and mentors, and acknowledging that self-worth is separate from evaluation metrics. Practical advice suggests focusing on targeted application strategies, noting the time disparity between developing major proposals versus tailoring job applications.
Full Take
The narrative presents a tension between individual achievement and systemic barriers, suggesting that professional insecurity is not solely an indicator of personal failure but a reflection of macro-level shifts in the academic and global economy. The core pattern observed is the gap between documented external contributions—prestigious publications, public advocacy, and high-level collaborative work—and the current market reality of precarious fixed-term employment. This highlights how meritocratic systems can mask structural vulnerabilities when external economic forces converge against a specific demographic.
The discussion shifts from personal distress to identifying systemic drivers: global economic instability, shifting funding priorities, and technological disruption (AI) are shown to intensify competition for finite academic resources. The psychological framing—the feeling of personal inadequacy versus an understanding of external constraints—is crucial. The suggested coping mechanisms emphasize agency by focusing on controllable actions (seeking support, managing time allocation) rather than internalizing systemic pressures.
The implications point toward a necessary reconsideration of what constitutes "success" within academia and the broader knowledge economy. If success is defined by tenure or permanent security, the current structure forces high-achieving individuals into unsustainable competitive cycles. The pattern suggests that resilience in this environment requires simultaneously validating personal experience while strategically navigating external volatility, focusing effort where control exists rather than seeking absolute certainty in an unpredictable system.
What factors contribute to the belief that one's worth is determined by market outcomes? What are the specific institutional mechanisms that prioritize short-term funding cycles over long-term career security? How can the established structures of academia adapt their support systems to align with the lived realities of researchers navigating volatile global conditions?
Sentinel — Human
The text appears to be a deeply personal essay framed by professional context, skillfully weaving individual emotional struggle with broader systemic and technological forces.