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Most academics won’t stay in academia… or let’s say, not every PhD will land a permanent position as a researcher. With the increasing numbers of PhDs this situation is becoming more serious. In this context, we want to interview people who work in so called ‘alternative careers’. Some of these careers are still related to academia. We hope these interviews will be of interest to people in general, since they may learn something more about how academia works. For PhDs who may not stay researchers, it should be interesting to know what kinds of careers they can have beyond the ivory tower.

In this first career episode, Cristina Oliveira explains her job as a ‘funding adviser’ – not to be mistaken with ‘funding manager’. She works with the social science faculty at the New University of Lisbon (Universidad NOVA FCSH). She explains how she got into this job, and the tasks that her job entails. She needs to stay up to date with the available funding opportunities, network with funding providers and researchers, and help researchers with their application process.

If you are interested in such a profession at the ‘interface of science’ in Portugal, Cristina is part of the ‘Plataforma de Inferface à Ciência’ (Platform for the Interface of Science), which you can reach through their website, and their Facebook group.