Report by Natalie McIntyre, Undergraduate Administrator in HPS
This Michaelmas Term, the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science hosted their first Careers Panel which was well attended by students from all HPS courses. Grace Chapman, the Outreach and Recruitment Coordinator from Homerton started the proceedings with an informative presentation about the University's prestigious PGCE course which has recently been rated the best in the country in the subject league tables of 2026.
This was followed by an introduction to each panellist from Professor Hasok Chang, the Head of Department.
Our panellists included:
- Dr Charlotte Connelly, the Head Curator at the National Science and Media Museum.
Charlotte studied for her PhD in HPS between 2014 and 2022. Whilst studying, she was the Chair of the University of Cambridge Museums Consortium and became the Museum Curator at the Scott Polar Research Institute. Following her graduation from HPS she went onto become the Head Curator at the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford.
- Dr Katy Duncan, a Postdoctoral Freer Fellow at the Royal Institution.
Katy completed her MPhil in HPS in 2017. She became a research assistant in the department and a Ri Freer Prize Fellow in 2022. She completed her PhD in Philosophy in HPS in 2024. She is currently a Postdoctoral Freer Fellow at the Royal Institution, a leading independent charity dedicated to connecting as many people as possible with the world of science and famous for the yearly Christmas Lectures.
- Dr Grace Field, a senior consultant at ICF.
Grace completed her PhD in HPS in 2022. Whilst studying she became a freelance science writer, and editor and her PhD focused on the role of analogy in modern science. After graduating Grace became a consultant at ICF, a leading global solutions and technology provider and has now been promoted to Senior Consultant for Sustainable Aviation.
- Mr James Hynard, Head of Growth Strategy and Delivery at HM Treasury.
James completed his BA in Biology in NST followed by his MSc in HPS in 2014. He joined the graduate development programme at the Wellcome Trust and went onto become one of their Policy Officers. Following this he became the Private Secretary to the Chief Medical Officer in the Department of Health and Social Care which led to him becoming the Head of Pandemics and High-Consequence Infectious Diseases. He now works as the Head of Growth Delivery Monitoring and Governance at HM Treasury.
- Mr David Yardley, Senior Executive for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Australian Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representation to the UN in Geneva.
David studied for his Batchelor of Law at the University of Sydney, graduating in 2003 and then came to the UK to graduate as a Master of Philosophy in HPS in 2004. After graduation David returned to Australia to work for the Department of Education and went onto work for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. During this time, he was also the Deputy Ambassador at the Australian Embassy in Kabul and later became the High Commissioner of Kiribati. He is currently the Senior Executive for DFAT and the Australian Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representation to the UN in Geneva.
The panel were asked the following questions and answered in turn to give more insight into their career and experiences.
- How has a degree in the History and Philosophy of Science supported you professionally?
- After studying at HPS, how did you go about getting your first job?
- Can you give us an example of some good advice you were given or something you have learnt that has been invaluable to your career?
The panel provided the audience with highlights from their personal careers detailing the paths they took after graduation. The panel discussed the fact that your career path does not always follow a straight trajectory but can involve moving sideways or backwards to reach your end goal. The panel discussed how they had all experienced rejection at some point and how this can be a positive rather than a negative. It was interesting to hear about the writing and museum experience that could be gained whilst still studying at the university which can make you more desirable as a job candidate. It was clear that HPS had prepared the panellists well for the careers they were interested in pursuing and had eventually led to varied and prestigious jobs.
Some key points were:
- Look for opportunities and experiences within the university. e.g. writing for Varsity, museum work, whilst you are still in Cambridge.
- Look outside of academia for opportunities – policy writing, museums, institutes, publications, civil service etc.
- Don't look for your dream job straight away. Be prepared to work in some jobs that are a means to an end and don't worry if your career path does not follow a straight trajectory.
- Even the most impressive candidates get rejected at some point.
- Apply for jobs for which you may not be be fully qualified. You never know and you may be the right fit anyway.
The audience was given the opportunity to ask questions, and they asked specifics about museum and writing opportunities.
The panel was followed by a drinks reception in the Whipple Museum where the audience could meet the panellists and ask further questions in an informal setting. This was well attended and the panellists enjoyed meeting our current HPS cohort.
The student feedback from the event was very positive and below are some of the comments received:
‘Diverse range of speakers.’
‘It's always interesting to hear about what people do after an HPS degree. The reception was also amazing!’
‘I liked simply to hear about the other sorts of careers available to people who studied HPS.’
‘I found their career paths illuminating.’
‘Seemed very relevant!’
‘I thought it was great! It's definitely important to have the reception after as a space to talk with the presenters.’
‘I think this panel was much better than the one last year in terms of having a variety of jobs represented and also having things that seemed a bit more realistic.’
Overall, the event was a great success, and we plan to make this a yearly event in HPS. In the future we hope to have representation from a wider range of career opportunities including teaching, law and administration.