PhD Horizons (Wednesday 17 June 2026)

We run a conference style event each year dedicated to the PhD community. It aims to showcase the wide range of career opportunities outside of academia that are open to PhD graduates, encouraging them to think broadly about their options. 

When: Wednesday 17 June, 12:30 – 6:00pm 

Venue: McEwan Hall

Why should I get involved?

Because you care about supporting PhD graduates into rewarding career paths outside of academia and want to help them explore their options.  

You might want to get involved because you are keen to share your personal advice and experience or because your organisation is keen to attract students.  This event isn’t designed to be about direct recruitment but of course we welcome participation from contacts and organisations who are actively recruiting.   

How do I get involved?

There are 2 main ways for you to get involved - be part of one of our events or write a guest piece for our Inform.ed blog. If you are interested in either of the options below, or would like to help us raise awareness of non-academic career paths in a different way please get in touch employers@ed.ac.uk 

It was fun and I really enjoyed the other panellists' presentations and the questions. Wonderful to see such a diverse group of people - both audience and fellow panellists. 

PhD Horizons 2023 Speaker

I had attended PhD Horizons as a student in 2019 and found it a very helpful experience so I’m happy to give back. 

PhD Horizons 2023 Speaker

Which students will engage? 

PhD Horizons is open to PhD students at all stages of their research from all disciplines, as well as early career researchers and post-docs. PhD students make up around 13% of the University of Edinburgh student population and we know that many of these students may feel apprehensive about their career prospects following the completion of their doctoral studies.

They will be encouraged to come and go throughout the day, but we would hope that each session should attract at least 30 attendees.

We are proud to have a very diverse student population – our international students make up around 49% of our student population and come from over 160 countries – naturally they are keen to hear from graduates about their chances of working in the UK and have questions about visas.