Postdoctoral Research Associates
Since 2019 Pembroke has welcomed early career academics as Postdoctoral Research Associates (PDRAs). The PDRA position provides a postdoctoral researcher with a College affiliation and an academic home outside their department. Pembroke College hopes to continue providing a supportive academic environment in which PDRAs can further develop their careers. The post runs for one year, but this may be renewed depending on funding and the individual's level of involvement with the life of the College. PDRAs at Pembroke are entitled to one lunch or dinner twice a week at High Table; they can apply for a personal research allowance of £500 per annum; and they have access to the Senior Parlour, Inner Parlour, grounds and facilities.
Pembroke's current PDRAs
Dr Danyal Akarca - MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (Computational Neuroscience)
Dr Amal A Awad - Faculty of Divinity (Philosophy of Mind in Post-Classical Arabic Philosophy)
Dr Svetlana Menkin Bachbut - Department of Chemistry (Prevention of Battery Degradation)
Dr Anna Jane Dreyer - Department of Clinical Neurosciences (Neuropsychology)
Dr Vatsa Gandhi - Ashby Postdoctoral Fellow at Department of Engineering - Mechanics of Materials
Dr Matthew Hooton - Department of Physics (Atmospheres and formation of extra-solar planets)
Dr Gabriel Jamie - Department of Zoology (Evolutionary Genetics)
Dr Se Hun Joo - Department of Materials Science & Metallurgy (Computational Materials Science)
Dr Scott Keene - Department of Engineering (Mixed Conductors)
Dr Krishnaa Mahbubani - Department of Surgery and the Department of Haematology (Cell Extraction Technology for Cellular Therapeutics)
Dr Lauren Miller - MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, PNAC (Targeted protein degradation in neurodegenerative diseases)
Dr Danika Parikh - University of Cambridge Museums (Archaeology)
Dr Marta Urbanska - Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience (Life Sciences, Biophysics)
Ms Elizabeth Walsh - Scott Polar Research Institute, in the Department of Geography (Human, Social and Political Studies)
Post-doctoral researchers and assistants, colloquially known postdocs, often value a formal College attachment, and a PDRA position could be the first professional research role an academic will have after completing their doctoral studies. They play a significant role in the University of Cambridge and make up more than 35% of its total staff. They are the fastest growing staff group and they are the most diverse staff group by nationality, coming to Cambridge from over 95 countries around the world. However, the overwhelming majority of postdocs are unlikely to have a College association. In 2013 the University formally recognised that more needed to be done for postdocs as a community and the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPdA) was established. In 2014 it opened the first Postdoc Centre in Mill Lane and in 2017 a purpose-built centre at Eddington. It has subsequently dedicated programmes for postdocs at the Careers Service and the Researcher Development Programme. In 2020 the OPdA changed its name to the Postdoc Academy, and it continues to support postdocs through professional development, policy advocacy and pastoral services.
Pembroke College's PDRA Coordinator Professor Renaud Gagne