Job title and description:
I am a Research Associate in Kodak’s European research laboratories based in Cambridge, part of Eastman Kodak worldwide research.  As the European arm, our purpose is to explore and collaborate with small business and academic activity around Europe.  In addition and along the way, making our parent company aware of those things that make the European market different from the North American.

What degree did you study?
BA Natural Sciences (physics), University of Cambridge.
PhD Surface Science, Cavendish laboratories, University of Cambridge.

What are your main duties of work?
There are two main activities that each of us within the European labs engage in. The first is to actively pursue a research project within the corporate research portfolio.  Currently my own work relates to continuous inkjet printing.  The second is to actively seek, and then work with, collaborations in new areas that Kodak might wish to pursue in the future.  These will be technologies within the company’s scope of imaging, display, printing and novel materials.

What are your favourite aspects of the job?
Even after leading a group of researchers, my favourite activity is still to pursue a piece of research through experiment and modelling to writing either an internal report or academic paper or both, as I did as a research student.  Nowadays this is most often in collaboration with a student.  Of course I now mentor other younger colleagues, propose new avenues of research, support other's proposals, work with academic colleagues and research students, all of which is very enjoyable.  Perhaps the best aspect though, is the fact that I have the freedom and trust to do the right thing as I see fit.

What kind of salary can a graduate expect to earn in this job?
Starting salaries for graduates are competitive and, at current rates, after four years with the Company, graduates can expect to be earning between £30K and £36K, depending on performance and qualifications.

How has your degree helped you?
My degree and PhD provided the essential grounding for working in a research environment.  In fact my field of study has drifted away from those things I worked on as a research student, yet there is still a significant element of the technologies I learnt that is still relevant.  Although there are other avenues to gaining the experience necessary to be a research scientist, the most direct route via degree and PhD is certainly the simplest.  I would not have reached the position within Kodak that I now have without the training and experience I obtained through degree, PhD and postdoc.