Keeping track: what happens after a Prosper cohort?

If there is one thing we've learned from tracking participants over time, it's that there is no typical destination. 

Some participants have remained in academia, progressing into research, teaching and leadership roles. Others have moved into careers beyond universities, applying their skills in sectors ranging from business and industry to the public and third sectors. Some have built careers that sit somewhere in between, spanning academia and external organisations.

Looking across both pilot cohorts, the majority of participants are currently working within academia, but a substantial proportion have moved beyond it, while others occupy hybrid roles connecting academic and non-academic environments. 

What's perhaps most interesting is that the journeys themselves are often more varied than the destinations. Career moves rarely happen in a straight line. People explore options, test different roles and respond to opportunities as they arise. The richness of those individual stories cannot always be captured in a single chart, but together they paint a picture of a community pursuing a wide range of successful career paths. Have a look at the two plotted data below showing an intricate web of career pathways. 

Evaluating long-term impact is never straightforward. Yet when we asked participants in late 2025 to reflect on their career development, many still identified Prosper as a meaningful contributor to their progress. 

Around two-thirds of respondents from the first pilot cohort and half of respondents from the second said that Prosper had contributed a moderate amount or a great deal to their current career progress. 

This is particularly notable given the timescales involved. At the point of the survey, the first cohort had completed Prosper almost four years earlier, while the second cohort had finished nearly three years previously. 

Rather than being something participants left behind when the programme ended, Prosper appears for many to have become one of the building blocks they continue to draw on as their careers evolve. 

One of the challenges for any development programme is ensuring that learning translates into action. The encouraging picture emerging from our surveys is that many participants continue to use skills, strategies and insights gained through Prosper in their day-to-day professional lives. 

More than half of respondents from the first cohort and over two-thirds from the second reported that they still apply what they learned through Prosper in their current roles. 

Participants also reported lasting benefits for their professional growth, suggesting that the programme's value extends beyond immediate career decisions. For many, it appears to have influenced the way they think about career development itself, providing approaches and frameworks that remain useful as opportunities and challenges emerge. 

Careers are often shaped by people as much as by plans. A key aim of Prosper has always been to help researchers build connections with peers, employers and professionals from a wide range of sectors. Several years later, those connections are still visible in the data. 

Many respondents reported maintaining networks formed during Prosper, with LinkedIn continuing to be the most common platform through which participants engage with employers and professional contacts. The continued use of these networks suggests that participants have not only expanded their professional circles but have also found ways to sustain them. 

Perhaps one of the simplest indicators of a programme's value is whether people would recommend it to others. Years after taking part, participants continue to answer that question positively. 

A very high proportion of respondents from both pilot cohorts said they would recommend Prosper to researchers at a similar career stage (from the latest surveys 87% of pilot cohort 1 respondents and 93% of pilot 2 cohort respondents). Participants also continued to report positive effects on areas such as job application activity and professional development. 

Participants are not simply reflecting positively on an experience they once enjoyed. They are recognising benefits that they continue to see in their careers several years later. 

The pilot cohorts that co-created and tested Prosper's postdoctoral career development model were necessarily intensive, with participants engaging over the course of a full year. This raises an interesting question: what happens when Prosper is delivered in a shorter format? 

Follow-up data from the first six-month Prosper cohort at the University of Liverpool (academic year 2023-2024) suggests that many of the programme's benefits are evident well beyond participation. Around 15 months after completing the programme, 89% of respondents said they would recommend Prosper to researchers at a similar career stage. A third (33%) reported maintaining connections and networks formed through the cohort, while 55% felt Prosper had made a moderate or great contribution to their professional growth, with the remainder reporting at least a little impact. 

Importantly, the learning appears to endure. Two-thirds of respondents (67%) said they were still applying skills, strategies or insights gained through Prosper in their current role and career planning, with a further 11% reporting that they did so occasionally. 

While the pilot cohorts remain our richest source of long-term data, these findings suggest that even shorter Prosper experiences can equip researchers with approaches, networks and confidence that continue to support their career development well after the programme ends. [You can download the full UoL cohort 2024 longitudinal report] 

Longitudinal evaluation is not always easy. Survey participation naturally declines over time, people's circumstances change, and career journeys become increasingly diverse. Yet this is also why continuing to follow participants is so valuable. 

Looking beyond immediate feedback allows us to understand not just what participants thought about Prosper when they took part, but how its influence develops over time. 

So, what happens after Prosper? The short answer is: lots of different things. 

Participants move into a wide range of roles and sectors. They continue to use skills and approaches developed through the programme. They maintain professional networks. And, months and even years after taking part, many still see Prosper as having played a meaningful part in their career development. 

For us, that's an encouraging reminder that career development doesn't stop when a programme ends. In many ways, that's just the start of another chapter.