Dr Paras Naik

Dr Paras Naik was a member of the University of Liverpool's first 'business-as-usual' Prosper cohort in 2024. We caught up with him to talk about his experience and career journey - you can read the interview below.

Paras also put together a presentation on his time with Prosper for the School of Physical Sciences PDRA away day, which you can view here.

Role

Senior Researcher within the School of Physical Sciences at the University of Liverpool

Case study conducted

July 2025

What is your background as a postdoc?

I’m a particle physicist in the School of Physical Sciences at the University of Liverpool – probing the most fundamental constituents of the universe and seeking a better understanding of the symmetries that govern their dynamics.

My specific area of research is quark “flavour” physics – I’ve developed a way to use the LHCb experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider to look for violations of time-reversal symmetry in charm quark systems.

One thing I like about the particle physics group at Liverpool is that we try to do a lot of physics that is less “mainstream” – it’s part of what attracted me to the role. I’ve been at Liverpool since 2023, prior to that I worked for 15 years at the University of Bristol.

So, I’ve been a postdoc for coming on to 20 years – which is a long time, but contracts in my field tend to be longer than in other disciplines, and I love the work.

Why did you join the Prosper cohort?

For the first few years of my career, I didn’t have the opportunity to engage with career development – but since moving to Bristol from overseas labs I’ve made a habit of engaging with professional development at least once a year.

When I first saw the Prosper cohort being advertised, I thought maybe it isn’t for me – perhaps someone at an earlier stage of their career would better benefit from the opportunity.

However the advertisement made it clear that Prosper wanted a wide variety of postdocs to apply, and – critically – that they wanted people who could bring something to the cohort themselves.

I thought I could definitely bring that element – I have a lot of experience, including experience of what not to do!

How did you find the Prosper cohort?

It was great. Such opportunities help me develop – or re-discover – a bit of confidence. When I’m working or focused on getting the next contract there can be a bit of tunnel-vision – I’m in my own little world, and it’s very competitive.

Programmes like Prosper help me see outside of that bubble. It reminds me that I do have many useful skills and that there’s a market for these elsewhere too.

I didn’t really have any specific ideas about what I might want to do outside academia one day – I still don’t, really. But the good thing about Prosper is that it has given me many tools that I can use at that juncture.

Which aspects of Prosper did you find most useful?

The community element of the cohort was really valuable. Peer communication is a great catalyst for organising your own thoughts and gives you the chance to help others. I was relatively new to the university at the time I joined, so it was a good way to get out of my bubble and make connections.

In terms of specific sessions, the strengths profile exercise was very useful. As I look for new work in the future – whether within or beyond academia – that’s something I’ll revisit to help define the direction I want to go in.

The skills audit was very useful insofar as its very easy to forget about all the transferable skills you have.

The conversation about values was very interesting as a piece of reflection – thinking about what I like about my academic career, and what aspects I’d like to retain should I ever transition beyond.

One idea that really stuck with me is the concept of making options, not plans.

The coaching with Denise Chilton was also fantastic. I’m considering doing more of it in my own time, because having someone like that to talk through your situation with and bounce ideas off helps a great deal.

Even though I’ve finished the cohort – there’s still a lot of resources on the Prosper Portal that I’ve yet to fully engage with. The good thing about the Portal is that when I do need it, it’s there.

What are your future career plans?

I’m still focused on my current project and contract, and making my way within academia.

So far in my career I’ve been able to string together relatively long contracts, but the current wider funding environment means that, in the next few years at least, things look more uncertain.

I don’t want to go anywhere for a one year contract, unless it was guaranteed to lead to something more permanent. I want to move forward, not backwards.

So as an academic I remain ambitious, but am aware of the possibility that at some point I may need to look more seriously at options outside of academia. I like the lifestyle and flexibility of academia – so if I did move out, I’d want to find something with a similar sort of environment, doing something I find interesting, and something with a future.

The good thing about Prosper is if/when I get to this juncture, I have more tools at my disposal to explore those options – and there’s always more information on the Portal for me to revisit.

If there’s one bit of advice you could give to a postdoc that was in the position you were in before you joined Prosper, what would it be?

You must start early on thinking about your next steps – you need to talk to people and start planning. You need to think about your professional development, and what boxes you need to tick to get from point A to point B. I didn’t really start thinking like this for several years after my PhD.

Institutions offer a lot more nowadays in terms of support than they did back when I started as a postdoc. So take advantage of those opportunities, apply for things like Prosper.

Networking is very important. I know a lot of people don’t like it, and some have trouble asking people for help or advice – not wanting to “bother” people. This is natural and I can sometimes be a bit like this. But it’s not the best attitude to have – it’s best to get out there. Make connections. Also, there’s nothing better than having a peer who is going through a similar hurdle as you for learning how to do something.

So start early and put yourself out there – believe in yourself! I think one of the ironic things about academia is that its full of these intensely collaborative efforts in terms of the research, but when it comes to careers and professional development it can be quite siloed and lonely.