Good news, everyone! I’m leaving Lancaster University for good. It’s been a great 12 years of my life, but it is time to move on. Let me explain what’s happening.
Some of you have seen one of my previous posts about the Lancaster University crisis (this one), so you might know what’s going on and what I think of it. For those of you who missed it, long story short, the university management decided to cut costs and make roughly 37.5% of people in our department redundant. This move has demotivated the whole department, several leading professors in our group have already left, and I know that many of my colleagues are either already moving on or are searching for jobs. I expect that the department will face substantial changes, and I am afraid that it might be closed or merged with another department in a couple of years. That breaks my heart, and I cannot stand it. Given that I categorically disagree with the decisions made by the university management, I decided to apply for Voluntary Redundancy, and I will no longer work for the university from 1 August 2026.
What’s next? I’ve been applying for jobs in academia, but I don’t have high expectations. It feels like the whole education sector (not only in the UK) is in turmoil, and nobody fully understands what is really happening or how to deal with it… except for sacking staff, praying for more international students, or hoping that AI will go away. So, changing one university for the other similar one might not be the smartest move in the long run, so I am now trying to figure out what to do next, and I’m looking at different options.
Frankly speaking, I am a bit frightened, because I am jumping into the unknown. But I have been stressed and demotivated working at the university for the last few months, and I feel that I just cannot stay – this would not be fair either to me or to my colleagues.
One thing I should say is that I do not regret for a moment joining Lancaster University. The Department of Management Science at Lancaster University has been one of the best places that I have worked in so far. I like and respect my colleagues a lot and would not be moving on if the situation had remained (subjectively) adequate. I still think that we have one of the best groups, so if you want to join the department either as a student or as a member of staff (if the opportunity arises), I would encourage you to do so.
Finally, what happens with Lancaster Centre for Marketing Analytics and Forecasting? This is not clear. I am a forecaster, but in this specific instance the future is too vague to say anything specific. Still, I hope for the best.
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