The PostDoc Office cultivates a valuable network of people who moved their careers beyond academia after their PhD. They work in research-related leadership roles, in research positions outside the university, or in other really exciting jobs that suit a person with a research background.
One of these people is museum professional Thomas Felfer (find him on LinkedIn), who has a background in Media and Cultural Studies. We are delighted that he consented to be interviewed for this series, providing us with his insights into the success strategies and surprises of his career journey.
1) What was your last job in university research, and what are you doing right now?
I left academia when I finished my PhD in 2022, during my research for my PhD I was also teaching at the university. Currently, I’m working at the Universalmuseum Joanneum, I’m curator at the Museum für Geschichte in Graz and I’m also responsible for the audio collection at the multimedia collections.
2) With some distance to leaving university research: What was your biggest learning you developed in your new sector?
For example, making an exhibition is very different to publishing scientific papers, communicating knowledge to the public is very different to giving a talk at a conference. So, I had to learn to use accessible language. I realized that using “easy” language doesn’t mean that you lose complex content.
3) What surprised you the most in the beginning?
Well, I had to get used to the tracking of my work hours. I must keep record of my working hours which was very new to me, before nobody asked how long you need for finishing a project as long as it’s done. At the beginning I felt observed, but it also showed me the level of self-exploitation that exists within the creative world as well as within academia. In the end I realized that keeping track of the hours makes the workload transparent that hides behind different projects.
4) What did you already do before you made the decision to switch fields that helped you later on? (Or what do you wish you had done earlier?)
During my undergraduate I was already working within the creative industry. This helped me not only to build a network but also to acquire a skill set that is needed outside of academia.
Interview: Johanna Stadlbauer, 10.11.2025, Picture Credit: Max Wegscheidler.
Upon request, we make our contact list (the PostDoc Office Address Book for Careers Beyond Academia) available to our University of Graz postdocs. It‘s a curated list of selected people, and like a good library it can provide information from a great diversity of disciplines and fields. Reach our via postdoc@uni-graz.at!