David Cairns is Principal Researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include youth, mobility, education, employment and political participation. He has participated in numerous projects, including two large scale European Commission studies, and studied the development of research careers in a project entitled, Circulation in Science. As well as being the author of numerous books, he is editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Youth Mobility and Educational Migration.

• 1. Introduction.- 2. Research and Precarity.- 3. Contextualizing Research Careers.- 4. The Difficult Early Career Stage.- 5. Mid-Career Cruelty.- 6. Senior Researchers.- 7. Conclusions and Implications.

David Cairns is Principal Researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include youth, mobility, education, employment and political participation. He has participated in numerous projects, including two large scale European Commission studies, and studied the development of research careers in a project entitled, Circulation in Science. As well as being the author of numerous books, he is editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Youth Mobility and Educational Migration.

• 1. Introduction.- 2. Research and Precarity.- 3. Contextualizing Research Careers.- 4. The Difficult Early Career Stage.- 5. Mid-Career Cruelty.- 6. Senior Researchers.- 7. Conclusions and Implications.

David Cairns is Principal Researcher at the Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal. His research interests include youth, mobility, education, employment and political participation. He has participated in numerous projects, including two large scale European Commission studies, and studied the development of research careers in a project entitled, Circulation in Science. As well as being the author of numerous books, he is editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Youth Mobility and Educational Migration.

• 1. Introduction.- 2. Research and Precarity.- 3. Contextualizing Research Careers.- 4. The Difficult Early Career Stage.- 5. Mid-Career Cruelty.- 6. Senior Researchers.- 7. Conclusions and Implications.