# 2023 Year in Review: Career and Personal Growth A new job, academic achievements, and changes in family life - **Source:** [Martin Kleppmann](https://martin.kleppmann.com) - **Published:** 2024-01-04 - **Topic:** [Career Growth](https://brifing.si/c/growth) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/c7bffbaa-e8f2-406e-ba8a-bc98faafd2b6 ## A Fresh Start 2023 began with a new job and academic position. Securing a permanent Associate Professor role at Cambridge marked a significant career milestone, offering long-term stability unlike previous fixed-term contracts. ## Balancing Family and Work The arrival of a new baby required balancing work and family life. Full-time parental leave and part-time work arrangements helped manage this transition, with family priorities shaping career plans. ## Academic Achievements A paper accepted at IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy solved user discovery issues in anonymity networks. Other projects progressed, though some remain unfinished. ## Industrial Collaborations The Automerge project reached key milestones in 2023. A Rust-based rewrite improved performance and expanded platform compatibility, enhancing its industrial impact. ## Partnership with Bluesky Bluesky's decentralized social network protocol leveraged Automerge, broadening its applications and increasing its relevance in the tech industry. ## Preparing New Courses A new master’s module on cryptographic protocols is in preparation, marking a return to teaching responsibilities and academic engagement. ## Moving from Munich to Cambridge Relocating to Cambridge for family reasons and a permanent position came with trade-offs, including the loss of a significant grant tied to a German university. ## New Grant Applications Securing new grants is a priority in Cambridge, aiming to replace lost funding and support ongoing research projects and team members. ## Research Projects Master’s student projects focused on adding features to Automerge, such as list reordering and undo support, with plans for implementation this year. ## Paper Rejection and Persistence A conference rejection led to publishing a paper online, a reminder that academic work doesn’t always go as planned but can still find an audience. ## Automerge 2.0 Launch The Rust rewrite of Automerge significantly boosted performance and accessibility, with multi-platform support expanding its potential uses. ## Preparing for 2024 The new year will bring academic duties, research projects, and family adjustments, with career and personal growth continuing in balance. ## Sources covering this story - http://martin.kleppmann.com/2024/01/04/year-in-review.html — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._