Tips for running your own research group
May 2018
Preface ...... 4 Introduction ...... 5
Section 1: Your research ...... 6 Choosing your group’s direction ...... 6 Getting off the ground ...... 7 Negotiating a good startup package ...... 7 Writing your first grant applications ...... 8
Section 2: Managing yourself ...... 10 Be a good research citizen ...... 10 Time management...... 11 How to say no ...... 12 Work/life balance ...... 12 Working part-time ...... 14 Get yourself a mentor ...... 14 Combining a clinical and academic career ...... 15 Self-promotion is good ...... 16 Coping with setbacks ...... 17 Failure ...... 17 Bullying and harassment ...... 17 When life gets in the way ...... 18
Section 3: Leading your group...... 19 Hire the right people ...... 19 Create a happy, productive group ...... 21 Meeting your responsibilities towards your team ...... 22 Be appreciative ...... 23 Foster community spirit ...... 23 Encourage independence ...... 23 Delegate ...... 24 Be a good mentor ...... 24 Help your team get the best jobs they can ...... 25 Dealing with difficult situations ...... 25 Research misconduct ...... 26
Section 4: Building your reputation at your institution ...... 27 Who’s who at work? ...... 27 Career advancement ...... 27 Choose your extra activities wisely ...... 27 Internal committees ...... 27 Scientific citizenship ...... 28 Patient and public engagement ...... 28
Section 5: Building your reputation in your field ...... 30 How to be a good networker ...... 30 Building a network ...... 30 Connecting with specific people ...... 31 How to be a great collaborator ...... 32 Interactions with industry ...... 33 Get your papers published ...... 33 If your paper is rejected ...... 34 When the journal is asking too much ...... 35 How to become a reviewer ...... 35 How to write a good review ...... 35 And finally, you can change direction ...... 36
Acknowledgements ...... 37
This guide is intended to support senior postdocs and newly appointed group leaders as they switch from being a member of someone else’s group to running their own. If you’re at an earlier stage in your career, it will be useful in helping you decide whether being a researcher is right for you.
Doing research for a living is an exciting prospect: you have exceptional flexibility and independence, the great privilege of doing what you love, and the possibility of discovering things that no one knew before. Exciting as it is, the transition to becoming a fully-fledged independent academic may seem daunting at first.
Research is a worldwide enterprise, so you’ll be working globally, not just within your own department or your own country. It requires you to think big, to think strategically, and to position yourself so that you can seize opportunities as they arise. You are entering an extremely demanding profession, and you’re likely to hit a rough patch now and then. However, if you have the necessary passion and determination, it can be a highly rewarding journey. There is not a single’ right way’: the key is finding your own path.
This guide has been compiled as a joint effort by funders, with input from over 100 researchers and Wellcome interview panel members. Rather than a strict set of rules or a comprehensive handbook, it should be viewed as a collection of general tips and pointers to help you get started with your own group no matter where you’re based or what you’re working on.
Patrick Trieu-Cuot, Director of Scientific Careers, Institut Pasteur
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Starting out as an independent people you’re training must researcher is an incredibly exciting stage understand what constitutes good in your career, so congratulations on research practice. having made it this far! The next few years are your opportunity to prove your You need to make your mark at worth; you need to think carefully about your place of work, and build your research and the people you hire, good relationships with the people and in choosing the external activities there. that will enhance your work. You have to be closely engaged You will probably have a limited period of with the outside world – with other time in which to prove yourself, so you’ll researchers, funding bodies and be under some pressure. And the journals, and perhaps with patient change from working for someone else groups, policy makers and the to running your own group is probably media, depending on your the biggest career adjustment you’ll ever discipline. have to make. You go from working as part of a close group, with a supervisor In the next sections, we’ll examine each who is personally invested in your work, of these factors, suggesting tips and into relative isolation and having to build your own community. It’s exciting, but resources you can access for help, and can also feel alarming and a little lonely drawing on experiences of other at first. It helps to remember that you’ll researchers who’ve successfully soon have new colleagues you can navigated the maze. In the end, though, bounce ideas off. Best of all, your future it’s all about what works best for you. is in your hands, and that’s something to The only thing not recommended is to relish. passively hope for the best: in research, There are several ingredients to a as in life, you must make your own luck. successful career:
The quality of your research is absolutely fundamental. You could be the greatest teacher, project manager or networker in history, but if your research isn’t excellent, you won’t succeed.
You must work out how you can be most effective in your new job, while maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
Your group needs to be happy to be maximally productive, and the
5 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
relationship with them – managing a team of three that you are with all day is very different from running a team of fifteen. You will probably be starting your new position with limited funding. The size of How do you decide what to do? You’ll your budget will dictate the size of your probably want to pursue the most operation, and this means you need to exciting research project you can find, think hard about the research you want but you must plan carefully so you have to do. a reliably productive project bubbling along, too; you need solid, competent If you’re coming from the relative output, to show you are establishing a security of a large group, you’ll have to promising programme of work. It’s change your research strategy. You always worth also having a Plan B; aside should still think big, work on the from the chance that your big, risky problems you’re most interested in and project might not work, there are pursue exciting ideas, but you have to countless precedents where a second adjust the way you work to your new string project suddenly becomes more reality. exciting due to unanticipated data. Even if you’ve instigated a new line of Although you may want to choose a safe research and have a head start, you’ll be project to start with, you’ll eventually competing against big teams throughout have to work on something that’s more the world, and perhaps against your exploratory and less established, or you former boss as well. Your challenge is to might have difficulties making your mark find a realistic starting point given your and obtaining funding for your next limited resources. Whatever it is, you career step. must still address important questions, stay up to date with the latest Finally, you need to find your own niche. technology, and do excellent science, so It’s okay to continue working on your that you can begin to establish yourself previous project for the first two or three at the leading edge of your field. years, but it’s not a good long-term strategy, as you’ll run the risk of being You’ll also have to decide whether you’ll thought of as a clone of your former be staying small or aiming to grow as boss. Instead, find something that’s fast as possible. This in turn will related to what you’ve been doing and determine how much time you have to uses the skills you already have, but spend on doing the work yourself, or on take it in a different direction. You might, writing grant applications to support for example, take the same question and more people. It will also determine the apply it to another system, or take the size of your team, and thus your techniques you’ve been using and apply
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them to other questions. Just make sure In terms of your research, it’s a good that you’re sufficiently different to stand idea to work backwards from what you out. Some thoughts on what to consider want to do, to estimate the number of when choosing a scientific problem can people and how much resource be found here. (equipment, running costs, access to facilities) you’ll need to do it. Other
considerations include setting limits for
Whichever route you take, don’t underestimate the time it will take to establish your group. You will need to create a team, obtain funding, do excellent research and publish your findings. You should always think about your next steps, your long-term goals and whether you need to get additional experience, such as teaching, to help with the next stage. teaching and administrative duties, having opportunities for future career prospects (eg support for applying for fellowships beyond the duration of the current contract), training opportunities for yourself and your staff, and salary When you’re offered the opportunity to levels. run your own group, do not just accept the first contract you’re offered without making sure that you have the best You should also think about the logistics possible conditions to conduct your of moving yourself and perhaps your research. So give yourself a head start partner or family to a new place, which by negotiating the best startup package may be in a different country, and you can manage before you sign. If you assess how much help you should don’t, you’ll find yourself lagging behind request for this. Help with administrative because the equipment and resources issues such as visas, work permits and you need simply aren’t there. The keys dealing with a foreign income tax system to any successful negotiation are should be standard, as should a preparation and benchmarking. You relocation package. Private health care need to carefully identify your own for you and your family, help with requirements, and at the same time housing costs, a job for your partner, and understand the position and possibilities help with children’s school or daycare of your prospective employer. fees, can all potentially be included in startup packages.
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Plan as carefully and thoroughly as In the end, it’s in the interest of both possible – and be specific. Compile a parties – you and your future institution – detailed spreadsheet or a checklist of all for you to be able to do your research your requirements – directly research well. related and others – and estimate the desired, expected and minimum criteria These articles on how to decide what for every item on that list. Identify your you need, how to negotiate to get it and deal breakers: the factors which would how to manage your lab move may also make it impossible to conduct your be helpful. research successfully, such as an excessive teaching load.
So how do you decide which requests are realistic? It’s hard to find out what constitutes a normal startup package, as While you should negotiate as much these vary widely between institutions startup money as you can, you’ll and countries, and you may worry that probably have to write grant applications you will appear greedy or naïve. You can immediately. The current financial counteract this by being well prepared situation means you should write and doing all you can to understand the several, to increase your chances of current standards in the field. Ask advice getting funded. Whether or not you’ve from others who are also on the job written grant applications as a lead market or have recently taken up investigator before, always get advice positions in similar institutions. Talk to and feedback from trusted colleagues your boss and other senior colleagues before submitting anything – you’re far about what your current department more likely to be considered for funding would consider reasonable. Use your if your applications are well written, network to contact someone who is able coherent and logically reasoned, and to provide detailed information. Again, you need an experienced external eye to the more specific you are, the more ensure this is the case. you’ll benefit – and people are usually happy to help! Almost all institutions have a grants office that will provide invaluable help and advice, especially for preparing the Even if you’ve done your homework well, non-research aspects (eg budgeting, it’s likely that the initial offer will not quite animal licensing, documents concerning match your expectations. Don’t turn it patient research) of the application. But down immediately, but ask for some time be sure to contact them well in advance to reflect. If some factors fall into your of the grant deadline – they work to deal-breaker category or are less than different timescales from ‘Please can I ideal, make sure to justify the needs for have this tomorrow?’ Some institutions those specific requests and clarify the have an internal pre-selection for negative impact it would have on your applying for certain grants and you need research if those conditions weren’t met.
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to clarify this with your grants office. In addition to big, prestigious grants, it’s worth applying for smaller pots of money to get projects going. Advice on how to write a good grant application can be found on a number of websites, such as this one; advice on how not to write a good grant application can be found here.
It takes time to write a good grant application, but the time you invest in thinking through the research ideas and plans is likely to assist your research in other ways. For example, it may spark ideas for new projects, stimulate contact with new collaborators or extend your knowledge of a subject that you can use to write about in papers or reviews. While you may not be able to accomplish any significant research when you’re busy writing grant applications, you can keep your research activity going through collaborations.
You can also use your downtime productively by finding people who work in complementary areas of research in the same institution. This will allow you to make new connections, establish new collaborations and find new friends.
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Detailed definitions of good citizenship differ between funders, countries and A research career can be exhilarating fields, and you should check what the but is at times a stressful business. To appropriate guidelines are for you. be successful you need to make the Broadly speaking, they all share the most of the rather unusual flexibility and following overarching criteria: unique opportunities of academic life, identify and play to your strengths, but Research integrity also learn how to be resilient and cope You should be honest in your with the inevitable setbacks. research activities, and in your Being honourable, community-minded assessment of the activities of and kind is important. Not only because others. You must follow ethical it’s the right thing to do, but also because requirements, such as ethical your institution and funders will assess approval processes and you not just on your research, but also establishing appropriate on how well you serve your community. governance, particularly in You should take your obligations respect of research involving seriously – your behaviour will set the humans and animals. You should tone of your group, and heavily influence also consider any ethical, safety the people you train and their future or security implications that may research, so you need to set a good emerge during a project, including example. any risks that research outcomes could be misused. “Although a career in science always seems to be a struggle, I find it pays to be nice. Remember that life continues to be like Research design second grade, with some kids unwilling to You and your group should share their toys and deliberately picking on design your experiments so that one another… I find the scientific world is a results are robust and much sweeter place if you are generous and reproducible. When reporting friendly. Believe it or not, scientific rigour findings, you must provide does not mandate nasty comments in sufficient information to allow reviews of grants and manuscripts. A big others to understand key aspects benefit of open interaction is that it inspires of the research design and/or collaboration, which helps overcome data analysis, and to facilitate limitations, whether it simply involves a reagent, an approach, or even a way of independent replication of the thinking that does not come naturally to you, results. but enhances the impact of what can be learned.” Outputs Depending on the field, there is a Professor Rebecca Heald range of research outputs,
10 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
including publications, datasets, ideas in one go. You have to walk a devices, software and reagents, careful line this early in your career, or policy reports, pre-prints and you may get scooped by someone with conference contributions, that are fewer scruples and more resources. used to assess researchers’ track records. Document all your different types of research activities: this information often When you’re starting out, it’s crucial to needs to be presented to funding be incredibly careful with your time. bodies, promotion committees Think very carefully before you volunteer and so on. You should aim to for anything, and try to stay away from make research data, software and too much teaching and administration. materials generally available with You will be asked to do a lot, and it’s as few restrictions as possible. easy to end up doing too much, Where the research output is a especially if you prove to be good at it. paper, many funders and Keep this in mind and, when negotiating institutions will expect you to your contract, try to set limits on follow open access principles for administrative duties. publication. You should also try to The golden rule is that unless the activity publish negative results – they do benefits your research, increases your contain useful information and knowledge or is compulsory, it would be advance research – by using wise to say no, at least in the early journals such as Wellcome Open years. For example, it’s okay to run a Research or preprint servers. seminar series or journal club, but taking on responsibility for facilities and sitting Leadership on ‘housekeeping’ committees are Try to foster mutual cooperation thankless and time-consuming tasks. and the open exchange of ideas Being helpful will not be what gets you within your research group. It’s established; what matters is your also vital to encourage your team research, and your research output. to develop their skills and to provide them with the resources Some other tips: necessary to deliver research of a high standard. You are also To manage time well, know where responsible for training and it goes so spend a week tracking supervising all members of your your days and look for group to the best of your ability. inefficiencies. You’ll probably be shocked by how much time you See additional resources on doing global spend looking at your phone research and on good research practice. when you’re supposed to be working. Finally, be nice, but be cautious. Don’t Identify your priorities, and learn tell everyone everything that you’re how to drop or delegate tasks that doing, and don’t give away all your good aren’t top of your list.
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Set clear goals for everything you and postdocs and highlight your do (projects, meetings etc). papers and achievements, but Identify when you are most future-proof it as much as energised and focus on important possible so it doesn’t need tasks during this period. Do constant updating. Regular ‘housekeeping’ work in the blogging, engaging in online lowest-energy part of your day. discussions and the like can be Block out chunks of time to do very time-consuming, and are important tasks. Spending an best left for those at either earlier hour with no distractions will help or more established career you produce higher-quality work stages. Twitter may be the best more quickly. way to engage online, because of Make the most of short spells of its ease and interactivity. free time. That 20-minute wait However, you need to be careful, between other commitments (say, as this article from The Atlantic an experiment or the next magazine will tell you. meeting) can be productive – you can probably do something that requires little thought but needs to All too frequently, your institution might be dealt with. ask you to do things under the category By all means multitask, but make of ‘important for your career’. Saying no sure that some of the tasks aren’t to these things is an art in itself. Again, too intellectually taxing or you’ll you must prioritise, and decline the least run the risk of messing them all important. If you’ve decided to refuse, it’s up. best to do so quickly rather than delaying Keep on top of the literature – responding for months. However, to keep current, keep fresh. For prevent gaining a reputation for always useful tips on how to do this, see saying no (which generally results in this article from Science Careers. people ceasing to ask you), you should Switch off your email alerts, and give the reason, and say you’ll be instead of reading and responding available in the future. For example: to messages as they arrive, use ‘My travelling is very restricted at the an email service such as moment due to family commitments, but BatchedInbox, which collects and things will be much easier next year. I’d be filters your messages and delivers delighted to come and give a seminar in them in a single bundle at a time your department then, but can I ask that you you can specify. invite me well in advance?’ Don’t spend too much time on your online presence, unless this is expected in your particular discipline. In general, your As an academic you’re allowed an website should be good enough unusual degree of freedom and fluidity to to attract prospective students shape your work around the other
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important things in your life. So even Make space for thinking and block out though you have a very short time to time in your calendar only for that. You’ll make your mark in a highly competitive find that as your life becomes more field, it is possible to have a successful crowded, it’s harder to idly muse about research career and also enjoy life, if your work. You’ll need to deliberately you are committed and well organised. use downtime to think and theorise about research – in the shower, on the Initially, you may be a one-person way to work, at the gym and so on. That operation, or will have a very small way, you’ll not only keep coming up with group, so in the beginning at least, it will good ideas, but you’ll be able to plan be hard work. But, being extremely more effectively if your mind is on the job focused doesn’t necessarily mean the minute you get to work. working all hours. Fourteen-hour work days do not necessarily equate with Finally, don’t forget that working all the productivity. As such it’s best to refrain time can be counterproductive. You also from comparisons with others who might need to take care of yourself. Everyone’s choose and/or have the opportunity to needs are individual, so don’t let yourself spend more time at work than you do. A be judged (or judge others) if these little strategic thinking and planning will seem to differ from the norm. It’s go a long way towards keeping you in important to spend time with your family, the game without running yourself into have a night out with friends every now the ground. and then, and get some regular exercise to keep you fit. Take holidays, have a It is essential to be absolutely clear what hobby or two to clear your head and your priorities are at work. Your research keep you sane, and enjoy yourself and your group must stay at the top of outside work as well as in it. A happy your list, while grants, committees, travel scientist is more likely to be creative. etc will have to take second place. Useful tips on how to take that essential Delegate where you can. time off without feeling guilty can be As a junior researcher, you’ll tend to found here. spend most of your working day at the Getting the work/life balance right is coalface, but as time goes on, you’ll find difficult, but it’s a hurdle that many that much of your work can be done people have successfully negotiated. elsewhere. For example, you can usually Talk to your colleagues and friends to be at home in the evenings, but you may find out what worked for them but in the have to write or read for work, mingled in end it’s about figuring out what’s right for with time with your family and friends. you and your family. Discuss taking And just as in your current academic life, shared parental leave with your partner. forethought matters. Preparing for the It’s all possible. Read the recent next day so you can hit the ground Scientist and Parent collection by eLife running is essential for efficient time and the Parent Carer Scientist by the management. Royal Society, which celebrates the
13 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
diversity of work/life patterns of 150 sick leave) into account and allow for scientists across the UK, for inspiration. part-time work.
If you work part-time, you’ll have to acknowledge that your absence may at Firstly, are you really going to work part- times be hard for your colleagues, and time, or are you merely planning to scale take steps to ensure their disruption is your hours down to a normal working kept to a minimum. Make sure that your week? If the latter, you should ask to team and your department know that you work flexible hours. For example, if you are planning ahead, so they continue to want to be at home with your children have confidence in you – you have to one day a week but still work just as look supremely well organised and in many hours, that’s fine. Don’t worry control. And don’t be afraid to arrange about whether you are visible at work; help; if you’re doing an experiment, and the important thing is getting the work need someone to set up something on a done. day you’re not there, ask.
If you really want to work part-time, it might not be easy at this stage of your career, but by no means impossible with careful time-management and some Or better still, several, locally at your flexibility from both you and your institution and elsewhere. You’ll need department. The upside of part-time different people at different times. It is working is that it forces you to become a crucial to find someone you can trust master of planning and prioritising, and and to avoid people with vested you will learn to use your time incredibly interests. As well as helping you to make efficiently early on. the right connections and looking out for your interests, they’re incredibly Remember, most people at the top of your field are also running their groups important as sounding boards, deliverers of honest opinions and advisers when part-time: as well as doing research, things go wrong. They can help you by they will probably be in charge of a allowing you to discuss your concerns department or institution (or even a funding body, such as the NIH), and openly in situations where you feel have substantial additional unable to expose perceived weaknesses to your new colleagues. commitments, such as committee work and consulting. So don’t regard yourself The Academy of Medical Sciences has a as below par if you too need to spend mentoring scheme for postdocs, and time away from your group due to other similar formal mentoring arrangements responsibilities. Comfortingly, the for early career group leaders, run by academic climate is starting to change both funders and institutions, are and look more favourably on alternative becoming increasingly common. working arrangements. Most funders Universities in London offer a mentoring take career breaks (eg parental leave,
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scheme, B-MEntor, for academic and solutions. There is, of course, no one- research staff from BME backgrounds. size-fits-all approach to finding the right balance between clinic and academia. You don’t have to (or shouldn’t) rely only Yet, with careful planning and on official schemes and channels in organisation, you can have the best of finding a mentor. Long-lasting both worlds. connections can also be made by simply talking to people at scientific meetings You need to be very clear about what and courses, or meeting people through your commitments are on both fronts mutual acquaintances. For helpful hints and to coordinate your clinical and on how to seek your own mentor or academic obligations with your sponsor, see this article, from Science supervisors throughout your training Careers. For the differences between period. Plan well in advance when role models, mentors and sponsors, and choosing your speciality, keeping those some real-life examples, see this page obligations and your own priorities in from Oxford University. As for role mind: outpatient treatment is likely to be models, there are some inspirational more predictable and therefore more bloggers out there, such as Athene accommodating to your research Donald, whose writings on the privileges activities than emergency care. Consider and problems of research are perceptive being employed as a supernumerary: and thought-provoking. this would again help to protect your research time from potentially increasing That said, you should also beware of medical commitments. A few critical over-mentoring. Spending too much time points to pay attention to can be found with your mentor can get a bit too here. You also need to make sure to introspective. Don’t forget you still have know the conditions for career to get on and do the work! advancement on either track. Identify what’s feasible and be specific with respect to your obligations and your availability when negotiating your contract. Running a research group in parallel with clinical commitments is challenging but A supportive work environment and can be one of the most rewarding career senior management who see your paths to take. Varied work environments unique role as an asset are crucial. Seek that make full use of your combined mentors from both worlds or, better yet, skills can be extremely intellectually find someone who has combined their stimulating. Your clinical background clinical and academic careers gives you a distinct perspective to tackle successfully. Make people aware of your questions that scientists without the dual identity. Let colleagues and patients medical training couldn’t. And your know that you’re both a clinician and an research can have a wider more active scientist and they will be more immediate impact as you’ll be uniquely understanding of your time restrictions. placed to realise innovative healthcare
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Choose a research topic that’s academics suffer from this to some complementary to your clinical activities degree; this excellent article from Nature and vice versa. Try to take full offers strategies to help ensure you only advantage of your medical know-how have a mild dose. and clinical resources (eg availability and access to clinical samples) when Doing wonderful research that gets you designing your research plan. This will grants and allows you to publish help you to establish your own niche and excellent papers are good bolsters also open up more funding opportunities. against imposter syndrome, but why not Try to set up collaborations to enable put yourself up for some prizes and you to maintain your research output at awards, too? It’s a win-win situation: if times when clinical commitments are you get the award, it’s great for your more demanding. You will be spending career; if you don’t, you’ve had an large chunks of time away from your opportunity to make useful contacts and group. Foster independence, and to measure yourself and your research delegate – experienced technical staff, against some objective criteria, which senior postdoc or a lab manager will help will help your future strategic planning. If with that. Remember to make use of one in doubt, ask your mentor about it (not of the biggest perks of academic life: its your departmental head, as they may flexibility. have other people higher up their priority list). Read this article from Science Finally, the key to all of this is efficient Careers to convince yourself it’s a good time management. You have to get good idea. at prioritising, and setting and sticking to your own boundaries. That includes The Cancer Research UK Women of Influence initiative gives rising female taking time off for your personal life. science stars the opportunity to be mentored Take a look at these practical tips and by successful businesswomen. real-life stories for more information. Here, one of the mentors, Cary, talks about Additional input can be found in this her protégée, Sarah: useful book chapter by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute: some of the “I picked out an award (the Women in above suggestions were condensed Research and Engineering Research Award) from this resource. I thought I could enter Sarah for and she won it! Now, when Sarah’s recruiting, and people see she’s an award-winning researcher, it’s going to attract talent.”
You’re an academic in a highly Sarah agrees the award has been really competitive world, so feelings of helpful: “Since Cary helped me overcome inadequacy and self-doubt come with the this problem with self-promotion, I’ve territory. Don’t let yourself succumb to entered and won other awards. I’m on a bit ‘imposter syndrome’: that awful feeling of a roll now! The last position I recruited for that you don’t belong, that you’re just received 65 applications – it took me a faking it, and one day someone will find whole day to read the CVs.” out. Research indicates that nearly all
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There are some obvious things you can do to present yourself and your work in Worrying about failing can be corrosive, the best light. Firstly, never publicly so it may comfort you to know that every dismiss your research as less significant researcher, however successful, has than it is. If you don’t believe your work failed many times in their career. You will is as interesting as everyone else’s, why fail to get your papers published, and fail are you doing it? And don’t be too self- to get grants, you will make mistakes, deprecating – a surprising number of some of which may be substantial. The people will take your comments at face only thing to do is to learn from your value! There are different approaches to mistakes, evaluate what could be done this in different countries – make sure differently next time, and then let it go. you are aware of the cultural norms of It’s important to set timelines and your environment. establish criteria as to when to cut a dead-end project despite having heavily To ensure you do your research justice invested in it. It’s painful, but sometimes when presenting it, ask trusted friends it has to be done. and colleagues for advice and frank criticism on everything you plan to show Indeed, good research almost always to the outside world. Get readers for your involves failure, particularly when trying posters, papers and grant applications, to develop cutting-edge techniques or practise your talks, endure mock revolutionary ideas. If you’re not willing interviews – and give back freely in kind to fail, you’re probably not being to those who help you. adventurous enough.
Remember, if you have some of the “Because I failed at so many things so skills and experience required to fulfil a often, because I was in a mess, it gave me a role, go ahead and apply for it. Don’t sort of internal discipline – you take less assume that you need 100 per cent of note of what other people think of you, what what is being asked for. other people say, because you don’t get off on being praised about things. I had to be resilient inside. I was constantly comparing me to me when I did well, and not with other As with any job that requires continued people. I realise it’s very odd, but it’s really performance at a very high level, useful, because when I failed examinations, research can be stressful. In addition to I couldn’t get into university, I couldn’t get a the failures and disappointments job; when you put all that together, it was a constant low to medium level of failure about inherent in doing the best research, you things. So when I got to difficult problems could have difficulty coping due to illness and I failed, I didn’t go into depression or or family circumstances, or might be anything. And when you get into research, bullied or harassed. it’s constant failure all the time, and I was perfectly trained for it.”
Sir Paul Nurse,
Nobel Laureate 2001
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Harvard’s Success-Failure Project to work at full stretch. Never forget that includes useful articles and tips for you are a valuable resource – it makes dealing with failure in academia. sense for institutions to support their highly trained, highly talented people through periods when they are less productive, and help them return to their Sadly, bullying and harassment, best. Know your institution’s policies on including sexual harassment, are not illness and leave, and don’t be afraid to unknown in academia. If it happens to ask HR or someone you trust for advice you, it’s important keep in mind that it’s and help if you hit a bad patch. not your fault! You should not feel guilty or embarrassed. Or that you have to Given the pressures of doing research, deal with it alone or ignore it – seek help it’s possible that you will feel mentally as quickly as possible to prevent the exhausted or depressed at some point in situation from damaging you any further. your career. It’s important to realise that you are not alone: a staggering one One challenge of dealing with bullying in three people experience a mental and harassment in the workplace is that health problem each year. You wouldn’t the instigator may not be aware that their let a physical illness linger for weeks or behaviour is inappropriate. This is where months, so treat your mental health clear communication can be vital. Seek similarly and, if you’re worried, seek help advice from your mentors and sooner rather than later. The self- colleagues you trust, and/or external motivation and enthusiasm needed to advice from organisations such ACAS, conduct research will rely on your ability Switchboard LGBT+ or Scope (support to take care of yourself, maintain your on disability issues) to plan how you will mental wellbeing and recognise when approach someone about their you need to take action to improve it. behaviour. Here are a few more practical You may find it helpful to look at this suggestions that can be helpful for resource, from Imperial College London, dealing with offensive comments on the on mental health and wellbeing and how spot. Some institutions have networks of to promote it. bullying and harassment advisers (sometimes called dignity at work advisers) who can provide confidential support and advice and signpost you to other services. As difficult as it is, sometimes the only way to resolve this serious issue is through formal channels.
It may sound trite, but it’s important to acknowledge that you are not a robot. There will be times when you are ill or when family responsibilities make it hard
18 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
Be extremely careful who you hire first – the first two or three people As you embark on this new adventure, will set a culture that will likely be it’s important to recognise that your with you forever, so never hire group isn’t you. You can’t expect the someone you dislike, no matter same from them as you do from yourself how smart you think they are. It’s – you have to work with their aspirations, better to hire nobody and re- limitations and strengths to get the best advertise than to hire the wrong from them. Becoming a good, thoughtful person. You want coming in to leader, committed to fostering the work every day to be something development of everyone in your group you and your group look forward can be incredibly rewarding. Irrespective to. of discipline, you may consider attending one of EMBO research leadership Be wary of hiring people with the courses, which cover the basics of same background and interests people and project management (eg as you. Your inclination to like dealing with different personalities, them may fool you into making effective communication skills and time assessments about their management). There are many competence based on your innate leadership courses out there, some biases. centred on a certain topic or targeting a specific audience. It’s worth finding one You need to have diverse that suits your requirements as you will opinions in your group – if you benefit immensely. This article, from hire clones of yourself or your Science Careers, highlights some existing members, you won’t get common management mistakes. the intellectual stimulus of constructive arguments. When recruiting group members, cast Questioning is what leads to your net wide: use mailing lists and job progress, so ensure your group portals, and spread the word through has the breadth of backgrounds, colleagues to advertise positions. When talents, skills and knowledge hiring, remember that unconscious bias needed to spark original thinking. may creep into the process, as illustrated Hire tactically – take the in this animation, created by the Royal opportunity to employ people with Society. If your institution provides skills that complement yours. For unconscious bias training, you’re example, if you’re poor at finishing strongly advised to take it. things off, hire someone who will Some other points to think about: make sure your brilliant but
19 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
slightly messy insights materialise Watch the balance of the group. in solid data. There has to be a good balance between experienced researchers Get your group to interview and those, such as research candidates too. They may not students, rotation students and make the best intellectual undergraduates, who require assessment but their feedback more support. One seasoned about social fit will be really postdoc and five PhD students useful. Assess how far you can may be the cheapest option, but trust their judgment though – it’s not the most productive if the possible they may not want students take a long time to grow people they feel intellectually in competence. You need to be threatened by. aware that the productivity of your senior staff will be affected by Organise a panel interview or how many junior colleagues you have senior colleagues (possibly assign them to ‘babysit’. with different expertise) interview your candidates individually – A really good, experienced senior independent insight is invaluable. research assistant is like gold It’s also useful to sit on other dust – although they’re hard to interview panels yourself, to get get. They will not only be more better at evaluating potential skilled than most others in your employees in a short space of group, but they will be a long-term time. memory bank, keeping track of reagents, techniques and Check all references carefully. Be communal knowledge. They’re aware of the cultural context: the also useful conduits between you tone and the format of references and your junior colleagues, can be quite different in different especially as you become more countries. senior – your group will often be franker with the research If possible, pick people who you assistant than with you, allowing believe are smarter than you. It’s you to pick up any problems easy to feel intimidated by them, quickly, so you can fix them but recognise that, properly sooner. managed, they will help your research immensely. However, don’t confuse confidence with competence. And remember, the best grades and the highest ambition do not necessarily make the best scientist.
20 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
Don’t get too big too fast. If you’re to be roughly the same age. Being a successful early on, you’ll warm, approachable, yet firm leader is a inevitably get more people applying to work with you. This is great, as you’ll be able to pick from a larger pool of candidates, but there are downsides too. Go for depth of talent rather than strength of numbers – keeping on top of a rapidly growing group while maintaining a high quality of research is extremely difficult if you get carried away and hire some people who aren’t up to scratch. And there’s a point at which big groups can become counterproductive; your research output will cease to increase departure from your previous footloose significantly if you’re unable to existence in someone else’s group. supervise your group properly. You’ll need to strike a balance between encouraging a meritocracy where your research is concerned and being the one in charge. You aren’t just a researcher now, you’re also a manager, and that’s Your team will work best if they’re happy, difficult to adapt to. You will need to gain motivated and share common goals, so the trust of your group to deal aim to create a positive atmosphere sympathetically and discreetly with their where they will want to work hard. Don’t problems and be considerate of their use your people as tools; instead, inspire needs (eg flexible working hours, them about the joy of doing research and work/life balance). You’ll also be the the excitement of your communal person assessing their performance, research goals. They’ll willingly join you sometimes critically, and writing their in your quest for results, and you’ll references. probably have a lot of fun along the way. Creating the right environment for free You don’t have to be a bouncy extrovert and frank discussion is now your to be a great leader. There are many responsibility. Your new colleagues will ways to be inspirational but, unless be junior to you and, while keen and you’re lucky enough to be a natural, it motivated (if you’ve hired the right will take work – and you won’t always ones!), they may be reluctant to tell you get it right. However, you’ll have time to if they believe your ideas are bad or develop your skills. If it’s just you and wrong for fear of annoying you; they may one other person at the start, it will be also come from cultures where easy initially, especially as you’re likely disagreeing with a senior colleague is
21 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
frowned upon. If you don’t create a what you think their point is if you don’t culture where everyone feels valued and quite grasp what they’re getting at. knows their ideas will be taken seriously, you risk stifling the creativity of your Share some of your own current and group. past struggles at work. Being open about failures will encourage others to be Remember that everyone’s opinion is forthcoming about their problems and relevant, from the undergraduate doing a mistakes. Solutions can be found rotation project, to you. Someone quicker. And there is less pressure to coming in from outside may have produce ‘perfect’ results or excellent ideas or a totally different misrepresenting the data. viewpoint that sheds new light on a long- standing problem. Everyone holds a You’ll probably have to adapt your style different piece of the puzzle, and it’s to interact effectively with everyone. If never clear until the puzzle is complete you’re an extrovert, you may have to who will be responsible for the last piece tone it down with some people, fitting into place. especially if you have a taste for heated debate. If you’re an introvert, you may Give everyone space to flourish in the have to become a little more forthcoming way that best suits their character and so your group feels that you’re paying you’ll get the most from your group. attention to them. People will have different ways of discussing ideas and reaching Obviously, there should be no conclusions. Don’t assume that favouritism. Try to give everyone the someone who takes little part in attention they need. This is especially discussions is devoid of insight – some important if some projects are more people talk their way to a conclusion, successful than others. Take the energy while others think their way there before and excitement you gain from the venturing to speak. Cultural background projects that are working and feed that can also influence how people express through to the people who are struggling. themselves. Finally, think before you speak – Be patient with errors, whether practical throwaway remarks are taken far more or intellectual, and make it easy for seriously when you are the boss. people to ask questions, however silly they may seem; often, the apparently simple questions get right to the heart of the problem. Don’t be afraid to ask a few daft questions yourself – it’s a great way It’s important to recognise that as you to get others to open up. If there really progress in your career, while your seems to be a fundamental lack of primary aim is to do great research and understanding, a useful tip is to ask your get established, your role will colleague to tell you what they think you increasingly be to train junior people. It’s said. This works in reverse, too: repeat your duty to look after your research team and ensure they have the best
22 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
possible opportunities and advantages. This is your time to pay back the support and mentorship that you received early Team meetings are important – on from your bosses and mentors. make sure there are regular times for the whole group to get Your obligations towards your group together. members will differ depending on their Small gestures can go a long way positions. You should ensure that you – bringing in a cake for no fulfil your management responsibilities to apparent reason is a simple way each person and also take these into to boost everyone’s morale. account when designing and distributing Team celebrations are important research projects (re timeframe, – make sure there are feasibility, potential backups). For opportunities to have fun together, example, the role of a PhD supervisor is doing things that everyone can clearly defined, and there are distinct join in; going to the pub shouldn’t milestones that your student will have to always be your top choice. pass. Your obligations to other staff will Create a group structure that almost certainly include regularly encourages cooperation and trust supporting their progress and between members. professional development. Never set people up to compete against each other on the same project – but do get them to When you describe to business people collaborate on related aspects. As how researchers get rewarded, they’re well as speeding progress, this astonished at the degree of self- will give you an extra eye on the motivation required and how thankless a project. task research can be. It’s rare to hear Distribute chores equally between someone being publicly praised or all team members, including you. thanked.
Rather than just picking holes in their data, thank your team members In an ideal world, when you are whenever they do a good job: look for unavoidably absent, your group should positives and praise your people to continue to work like a well-oiled others, especially those whose opinions machine, and be open to taking the matter. Praise leads to confidence, initiative when appropriate. While some which leads to harder working, which of this comes down to having good leads to more results – so it’s a good people and well-planned projects, an idea on all fronts. And remember, your environment where everyone feels able research relies on a solid foundation of to voice their opinions, without fear of administrators, project managers and being belittled, and where independence technical staff – don’t forget to include is encouraged and nurtured, is them in your ‘thanking list’. invaluable.
23 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
Once you’ve decided to delegate a given task: Besides doing experiments and learning to be intellectually rigorous, there are Be sure you delegate the many things your group members must necessary authority with the learn to become successful researchers: responsibility. running a project, writing papers and Give clear directions and make grant proposals, reviewing papers, giving sure they are understood; keep talks, sitting on committees – the list is two-way communication channels long. open. Clearly define the responsibilities It’s rare that someone will be assigned to each team member immediately able to do all of these to and make this information known your satisfaction, and it’s tempting to just to everyone in the team. do them yourself, but it’s worth learning Follow up to make sure the job is to delegate, as it relieves you of some of being done, but don’t start the daily grind, and shows that you value interfering. It may not be done in and trust your team. If you give good your style, but does it matter? feedback (identify positives, find the Distribute responsibilities fairly. areas of improvement, be concise, Be sure to back your delegate if concrete and constructive in your their authority is called into suggestions) you should see question. improvement. At the same time, make sure to ask for feedback on your After the first few years, when you supervision to improve yourself. should take every opportunity to give When starting out as a group leader, you talks about your work, you should begin may be reluctant to delegate for fear of to give your senior postdocs and losing power or control. However, part of graduate students the chance to give becoming an independent researcher is talks in your stead. learning that assigning responsibility does not lessen your role, but rather gives you the capacity to handle greater You’re now in a position to mentor and responsibility. In addition, delegating sponsor other people, which is exciting serves to empower and motivate the and gratifying, but a huge responsibility. people who work for you. You can of course learn a lot from your In deciding whether there is something own mentors, both in what they’re good you could delegate, ask yourself these at and what they lack. Nature’s Guide for questions: What am I doing now that I’d Mentors offers very useful pointers to set like to see someone else do? Is there a you on your way. Mentoring can take a person in my group who is capable of great deal of time though, so be handling and willing to take on a new selective – don’t spread yourself too responsibility? What could I do if I had thinly, and try to pick the people who will more free time? benefit most.
24 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
Examples include poor performance, illness (both mental and physical), disputes over authorship or ownership of results, bullying and harassment, and One of the metrics for judging the even sabotage. success of you and your group is where your people go next. Ensure your junior As a general rule, communication is the colleagues are properly prepared for key and it’s better to address problems their job search. Check their CVs, read early on. Here are some suggestions on and criticise (but do not write for them) how to handle difficult conversations, by any written applications (including grant Harvard Business Review. Remember proposals), and make sure their that whatever problem you face, it’s presentation skills and proposed talk are likely that someone has dealt with it of a high standard. Run mock interviews, before. Don’t be afraid to ask other recruiting other colleagues if necessary people what they would do – your to stand in for a job or grants panel. mentors, colleagues, former bosses, or Supporting your team members’ future anyone you can trust and confide in. career will help your group to gain a Talk to them before consulting your reputation of being a good place to work institution’s HR department. and hence increase your own ability to attract the best people to work for you. Your institution will have procedures in place to deal with many or all of the See this article by NatureJobs about problems you may encounter, and you helping your group get jobs; and read should familiarise yourself with who to this HHMI booklet on something that’s seek advice from. For mental illness, crucial, yet rarely taught: how to write a Mental Health First Aid England has this letter of recommendation. useful resource for managers.
But… It is also vital to be aware of your own behaviour and open to receiving You must be brave enough to tell feedback on it – you may be someone if they’re not on a trajectory to disconcerted to discover that some of succeed. They may ignore you, but it your actions have been construed as needs to be said. It’s kinder all round to harassment or bullying. Look at this tell someone you believe they’re not resource in Forbes magazine if you’re going to make it as a researcher – they’ll worried you may be turning into a bully. have the chance to switch career at an If you are, and you can’t get out of the early point, and your reputation for habit by monitoring yourself, seek looking after your team will be enhanced. counselling: chronic bullying behaviour often has deep-seated causes that you may need help to untangle and fix.
Inevitably, problems will crop up in your This is defined by the US Office of group that you have to deal with. Scientific Integrity as fabrication,
25 | A career in research: advice and tips for getting started
falsification or plagiarism in proposing, understand statistical performing or reviewing research, or in methodology well enough to be reporting research results. able to challenge your group on their use of it Fabrication is making up data or be on the alert for potential fraud; results and recording or reporting there are some classic red flags, them. as described in this article. Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment or If you’re unfortunate enough to have a processes, or changing or case of fraud or plagiarism in your group, omitting data or results such that be as open as possible about it. While the research is not accurately your reputation may suffer some short- represented in the research term damage, honesty is the best policy. record. For an example of how to handle fraud Plagiarism is the appropriation of well, read this interview with Daniel St another person’s ideas, Johnston. processes, results or words without giving appropriate credit. Research misconduct does not include honest error or differences of opinion.
As a lead investigator on your projects, it is your responsibility to identify and prevent misconduct. Improperly conducted research damages your reputation in your local research community and if propagated through your publications may detrimentally affect your research field. Try to:
make sure everyone understands what constitutes fraud and plagiarism foster an environment where it is okay for people to admit their mistakes never pressurise people by saying that getting a particular result is vital if possible, stay close enough to the raw data that you are able to assess whether undue manipulation has occurred
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else wants to do will not help your image as a cutting-edge researcher. Get to know the structure and hierarchy of your workplace. Find out who’s important and who you need to meet and Be judicious in your choice of arrange meetings with them. As assignments. Some committees, importantly, find colleagues with similar especially those that review individual scientific interests to yours – they’re your research protocols or applications, are best resource for news, advice, very labour-intensive. Others may deal discussion and collaboration. with politically sensitive matters that may be difficult for a new group leader. For example, you might not want to be on a Know what your next steps are and how curriculum committee if a controversial to take them. For example, you may restructuring is under way and your need to have experience of: department has a stake in the outcome; such an assignment would be best left to teaching a more senior colleague. Other serving on committees committees may deal with matters contributing to strategic planning irrelevant to your concerns as a public engagement researcher. So, before you accept a policy committee assignment, ask for a detailed service to the scientific description of what will be expected of community. you in terms of time commitment and the nature of the decisions to be made. Committees should also have written terms of reference to which you can refer. Many committees do give a decent As mentioned under ‘Time return on your time. Serving on a search management’, don’t fall into the trap of committee may give you a voice in sitting on too many ‘housekeeping’ deciding who a new colleague will be committees or being foisted with roles and thereby also influence the general presented as being ‘appropriate’ for your research agenda of your institution. You interests. Be a good citizen, but might also want to be on a committee remember that getting a reputation for that puts together a seminar programme taking on the dull, worthy jobs nobody or scientific meeting. This will give you a chance to invite your former colleagues,
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leaders in your field, and new people research (such as recruiting patients for with whom you may want to network. clinical trials and cohorts) or fulfilling Working on an admissions committee for your obligations as a good research graduate students might be worthwhile citizen. If you’re unclear about the because it will introduce you to graduate former, seek expert guidance from the students who could work in your lab. appropriate bodies in your field and your Participating in specific facility institution’s ethics and procedural committees (eg animal facilities, protein committees. purification) can be useful if you depend heavily on their services for your work. The latter form of engagement is increasingly a requirement for receiving A good strategy is to try to get on funding, but is valuable and necessary in committees where your expertise will be itself. After all, if you’re in research for useful but you will not be overburdened. the long game, it makes sense to Ask your department chair and mentors interest and educate the public, perhaps for advice on balancing committee work including a future star researcher (or with your other obligations. government minister in charge of the research budget) about your discipline. However, as in everything that does not directly benefit your research, you need You must demonstrate that you are to be careful what you choose to do. If willing to work for the betterment of the possible, try to ensure that it suits your university, your profession and the public character – not everyone is happy at large. Service on departmental and dancing on stage at a telethon dressed other campus committees, research as a duck, for example. Fortunately, the ethics boards, editorial boards of definition of public engagement is broad, journals and grants committees shows and you and your group will be able to your willingness to assume your share of find the niche in which you are happiest. responsibility. Invitations to sit on editorial boards and grants committees The list of activities that count as public also demonstrate academic recognition engagement includes: working at outside your institution. Work for festivals, museums, galleries, science professional associations and as a centres and other cultural venues; consultant to government and industry involving the public in the development also counts, although you’ll need to of research and in research itself; check your institution’s guidelines on presenting to and writing for the public; conflicts of interest and allowable days and working with young people, either spent on other work. broadly, or individually in mentoring schemes. Your funder and/or institution will almost certainly have well- established public engagement programmes, but for further advice and Public engagement can be split into two tips, see the National Co-ordinating varieties: either essential for your Centre for Public Engagement website.
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While you won’t get far unless you’re a good and innovative researcher, there’s more to a successful career than doing Even in these days of mass social media great work. Many early career use, the best way to network is face-to- researchers fail to recognise that face, as this quote illustrates: becoming a visible and valued member of the research community is also “Even in very large communities, such as the biomedical research important. Even the world’s most brilliant community documented by researcher has to work out how to MEDLINE, it takes an average of smooth the path to getting their work only about six steps to reach a recognised. Good work needs to be randomly chosen researcher from noticed – and you need to help that any other, of the more than one happen. million who have published. We conjecture that this has a profound To stand out from the crowd, you must effect on the way the scientific first do excellent science, but also build community operates… it is probably relationships with other researchers, safe to say that the majority of funders and journals and, depending on scientific communication still takes the field, perhaps with policy makers, place by private conversation... patient advocates and the media. In allowing …news of important other words, you need to become an discoveries and scientific information effective networker. to reach most members of the network via such private In addition to getting your name out conversations.” there, networking will allow you to keep From MEJ Newman (2001) up with what’s going on. When you’re Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98:404-409 starting out, you can no longer rely on the prestige and visibility of your former boss or institution to open doors and gather research intelligence; it’s up to Start early – often, many of the you to keep the channels open to the people you meet as a PhD outside, rather than turning inwards and student and postdoc will be focusing on your lab. If you don’t, you’ll around for your whole career. miss new advances and/or become Everyone is a potential link to solidified and mediocre in your thinking. someone else, from the newest member of the media kitchen to the head of department, so be
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omnivorous. It pays to befriend a Do something useful for the lot of people. person, so they can build trust in You are who you know. As in life, you. there are never more than six Make sure you’re on the degrees of separation between programme for visiting seminar you and the researcher you wish speakers you want to meet. to meet. Invite the person to give a talk. If You have to give in order to get, you think they’ll be reluctant, but give without expecting to get enlist the PhD students to talk to back. them – few people shirk their Always share your networks – responsibilities for talking to then people will start to come to younger researchers. you as a network connector. Do your homework before If you help someone in your conferences – who do you want to network, word will get out, and meet and how will you get to everyone in your network is more them? Set up a meeting by likely to help you. emailing in advance (or getting a Don’t forget to thank the people mutual acquaintance to do so for who help you. you), if possible. Be in lots of groups, or if that’s too If you’d like to ask for something, much for your personality type, be make sure it’s a sensible, friends with a major networker. concrete request that makes it as Lasting connections and easy as possible for the person to sustainable networks can only help you. Ask for specifics, not occur when based on making generalisations – eg rather than deals or liking each other. “Do you know someone who can Begging or stealing doesn’t work. help me with my project?”, say “I need to learn about single-cell metabolomics – can you put me in touch with Dr X?” Organise a conference or a panel How do you get to meet that important and invite everyone you want to person in your field? You need to meet. prepare the ground by doing as many of the items on this list as necessary. A The Science Research Careers website multi-pronged approach is better than a has many useful articles about effective series of single actions. networking; most of the bullet points If you need to approach them above are distilled from those. To find without an introduction, read this out how to get most out of attending article for some handy tips. conferences from here. Ask a mutual acquaintance to introduce you.
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sessions: funders and professional bodies are increasingly bringing together people with different sets of expertise, in attempts to ignite collaborations. You Collaboration is becoming increasingly don’t need to jump into making important for scientific research, both commitments; choosing your potential within and beyond usual disciplinary collaborators often demands spending boundaries. This makes it all the more more than a day with them. Making important not to simply fall into contact with colleagues at your new collaborations, but to act judiciously so place of work can also open new you have the best chance of using them directions in your research – and over as powerful ways of extending, building weeks and months, initial ideas and and sharing expertise, methods and possibilities can germinate into a ideas. collaboration. Often collaborations are Collaborations may be short-term – easier and more compelling if there when you need some specific expertise aren’t huge differences in seniority or to finish a paper, but they can also last power, as this will allow each participant for years. At their best, collaborations room to manoeuvre and to take a certain can totally transform how you and your level of risk. collaborators think about a research Collaborations can be both exciting and problem and reward you with an frustrating– you might not realise how intellectually stimulating scientific different conventions are in different sub- support network for years to come. But if fields, let alone different disciplines. not tended carefully, collaborations can These different disciplinary conventions also be interpersonally exhausting and and practices can end up scuppering deflating. Any collaboration will involve collaborations that set out with the most an element of risk – so even if you don’t cordial intentions. It’s therefore worth know exactly where you’re headed at the continually checking in with your start, it’s worth keeping in mind what you collaborators to try to ensure things are are hoping to gain from it. Is it help with going smoothly. Collaborations will methods you’re unfamiliar with; access necessarily demand a loss of total to communities and networks; the control – be honest with yourself about possibility of success with certain grants where your limits lie, and be ready to or funders (many funding bodies have communicate these to your specific streams to promote collaborators. collaborations), or the challenge of working up new paradigms and approaches? Working Knowledge is a useful resource for interdisciplinary collaborations Good collaborations often begin (funded by Wellcome Trust), and there is serendipitously, so think about places also a Nature special issue on this topic. and situations that offer the chance of For an excellent and entertaining meeting potential collaborators. Look out introduction to the art of collaboration, for residential workshops or ‘sandpit’
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see Rethinking Interdisciplinarity across and patenting to clarifying the conditions the Social Sciences and Neurosciences, for presenting and publishing your by Felicity Callard and Des Fitzgerald. findings (contrary to general belief, companies are not universally against this!) and confidentiality agreements, as well institutional limitations concerning If your research is of a more translational your time commitments. It’s best to let nature you may want to look into the TTO handle the technicalities of the possibilities of collaborating with the negotiation and iron out any contractual pharmaceutical industry. In addition to inconsistencies. Using the TTO as an the possibility of eventually intermediary will also help to maintain commercialising your findings, the your good relationship with the company, benefits include sharing research and allows you to stay focused on your expertise and access to potential new science. For additional suggestions on tools and resources. Alternatively, you collaborating with industry see this could be approached by the industry to guide. consult for them. The direction of the initial interaction will set the tone for the future collaboration. Ultimately you want to report your As a general rule, the company makes findings, most often in the form of a the first contact to be advised on a research paper. Publishing in prestigious specific issue in your area of expertise, venues certainly helps, but in the end it’s with a definite output and defined the consistent high-quality research timeframe in mind. Conversely, if you’re output what makes your mark in science. the initiator (eg through investigator Funding and hiring committees are initiated trials and studies programmes, strongly encouraged to focus on the or through strategic partnership your content and significance of candidates’ institution may have in place), you’re research, and not on the impact factor of likely to have more influence on the the journals where their work is scope of the developing project. As published. It may be tempting to wait for always, good communication and clearly the ‘big’ story to go for one of the more set out rules are critical for the success glamorous journals, but bear in mind that of the potential joint endeavour. unless you’re extremely lucky, bigger stories can take longer to compile and Once the interest in collaboration or you may risk getting scooped in the consultancy has been established, process. Unfortunately, the practice of contact your institution’s Technology aiming only for very prestigious journals Transfer Office (TTO). It is there to and completely refraining from prepare the paperwork and has all the publishing unless the journal is of a necessary expertise and experience to certain status is not uncommon – but it is facilitate the process. This includes highly unethical! It is wasteful of everything from managing the specifics research funding and of people’s work of the intellectual property ownership and can be detrimental to their future
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career. Be a good citizen and aim to your paper has been thoroughly read publish all your findings. All solid data, and frankly critiqued by people you trust including negative results, take science to do a good job. Grammatical errors, forward and deserve to be made public. typos and bad figure design and layout are annoying, detract from the scientific You’re likely to want to publish your work content, and will bias reviewers against in different types of journals. It is you. important to be aware that the nature of publishing is changing, with a switch in Once you’ve done your homework, the biological sciences towards non- prepared a manuscript and decided on traditional preprint servers such as submitting to a specific journal, it pays to BioRxiv, and open access publishers drop the editor an email before you send such as Wellcome Open Research and a pre-submission enquiry – to briefly F1000Research. More and more describe your work in enthusiastic, eye- journals acknowledge preprints and most catching terms, and ask them whether funders take research published in these you can have a chat or if they would be venues into account as a valid research interested in reading the full manuscript. output, so it’s well worth considering Choose an editor who’s been publishing your findings in this format. recommended or is known to be interested in your line of research, if you Before you submit, it is a good idea to can. present your work at scientific meetings, to get feedback on your results and understand if your study is ready for publishing, establish your intellectual When your paper gets rejected, take a ownership of these particular findings, deep breath, step back, and read the identify potential shortcomings of your rejection letter carefully. It may be, that study, and find inspiration for new despite your best efforts the editor experiments to take your project forward. doesn’t consider your paper to fit the This is also the way to evaluate which scope of their journal, and in that case it audience (research fields, journals) is may prove difficult to convince them most excited about your science and otherwise. If the paper has gone through thereby helps you choose the most a review process, it’s important to know appropriate outlet, that’s potentially that a rejection does not necessarily interested in your research question, mean no, unless substantial technical model system, and experimental flaws have been identified. Some editors approach, for submitting your may reject a paper they’re uncertain manuscript. about, and then see what the authors have to say. So the golden rule is to take Of course, before you submit a paper some time to calmly and thoroughly anywhere, it should be impeccably study the rejection letter and, if you think written and presented. Writing a good the reviews are not justified, get in touch paper is similar to writing a good grant with the journal. application: it has to be concise and deliver your message clearly. Make sure
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If you think the editor and/or the Does it seem that a specific reviewers have missed the point outcome of revision experiments of your paper, or are being unfair, is required to get the paper write an email to the editor accepted? If so, beware of the handling your paper stating your temptation to produce ‘fitting’ carefully compiled results. counterarguments or, if you wish, Is speed more important than ask for a phone conference ‘prestige’ publication? You could (which may or may not be publish on a preprint server first, granted), and briefly list the things resubmit to a different journal and you’d like to discuss with them. publicise your work by other means. Be polite: do not harangue the editor or make personal comments about the reviewers. State your case logically and calmly.
You may feel that the list of things to make good before the journal will publish your paper is too long for you to consider. When deciding whether to pull You can often speed the the paper and submit it elsewhere, seek turnaround time on a different advice from your colleagues, but also journal by asking for the original consider the following: reviews to be taken into account. What are the chances that the data will take so long to collect that the journal may reject your paper anyway as it is ‘no longer novel’? If you work in a highly competitive field, it Do you have the people to may happen that there’ll be a day when complete the tasks required? Be you find yourself reading about your key realistic. findings in someone else’s paper. Are the suggestions reasonable Unfortunately, you’ve been scooped! and will they add another It will be incredibly frustrating but the key dimension to the paper, rather is not to despair. It rarely means that than being ‘belt and braces’ your paper must now be consigned to requirements? the bin. Read your competitor’s article carefully and see if and where your data
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and conclusions differ. It is unusual for the two studies to be identical. You may need to include additional data, or rewrite your manuscript to change the focus or emphasis slightly, but it’s highly likely that you’ll find the way to get your results published.
Start reviewing papers during your postdoc. It’s common practice for a group head to delegate papers to their senior postdocs, so ensure that you get some experience of reviewing and get your boss’s feedback. Ask your boss to acknowledge your contribution to the editor. Ask senior colleagues to recommend you as an alternate when they are too busy to review papers. Talk to editors at meetings – if they like you they may try you out, either as a fourth reviewer or in your own right. Be selective – you don’t have to say yes to every reviewing request. Be fair – reviewing is about providing constructive feedback to the editor and to the authors. Remember what it feels like to receive criticism that is not explained. The guidelines for reviewers vary and it’s important to follow the specific instructions provided by the journal you’re currently reviewing for. This set of articles on peer review from Elsevier is worth a look for general advice.
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It may be that you decide an academic career is not for you. If you’ve found something else you’re passionate about and prefer to pursue, that’s great too. Research is a weird, vocational obsession that can last a lifetime, but equally it can become less compelling as priorities and interests change. It’s also a job that you can be fantastically good at but, heartbreakingly, due to factors outside your control, such as funding cuts, you may not be able to continue.
The first thing to realise is that your life as a researcher has prepared you superbly for pretty much anything that requires intellect, flexibility and the ability to grasp important facts fast. If you choose to stay in a related job, your expertise will be invaluable, and the network of contacts, friends and collaborators you’ve built up “Go where the best research is and be can be your passport to getting a head passionate about it. If you lose the start. The world is your oyster and you passion, stop doing it.” should treat a decision to move on as a Professor Gerard Evan, FRS big opportunity.
Good online guides to post-research career options are unfortunately few and far between and often talking to people who’ve made the transition is your best option. However, this UC Berkeley resource might help with your next steps. Career websites hosted by Nature and Science are also worth a look.
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Written by Kathy Weston, freelance science consultant and Johanna Roostalu, Research Scientist, The Francis Crick Institute.
With advice and editorial input from: Fran Ashcroft, Royal Society GlaxoSmithKline Research Professor at the University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford; Mariana Mesel-Lemoine, Head Integration and Career Guidance for Scientists, MAASCC, Institut Pasteur; Anne-Marie Coriat, Head of Research Careers, Wellcome Trust Elizabeth Williams; Head of Transformation Development, Wellcome Trust Alex Hamilton; Partner, Syncona Felicity Callard; Professor of Social Research and Director of Birkbeck Institute for Social Research Gemma Tracey, Diversity and inclusion programme manager, Wellcome Trust Current Fellows and Wellcome panel members
All cartoons in this document are © Eoin O’Sullivan and are derived from the Grant Writer’s Handbook.
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