The importance of research for your university and your career
The core mission of a university is to create knowledge (through research) and disseminate knowledge (through teaching). Both academics and universities are, accordingly, judged on the quality and impact of their research. For an individual academic, promotion at his or her own university is largely determined by research productivity. For staff seeking to move to another university, nationally or internationally, a strong research record becomes even more critical, since the new university can easily judge the quality of research outputs, but has much less information about a candidate’s teaching effectiveness. For universities, quality is often judged (eg, in global and national league tables) by the average citations per academic, by the number of PhD completions or by the external research income generated. For public universities, their government grants are increasingly linked to their research output, which is measured by a regular national research assessment exercise. The quality of research papers, as reflected by the acceptance rates and impact factors of the peer-reviewed journals in which they are published, is being increasingly evaluated alongside the societal impact of the work, as evidenced by advances in technology or impact on public policy. For anyone seeking to build a successful academic career and support the development of their own institution, it is critical to develop a clearly focused research agenda which can be sustained over time, with the aim of contributing to knowledge and society and establishing the academic as an intellectual leader in a definable field. Publishing in a scattergun way in predatory journals and presenting at worthless predatory conferences is a waste of energy and money and undermines the credibility of an academic with his or her peers.
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The importance of research for your university and your career
- 1. Professor Nigel Healey 22 February 2019 1 The Importance of Research for your University and your Career
- 2. Overview Research should be fun and fulfilling Research matters to universities – including FNU Research matters for your career as an academic Some hard-earned tips: Focus on becoming an expert in something that matters Use the tools of trade Avoid predatory con- artists
- 3. Research should be fun and fulfilling… …not a treadmill 3
- 4. The world is full of interesting research questions… • Why do students miss lectures? • Do students who miss lectures have lower attainment than those who attend? 4
- 5. …and different research questions require different methodologies • Why do students miss lectures? • Qualitative methodology: ask them why? (interviews, focus groups, discourse analysis) • Do students who miss lectures have lower attainment than those who attend? • Quantitative methodology: compare attenders and non-attenders, adjust for all other explanatory variables 5
- 6. • There is great satisfaction in rigorously determining the answer to an important research question • …ie, proving the answer to the satisfaction of a journal’s referees 6
- 7. Why do English universities really franchise degrees to overseas providers?
- 8. Research matters to universities – including FNU Research can: Be a public good – companies won’t do “blue skies” research Positively impact society, live and improve lives Inspire teaching excellence The mission of a university is to create (research) and disseminate (teach) knowledge
- 9. Reversing the pandemic of Non-Communicable Diseases 9
- 10. Reversing the pandemic of Non- Communicable Diseases 10 Can changes in primary education affect obesity in later life? (teacher training) Do sugar taxes reduce obesity? (behavioural economics) Can food technology reduce the salt and sugar in processed foods without affecting taste? Can changes in workplace policy sustainably increase exercise rates?
- 11. Research matters to universities: reputation = students and faculty 11
- 13. Research matters for your career as an academic • Academia is a global jobs market • Universities seek faculty that enhance their reputation and income • Good teaching is important – but hard to assess and culturally-specific • Good research attracts students, reputation, resources and other faculty – and is easy to assess 13
- 15. Promotion @ FNU (1) 15
- 16. Promotion @ FNU (2) 16
- 17. Promotion @ FNU (3) 17
- 18. Some hard-earned tips: #1 18 Focus on becoming an expert in something that matters • to you • to other academics • to society …and in which you have a relative advantage due to: • talent • personal experience • geography • access (language, networks, etc)
- 19. Where to focus…? • The science of climate change? • Or the impact of climate change on coral reefs in Pacific Islands? 19
- 20. Some hard- earned tips: #2 • Use the tools of trade • Google scholar • ORCID • Scimago, Publons (Web of Science) • Academia.edu, ResearchGate, Mendeley 20
- 23. 23 ORCID
- 24. Scimago 24
- 25. Publons.com 25
- 28. ResearchGate 28
- 29. Some hard-earned tips: #3 • Avoid predatory con-artists 29
- 30. 30
- 32. How going to a predatory conference works 32
- 33. Step 1 • Find a predatory conference. It will be run by an organization or association with no scientific affiliation, have no contact telephone or address, accept a wide range of papers and (usually) be based in an expensive hotel somewhere nice to go. I chose the International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology in Dallas, 25- 28 June 2018 (http://www.aasci.org/conference/env/2018/index.html). • It is a popular conference title. There is also an International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology in Prague, 20-22 June (http://www.icest.org/) and Kiev 19-23 September (https://www.icoest.eu) and a nice one in Rhodes in September 2019 (https://cest2019.gnest.org).
- 34. Step 2 Quickly cook up an abstract – no prior knowledge needed. I Googled ‘Environment Management and Policy’ and cut and paste the ‘About Us’ section from a commercial environment company. I deleted the company’s name and added a few bogus references. The abstract is clearly rubbish and makes no reference to any research at all. It took 3-4 minutes from start to finish.
- 35. Step 3 • On 15 June, I emailed the abstract to the International Conference on Environment Science and Technology.
- 37. Step 4 • On 20 June, I received an acceptance letter / letter of invitation for the International Conference on Environment Science and Technology, which starts on 25 June in Dallas, USA. • The conference is organized by the impressive sounding American Academy of Sciences (not the National Academy of Sciences or the American Academy of Arts and Sciences). The American Academy of Sciences exists only on its own website (http://www.aasci.org).
- 40. Step 5 I apply to my university for US$865 registration fee, flights to/from Dallas, a week in the Hilton Houston North Hotel and the optional tour of NASA. US$5,000 should just about cover it.
- 41. Step 6 • I add ‘Environment Policy and Management’, International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology, Dallas, 25-29 June 2018 to my CV and apply for promotion.
- 42. Conclusions 42 Research should be fun and fulfilling Research matters to universities – including FNU Research matters for your career as an academic •Focus on becoming an expert in something that matters •Use the tools of trade •Avoid predatory con-artists Some hard- earned tips: