It has become imperative to conduct funded research in today's highly resource constrained landscape of higher education. We must understand the attributes of research the mindset of researcher and the requirements of funded research.

1. Research ,Researcher &
Funded Research
S G Deshmukh
Session in ITM University , 17 June 2019
1

2. Acknowledgement
This presentation is based on extensive
discussions & informal sessions with
 Prof R P Mohanty, Prof N K Sharma, Prof S S Yadav,
Prof Ravi Shankar, Prof M K Tiwari, Prof R S
Deshpande, Mr N Ratnaliikar, Dr Jitesh Thakkar , Dr
Manoj Dash, and Prof Abid Haleem
 Grateful to numerous research scholars and
young faculty members from various
institutes
2

3. Speaking points..
◼ Opening remarks..
◼ Prevailing environment
◼ Its implications for research
◼ Concept of connected researcher
◼ Funded research
◼ Closing remarks..

4. Part 1
Research: Imperatives &
Significance
4

5. Warm up Exercise !
Do it in a Group of Four
Spend 5 Minutes!
◼ Consider current scenario of research.
What type of changes are taking place ?
◼ What are the implications ?
◼ List down the key competencies of a
researcher
5

6. Social Transformation
Old Paradigm Emerging Paradigm
4G/5G Communications
Knowledge, bits, Big data,
Analytics, Global Markets

7. Forces of Change
Knowledge Explosion
Globalization
High Performance Workplace
Diversity
Accelerating Technological Changes
Nonlinear Knowledge Transfer
Changing Societal Needs
Financial Imperatives
Technology Drivers
Market Forces

8. University of the Future ?
This slide is deliberately left BLANK
8

9. Faculty
Member
Teaching
Research
Training
Know-How
Transfer
Roles of a Faculty Member

10. Observations..
◼ Transformation taking place everywhere ,
university is no exception to this !
◼ Lot of expectations from a university,
especially from a private funded university
◼ Multiple roles expected from a faculty
member
◼ The way we communicate has changed.
Research is no exception to this !
10

11. Key pillars of a good
University
◼ Teaching
◼ Knowledge Transfer
◼ Global outlook
◼ Research.
11

12. Why research : Global view
THE: World university ranking template
www.timeshighereducation.co.utk/world-university-rankings/
Sn Factor Weightage
1 International outlook 7.5 %
2 Research : Volume, Income,
Reputation
30.0 %
3 Citations: Research influence 30.0 %
4 Industry Income: Innovation 2.5 %
5 Teaching: Learning environment 30.0%
12

13. Why research.. National view .
Your research credentials are looked
through
I. Visibility & Accreditations
II. Knowledge creation and dissemination
III. Attracting students, researchers, faculty etc.
IV. Funding, Industry support & Sustainability
V. Part of NIRF template
Source: Haleem Abid, 2013, Enhancing research
credentials, presentation for faculty at AMU
13

14. Various ranking templates
Source: Cherukodan Surendran, Sheeja N.K. & Mathew Susan K , Scholarly Communication & Institutional Ranking: A
study based on NIRF, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala,
ir.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/ir/.../3/P32_ID%20720_Surendran_Sheeja_Susan_Cusat_.ppt

15. RPC :Research and Professional
Practice
◼ Combined metric for Publications (PU)
◼ Combined metric for Quality of Publications
(QP)
◼ IPR and Patents: Filed, Published, Granted
and Licensed (IPR)
◼ Footprint of Projects and Professional
Practice And Executive Development
Programs (FPPP):

16. Correlation : RPC & Overall score
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
RPCscore
Overall score
Correlation between RPC score and Overall score

18. Today’s research
◼ Literature review, Methodology, Analysis
enabled by IT and collaborative tools
◼ Turnaround time for Ph D has reduced
◼ Shelf life of an idea condensed
◼ Time-to-publish has drastically reduced
◼ Industry as collaborative partner
18

19. Internet & Research
◼ Internet as a TOOL FOR research or…
◼ Internet as a MEDIUM OF research
 TOOL=search engines, databases, catalogs,
etc…
 MEDIUM=chat rooms, newsgroups, home
pages, blogs, skype, tweeting, online course
software, etc

20. Google trends..
◼ Google trends is the feature in google where
people search for the most searched subject
of the world !
◼ Visit : http://www.google.com/trends
20

21. Exploring statistics from
google trends
◼ Using google trends for predicting
consumer analysis and as a predictor for
macro-economic behaviour
◼ Backend-google database search (using
search, images, YouTube)
◼ Useful for short term forecasting/now
casting where data may not be available
21

22. Using Google Trends Data -
http://www.google.com/trends

23. 23

24. Implications
◼ You have to update continuously and must
know the state-of-the-art
 google enables this!
◼ Subject scan aided by IT tools: search engines,
indexing services !
◼ You have to be comfortable with the Online
community
◼ Please visit
 http://www.scimagojr.com/
24

25. Imperative 1: Online
Publications and time scales
◼ Web enabled world: Millions of ideas getting
generated, developed and disseminated
◼ Faster publishing cycle
◼ Web enabled submission, review and
publication process (ScholarOne :
http://scholarone.com/)
◼ Shelf life of an idea has shortened
considerably, especially so in management
domain
25

26. Implications
◼ You have to update continuously and must
know the state-of-the-art
◼ Literature review aided by IT tools: search
engines, indexing services !
◼ You have to be comfortable with the Online
community
◼ Please visit
 http://www.scimagojr.com/
26

27. Implications
◼ You can not afford to be invisible in the
digitized world
◼ Impact measures are available
◼ Someone is going to measure you and
make you visible !
◼ You are constantly indexed, searched and
under scrutiny
◼ You are also under constant onslaught of
new and emerging ideas ! 27

28. Imperative 2 : Sharing,
collaboration & connectivity !
◼ Sharing of information
◼ Professional networks
◼ Collaboration opportunities
◼ Powerful Social networks
28

29. Implications
◼ Sharing of information/Knowledge made
easy through IT
◼ You must share and connect
◼ Your collaborator may be anywhere in the
globe available 24 x 7 basis
◼ Power & influence of social media as a
binder!
29

30. Sharing …
◼ http://papercritics.com/
◼ https://www.sharelatex.com/
◼ https://www.mindmeister.com/3958389
2/research-tools-by-nader-ale-ebrahim
◼ http://academickarma.org/
30

31. Social platforms for sharing..
◼ Network for researchers
◼ One can share and
disseminate
◼ Contributions in terms of
publications, downloads,
datasets etc.
31
Pegrum, M., "'I link therefore I am': network literacy as a core digital literacy", E-
learning and Digital Media 7(4), 346-354 2010 doi:10.2304/elea.2010.7.4.346

32. Implications..
◼ Each of these areas, require research
◼ The focus could be on interdisciplinary
research
◼ Entrepreneurial research
32

33. Research Level Maturity Model
of a university
◼ Level 1: Knowledge disseminator /creator
 Importance of teaching, research, training etc.
◼ Level 2: technology transfer - the entrepreneurial
university
 Importance on technology transfer mechanisms,
incubation, innovation, start-ups
◼ Level 3: knowledge networked university
 Focus on a wide range of interactions
 Exchange rather than transfer with a variety of partners
(Industry, other global univ.etc.)

34. Part 2
Researcher
34

35. 7 Habits of
Connected Researchers
◼ Who is a connected researcher?
 Connected to self
 Connected to institute
 Connected to industry
 Connected to profession
 Connected to society
 http://www.slideshare.net/SanjeevDeshmukh/trends-
inconnectingresearchsgd2013
◼ Acknowledgement : Heavily Adapted from
Stephen R. Covey’s work !35

36. Useful resource ..
◼ https://www.stephencovey.com/7h
abits/7habits.php
◼ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=QGj7GZJFHQQ
◼ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=-sGsX9q0FqE
◼ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=ACukmJ_5HSo
36

37. Seven habits move
through stages
• Dependence: the paradigm under which we
are born, relying upon others to take care of
us
• Independence: the paradigm under which
we make our decisions and take care of
ourselves.
• Interdependence: the paradigm under
which we cooperate /collaborate to achieve
something that cannot be achieved
independently. (this is very much needed in
funded research !)

38. Habit 1: Be Proactive
◼ Act and not re-act : Be connected
◼ Researcher free to choose: Self-awareness,
conscience, imagination, independent will
◼ Always think positively !
◼ Explore forthcoimg opportunities for funding
◼ Look for funding call from various agencies/
◼ Make friendship with those who are already
conducting funded research .
◼ This is the foundation of being “connected”

39. Habit 2:
Begin with the End in Mind
◼ Researcher need a destination and a compass
◼ A Researcher’s Mission Statement
◼ The end should always be “what is best for me
for professional recognition through being
connected .” Research Proposal is one !
◼ Planning makes things better.
◼ It is better to sweat during peacetime rather
than bleed during wartime !

40. Habit 3: Put First Things
First
◼ Establish priorities in the academic career
◼ Balance academics with social skills,
character education, health and self
esteem: Being part of community !
◼ Evolve communities of practice !

41. Habit 4: Think Win-Win!!!!
◼ Adopt the attitude: “Let me listen to you first”
or “Help me to understand”
◼ By listening, we learn faster !
◼ Positive discipline - How can you and the peer
win??? .
◼ Moving from “me” to “we”
◼ 1+1 = 11?

42. Habit 5: Seek First to Understand..Then to
be Understood
◼ Understand your personal competencies
◼ Make a SWOT analysis of self.
◼ Recognize your limitations and work to
overcome them.
◼ Avoid miscommunications.
◼ Practice Empathic Listening – to your critics,
peer group etc,
◼ Get feedback

43. Habit 6 : Synergize
Principles of Creative Cooperation
• Find ways of working in teams.
• Apply methods for collaborative
research working
• Value differences.
• Build on divergent strengths.
• Leverage creative collaboration.
• Embrace and leverage innovation.

44. Whole that is Greater than
the Sum of the Parts
◼ Through mutual trust and understanding, one
often can solve conflicts and find a better
solution than would have been obtained
through individual solution
◼ When synergy is pursued as a habit, the result
of the teamwork will exceed the sum of what
each of the members could have achieved on
their own.
◼ This is possible being CONNECTED ! And be
in a collaborative mode

45. Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw
◼ Renew yourself: socially, mentally, and
spiritually.
◼ Nurture your relationship with the online
community
◼ Continuously update and upgrade yourself
◼ Use Mooc to upgrade
yourself(coursesera,NPTEl etc.)
◼ Always grow - be a better Researcher today
than you were yesterday .

46. Seven habits of Most
Defective People !
◼ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jh3
SV5pVCS8
46

47. Remarks..
◼ Research is inevitable.
◼ Good research brings visibility and recognition
◼ Trends such as limited shelf life, collaborative
forces, connecting push and digitization of
research outcome affecting the quality and
quantity of research
◼ We must migrate to higher levels of maturity
through research
◼ Seven habits will help us to be connected and be
effective !

48. Develop self-competency
◼ Linked in Learning centre
 Courses on excel, R, data analytics etc.
◼ R for Data Science: Lunchbreak Lessons
:Course by: Mark Niemann-Ross
❑ Slideshare- presentations on numerous
topics
❑ TEDx talks..
❑ Youtube
48

49. Desirable skill set for a
researcher
Communication
Report writing
Team
working
Leadership
Planning and
organisation
Project
management
Enterprise
Problem Solving
Reflection
Adaptability
Energy
Drive and resilience
Enthusiasm/passion
Self awareness
Confidence
Contextual/cultural
awareness
Capacity to develop
Positive attitude
Business and
environment
awareness
IT skills

50. Researcher “Aaadhar”: means
of being digitally connected
50
ORCID orcid.org/0000-0002-7043-6948
Scopus Id Author ID: 7102221659
SSRN Author ID: 2982630
Authors productivity: Through h-index ?
H-Index is the best known. Attempts to measure both productivity and
impact of the published work.
A researcher has an index h if h of his/her Np papers has at least h
citations each
To have an h-index of 5, an author has to have 5 publications, each
receiving at least 5 citations
Variants include g-index and m-index
Account for highly cited papers or author career span

51. Researcher : Where to Find H-
Index
Value of the index may vary depending on the source of information
(number of indexed publications, time span, etc.)
◼ Web of Science
 To identify all publications by an author you can use Author Analyze
search function or enter author's ORCID or ResearcherID identifier (if
known)
◼ Google Scholar
 Requires creation of Google Scholar profile before providing metrics
 H-index tends to be higher than what is calculated by Web of Science
◼ Publish or Perish http://www.harzing.com/pop.htm
 Freely accessible software program
 Uses Google Scholar data and includes h-index, g-index, m-index and
other metrics

52. References
◼ Waldrop M (2008) Science 2.0: Great new tool, or great risk? Scientific
American. Available at:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=science-2-point-0-great-
new-tool-or-great-risk
◼ Digital Researcher http://www.vitae.ac.uk/researchers/315321/Digital-
Researcher.html
◼ Cann, A., Dimitriou, K., Hooley, T., "Social Media : A guide for researchers",
(February), 2011
http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-
research/social-media-guide-researchers
52

53. Part 3
Research proposal for
Funding

54. Why FUNDED research ?
◼ Research budgets are shrinking
everywhere.
◼ Researchers are being forced to
seek external funding
◼ It helps to get visibility
◼ NIRF requires this.

55. Please note
◼ Funds are awarded to finance particular
activities and not to be paid back.
◼ It is important to know the goals of the
funding agencies (like DST, DeITy, ICSSR,
MHRD etc.) and their grant programs.
◼ Decisions are made on the applicant’s ability
to fit the proposed research activities to the
interests of the funding agency.

56. Current Funding
Opportunities
◼ DST
◼ DeITy
◼ MSME
◼ UKEIRI
◼ Fulbright
◼ ICSSR
◼ And many more…

57. UK-India Education and Research
Initiative (UKIERI)
◼ Initiative which aims to create a ‘step change’ in educational
relations between India and the UK
◼ Objectives:
 To strengthen collaboration between academic
partners.
 To promote stronger links to industry and related
communities

58. Before beginning to prepare a
proposal, consider the following:
◼ Rule #1: Believe that someone wants to give
you the money.
◼ Consider the long-term goals of your institution.
◼ Start with the end in mind (top down approach)
◼ Identify yourself and your strengths and
institutional support
◼ Create a comprehensive plan - not just a
proposal of what you wish to achieve.

59. Do Your Homework
◼ Research prospective funding bodies.
◼ Target funding source that has interest
in your area of competence/expertise
and programme.
◼ Survey other disciplines from where
you can borrow expertise

60. Explore Funding Agencies
Gather information on:
❑ Details of grants available.
❑ How to apply for them.(formats etc.)
❑ Previous funding patterns

61. Approaching the Proposal
⚫ Your case will be read by one or two experts in
your field but others in the judgement panel
won’t be experts. You must write for their benefit
too.
⚫ Ask lots of people to help you improve your
proposal. Get their feedback. Act on that !
⚫ Make sure the first page acts as a stand-alone
summary of the entire proposal.

62. Major Criteria: Questions to
be Answered
◼ What the objectives of the project?
◼ What will be the outcomes? Deliverables?
◼ Does the proposal address a well-formulated problem?
◼ Is it a research problem or just a routine application of a
known technique?
◼ Is it an important problem, whose solution will have
useful effects?
◼ Is special funding necessary to solve the problem or to
solve it quickly enough?

63. Points..
◼ Do the proposers have a good idea on which to base their
work?
◼ Does the proposal explain clearly what work will be done?
◼ Is there evidence that the proposers know about relevant work
that others have done?
◼ Do the proposers have a good track record, both of doing good
research and of publishing it?
◼ What are the implications for policy and
practice? How will these be taken up?

64. Additional criteria
◼ An applicant with existing funding may be favoured
due to evidence of a good track record.
◼ Also priority is given to new researchers in the field.
◼ Funders generally prefer to offer a reasonable balance
of support for different research areas.
◼ Evidence of industrial interest in the proposal and its
potential for future exploitation will count in favour.

65. ⚫ There is no evidence that the proposers will succeed
where others have failed.
⚫ A new idea is claimed but insufficient technical details
are given.
⚫ The proposers seem unaware of related research.
⚫ The proposed research has already been done.
Common Shortcomings

66. Points..
◼ The proposal is badly presented or
incomprehensible.
◼ The proposers seem to be attempting too
much for the funding requested and/or the
time-scale envisaged.
◼ The proposal is too expensive for the probable
gain.
◼ The proposer’s institution should be funding it.

67. ◼ Funding bodies also look for good researchers.
◼ Think of them as potential investors in you and your
ideas.
◼ You must ‘sell’ your idea: Be enthusiastic about the
work!
◼ Why should they give a grant? See it from the
funder’s point of view.
◼ Remember that you are NOT begging.
◼ You have ideas, they have money.
Additional points to
remember...

68. Typical Structure
Essential Contents:
◼ Statement of the problem.
◼ Summary of current developments in the
field.(National/International)
◼ Statement of what is new about the project.
◼ Indication of the extent to which the research builds on
previous work by you and by others?
◼ In certain cases, assurance that you are aware of existing work
in the field despite no exhaustive literature review being
available.

69. Methods: Questions to be
answered
◼ What methods will be applied to achieve the
aims? The methodology must be described
in detail and clearly related to the research
questions.
◼ Are the chosen methods sufficiently rigorous
to produce clear answers?
◼ What is the timetable? This must be
realistic.
◼ Prepare a good Gantt chart

70. Evaluation
❑ How will you measure the success of your
project?
❑ Distinguish between monitoring &
evaluation. Monitoring is part of the project
management while evaluation is formal
assessment of the outcome of a project.

71. Dissemination: Questions to
be answered
◼ Dissemination through :
workshops/seminars/brainstorming sessions
◼ What audience should be targeted to
achieve the maximum impact?
◼ How might this audience best be reached?
◼ What is the budget for dissemination?

72. Personnel
◼ Explain the staffing requirements (SRF/JRF)
in detail
◼ It is essential to provide brief details of the
relevant qualifications and experience of the
staff.
◼ To minimise expenses, the plan should
include the phasing out of staff whenever
their tasks are completed.

73. Budget
◼ The application should include an
itemised budget setting out the costs year
by year.
◼ A cost justification for each item should be
given.
◼ The budget should be exhaustive.
◼ If additional funding from other sources is
sought then this should be made clear.

74. Timing
◼ The individual tasks should be sequenced
logically and allocated realistic durations.
◼ Detailed reasoning should be given for the
task sequence and durations.
◼ Prepare a detailed time phased work plan

75. Revising/Reviewing Your
Proposal
◼ Seek regular feedback from your
peers/superiors as soon as possible during
the development of the proposal, allowing
time to receive responses.
◼ Good proposals take a long time to develop,
so plan well ahead to ensure meeting the
deadline.

76. Some Advice
◼ Do not feel ashamed or embarrassed about
asking for help from seniors/peers .
◼ If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.
◼ Learn from feedback regarding a rejected
proposal.
◼ Be ready with 5-6 proposals simultaneously.
◼ Be positive!

77. Useful tools
Tool For Source
1 Endnote Reference manager https://endnote.com/
2 Research
Excellence
framework
Metric https://www.ref.ac.uk/
3 Publons Tracking your
research impact
https://publons.com/a
bout/home/
77

78. Takeaway from this session :
Action agenda
◼ Get ORCID/Scopus/SSRN id
◼ Download mendeley.com/Endnote
◼ Download harzing : Publish or Perish
◼ Sign in for academia /Researchgate
◼ Sign in for Publons
◼ Simply conduct a search in Google Scholar
and click on the “Create alert” link in the left-
hand column

79. 4Ps of proposal
◼ Perform: submit the best proposal you can
◼ Practice and get feedback from wherever
possible
◼ Participate in academic/social networks
◼ Persist, Persist, Persist with perseverance !
Source: Harzing Ana : The four P's of getting published -
https://harzing.com/blog/2016/12/the-four-ps-of-getting-published

80. Interesting statistics
University of California at Los
Angeles(UCLA)
80

81. Remember these points..
◼ 1. Think big, act through small initiatives
◼ 2. Problems are unanswered questions
◼ 3. Never be afraid of writing proposals
◼ 4. Decide to become proactive from today
◼ 5. See yourself as a salesperson selling the idea for
research proposals
◼ 6. Improve your skills
◼ 7. Learn to love criticism
◼ 8 Create something (hardware/software/routine etc.) as
tangible deliverable of your proposal !
81

82. Thank you !
deshmukh.sg@gmail.com
https://www.slideshare.net/SanjeevDeshmukh/