This page supports the final day of the Research Leader programme at the University of Edinburgh and combines the discussions from the two cohorts in 2016 – one from the College of Science and Engineering, the other from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. As the programmes are slightly different, there may be some links on topics which weren’t covered in your programme, but I’ve included them as I believe they will be of interest or value. This isn’t a terribly pretty page, but hopefully the value of having all the links in one place will overcome its aesthetic limitations.
Insights from senior staff
The notes from Andy Mount and Lydia Plowman have been emailed separately. Let me know if you didn’t receive these or have lost track of them. Another interesting perspective from a senior academic in another institution comes from Glenn Lyons at the University of West of England in a blog post in which he shares his ideas for preparing for the next REF.
http://www.futuremobility.uk/2016/02/tips-on-progressingyour-research-career.html
Strategic Context
- The Nurse Review https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nurse-review-of-research-councils-recommendations
- The Dowling Review https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-university-research-collaborations-dowling-review-final-report
- LSE Impact blog http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/
- Beltane (Public Engagement support at UoE) http://www.beltanenetwork.org
- UKRIO – the UK Research Integrity Office case studies will have been emailed separately, but their site also includes a checklist for research integrity which may be useful: http://ukrio.org/wp-content/uploads/UKRIO-Recommended-Checklist-for-Researchers.pdf
Impact Acceleration – talk to your research support contact about this and whether it is a potential source of funding for ideas
- For EPSRC see http://www.ed.ac.uk/science-engineering/about/research/commercial-collaboration/epsrc-impact (BBSRC, NERC, STFC also available – check with research support staff)
- For ESRC see http://www.ed.ac.uk/humanities-soc-sci/research-ke/industry-engagement/esrc-impact-acceleration-account
Time and priority management
Saying NO – there are umpteen blog posts on how to say no, but these are written with an academic perspective
- https://marialuisaaliotta.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/do-you-also-say-yes-when-you-actually-mean-no/
- https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/surviving/fall3 (also worth reading the comments some of which challenge the idea of saying no rather robustly!)
- http://progressivegeographies.com/2015/10/05/the-challenge-of-saying-no-to-academic-requests/
Finding Focus – the Unstuck blog and app regularly posts on the theme of being more effective. This post is on staying focused in a distracting world. http://unstuckcommunity.tumblr.com/post/110532841435/15-ways-to-stay-focused-in-a-distracted-world
Time management advice from academics https://www.shintonconsulting.com/time-management-by-academics/
We Have to Talk – a guide to difficult conversations http://www.judyringer.com/resources/articles/we-have-to-talk-a-stepbystep-checklist-for-difficult-conversations.php
Getting the most out of meetings: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/11/18/seven-strategies-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-meetings/
Effective Supervision
Griffith questionnaire on expectations in supervision https://www.griffith.edu.au/higher-degrees-research/current-research-students/supervision/expectations-in-supervision-questionnaire2
Two examples of research culture online
- Roberto Cipolla outlines what it means to do a PhD with him http://mi.eng.cam.ac.uk/~cipolla/phdguide.htm
- Geoff Barton’s essay on the UK academic system for international students (thus hinting at what a supportive environment there might be in his group for international researchers) http://www.compbio.dundee.ac.uk/ftp/pdf/The%20UK%20Academic%20system_V2.0_April2013.pdf
Raising your profile
Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy – open shortly (and not for long) for applications for 2016 http://www.youngacademyofscotland.org.uk
The Conversation – many Edinburgh researchers have contributed articles https://theconversation.com/uk
Ten starting points to get your head around Twitter (this site) https://www.shintonconsulting.com/twitter-your-first-ten-follows/
A guide to engaging people in your publications (this site) https://www.shintonconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Boosting-the-impact-of-publications.pdf
Graphical Abstracts – guidelines from the Cell Press journal which now asks for a graphical abstract and Elsevier https://www.elsevier.com/authors/journal-authors/graphical-abstract http://www.cell.com/pb/assets/raw/shared/figureguidelines/GA_guide.pdf (very biological!)
Collaboration
Unity – a platform for sharing data and ideas (New site so not sure of how effective it is, but seems more secure than most as linked to your MyED profile) http://unity.ac
Edinburgh Datashare http://datashare.is.ed.ac.uk
NIH Office of the Ombudsmen – includes the guide to difficult conversations (see above) but also a sample partnering agreement covering aspects of collaboration with the potential to lead to conflict https://ombudsman.nih.gov/tools.html
Confusion in Collaboration (this site) questions to help demystify your collaborators and their interests https://www.shintonconsulting.com/academics/confusion-in-collaboration/