Two | 2020
A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.
Management matters
Post-virus pivot for HE. Two senior professors urge universities to use the COVID crisis as the catalyst for disruptive change and more focused, sustainable strategies.
A new world of work. Reflections by a senior administrator on what virus times might have changed for good about the academic workplace.
Change for the better. HE instruction has been up-ended, but three pedagogy specialists assess common myths around the fast move to online teaching and say it's way too soon to judge the role and value of virtual education delivery.
The UK's Knowledge Exchange Concordat offers a new way for research-intensive universities to spotlight their own priorities, mission, impact and future direction.
Leading from afar. A collection of experiences of running research teams remotely, a junior PI's approach to managing his team from the other side of the world and tips for effectively maintaining mentoring relationships during this period.
Remote working in focus. Should remote roles be a bigger part of the postdoc landscape?
Grad student relations. Supervision systems may differ, but not the fundamentals of productive relations with PhD candidates.
Conferencing beyond Zoom. Thoughts on taking a fully fledged academic meeting online; ways to organise virtual academic gatherings across time-zones; and advice on how to select and make the most of virtual conferences.
E-safety for universities. Australia's eSafety Commissioner has released new resources to help University administrators, academic staff and students to stay safe online.
Research matters
Misplaced measures. A survey of Flemish ECRs adds weight to arguments that the way researchers are typically assessed contributes little to advancing research, while a much larger study confirms the ongoing primacy of traditional assessment criteria.
Integrity vaccine. A recent review of the 'prophylactic' part that formal, interactive ethics training would play in fighting the 'disease' of questionable research practices.
The genealogy of fraud. A law professor's assessment of the most common types of research misconduct and the role that competition in funding, deadlines and metrics plays in incentivising them.
Accountability in review. Open peer review has been gaining ground, with 617 journals now having trialled or adopted the practice in relation to reviewer identities and/or open reviews.
Citation detectives. Two smart new services are on hand to help academics choose and manage their references: the Scite.ai analysis tool tells users whether research papers have been supported, refuted or referenced by later publications; and the Zotero citation system can now notify users about retracted content in their own reference libraries.
Collaborative writing tools for researchers. For anyone managing a collaborative writing project from home or across the globe, the tools at your disposal have come a long way.
First-time funding. A collection of articles for researchers on applying for competitive funding, especially for new contenders.
ECR careers in pandemic times
A PhD in virus times. Advice to new-starts on what best to emphasise personally and professionally, and how to cope with some of the impacts of COVID, from the earliest days of a PhD candidature.
Advice for a stay-at-home PhD candidate.
Ideas for making the best of an unwelcome disruption to a PhD research project.
Support for recovery from lost research time. The effect of COVID-19 restrictions on data-gathering will have severe long-term impacts that affect ECRs disproportionately.
Time-out on the tenure track. The 'pause' forced upon ECRs by COVID-19 raises wider questions about the need for a more flexible, supportive system for those on the path to tenure.
Mass exits ahead. Navigating the post-COVID career environment will take good planning and proactivity, and PhD graduates and postdocs will need all available support as they face an all-but-moribund academic job market.
Broader would be better. A light-hearted article asks serious questions about the need for PhD training to cater better for candidates' potential for careers beyond traditional academic pathways.
Hiring post-COVID. The skills and track record that academic employers seek may be different in the new job market.
Claiming skills. Tips for ECRs on how best to identify and present the skills that will give them an edge in job applications.
Personal press
Hope in hardship. A political science academic shares hints from her experience for living well in disaster conditions.
Adjusting to the home office. Ideas to share for managing yourself as part of a shift to working from home, juggling work and home lives in virus times, and coming to terms with distractions.
This is no writer's retreat. It's rarely been more important to manage your own attention effectively and adjust expectations of yourself yet find ways to keep making progress.
Living, not thriving. An expression of how many people feel about suddenly working without close contact to their colleagues.
Navigating troubled seas. In this stressful period, a reminder to look after our own mental health and a nod to the power of writing to help make sense of our situation.
Career considerations. Too much research can make you an obstacle to your own career progress, so what are the key factors to consider when pondering a career switch?
Zoom-a-view. In case you find yourself interviewing remotely, consider these practical tips to reduce stress levels and be at your best.
Serious research
And finally�
In today's unhappy circumstances, postdocs and PhD candidates are viewing their career prospects with growing concern. The likely long-term impacts of COVID-19 make it more important than ever that they plan carefully, act strategically and are highly proactive when it comes to mapping their careers.
PostdocTraining offers a range of interactive, online career training courses and in-person/virtual workshops specifically for PhD candidates and researchers at postdoc level. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss how we can help you support your junior researchers.
We hope you find this brief news digest helpful.
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