A selection of current news items for managers of Early Career Researchers.

Note: Access to some of the publications referenced here is metered and/or involves a free registration of basic details, and we hope you find the material worth any inconvenience. We never knowingly include paywalled articles, but there are sometimes differences between jurisdictions and we hope that your institution’s subscriptions will allow you to see any pieces that turn out to be restricted in your location.

Research matters

Impact support. Four specialists share their pick of resources to help guide efforts to plan for, and practise, research with impact beyond academia.

Value in dis-engagement. As impact criteria mean ever more funding is directed at specific societal problems, where does ‘value-orientated’ research fit?

Reward for risk. Changes are needed to let research target more than incremental knowledge refinement.

Muddied metrics. Assessment reform will only work when qualitative evidence wins out over dubious indices and citation measures.

Assessment reform. A new agreement gives institutions the chance to commit publicly to rewarding scholars for quality and overall contribution to research, not just publication rankings.

Sustaining research and lecturing. Ideas for supporting teaching-focused staff to keep up momentum in their research work.

The burden of ‘non-promotable tasks’. Options for redress if women are taking on a disproportionate share of university service work.

Take it from the top. Thoughts on what research leadership should look like, why it matters and how to promote it.

Management matters

The cost:benefit of persistence. Amid frustrations with academia, a wave of resignations suggests a reassessment by many researchers of their values and priorities.

Burn-out bonus. An example of how increased turnover amongst faculty and staff is prompting unis to amp up retention efforts by improving working conditions.

Just a job? A teaching prof/development specialist reflects on academic culture while recovering from her own burnout.

F2F rebuilt, but they don’t come. The phenomenon of post-lockdown student disengagement picked over in a thread from academics on the front line.

Support researcher roles to the fore. Employment, grant and credit systems in academia need to be re-modelled to recognise the crucial contribution of supporting researchers.

‘If at first you fail…’. In the (faltering?) footsteps of successive EU Concordats on supporting the career development of researchers, comes a new manifesto for ECRs.

Growing your researchers. A recent report from Nature’s publisher, Springer, offers insights for institutions into researchers’ professional development needs.

Personal press

Control and good choices. Thoughts on why and how to go about setting career goals.

Clarity matters. How a personal mission statement makes career decisions easier and surer.

Depose the imposter. Six ways we can lessen the influence of the self-under-estimator in our heads.

Forward and upward. A career coach’s take on how to tone up ‘change muscles’ and make the best of the unexpected.

From FOMO to JOMO. After a year of saying ‘no’, a group of scholars assesses its own performance and shares lessons.

Lean into the unknown. Risk is often a bedfellow to the best career opportunities and there are sure ways to manage it.

Inside track for introverts. An introverted higher ed. recruiter shares advice on performing well in interview processes that seem to favour extroverts.

The power of gratitude. Recognising blessings starts small but ends up big, in work and life.

Serious research

Santa, Rudolph, et al: the science is settled. The mysteries of Christmas poked, prodded - and proved!

We hope you find this Update for Research Managers helpful. 
Please contact us with any questions or feedback by clicking the button below.