I’ve had a beef with leadership development programs ever since I knew what they were. I’m not sure what triggered this. It could be the fact that back in high school, when I was a senior, we had a ‘leadership day’ that was held at a venue that wasn’t our usual school campus. Exciting, right? […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Leadership development programs – what doesn’t work? (Part 1)
Turning a book into a series of workshops
Like a lot of my work, I take inspiration from many places. This post is going to reflexively unpack some of the process I used when taking the book Getting Research Funded: Five essential rules for early career researchers (by Tseen Khoo, Phil Ward, and Jonathan O’Donnell) and turning it into a series of grant-writing workshops. Firstly, […] … learn more→
The special nature of research projects
Research projects come in many forms – applied, developmental, evaluative or data-driven inquiries – but regardless of type, they often operate in what might be called discovery mode. This mode is defined by open-ended exploration and inherently fuzzy deliverables. In discovery-oriented work, uncertainty isn’t an obstacle to be eliminated but a condition to be navigated. […] … learn more→
Managing your research project
For us, a research project is any activity that involves at least one research task. It could be something small, like a literature review, some interviews or a quick online survey. Or it might be a bigger project like developing a new artifact, program, intervention or product. Research happens in every academic discipline: science, humanities, […] … learn more→
New Trump administration rules on federal science funding could make American research slower, costlier and harder to share
Most Americans don’t read the rules that govern the federal grants funding science. Those rules, called the Uniform Guidance, shape how cancer research is funded, graduate students are trained, clinical trials are sustained, universities stock their labs and discoveries from those labs move into broader society. When the Trump administration announced on May 29, 2026, its […] … learn more→
Alliances of European universities: carrying out joint projects, a linguistic challenge?
Since 2019, alliances of European universities have occupied an increasingly important place in the higher education landscape. Supported by the European Commission within the framework of the Erasmus+ program, they aim to structure a more integrated university space, by bringing institutions from different countries closer together in a sustainable manner around joint courses, research projects and student […] … learn more→
An AI solution to an 80‑year‑old problem has shocked mathematicians
Last week, OpenAI shocked the mathematical community by revealing that one of its internal artificial intelligence (AI) models had found a counterexample to a famous conjecture made by legendary Hungarian mathematician Paul Erdős in 1946. The planar unit distance problem, or Erdős problem 90, has intrigued mathematicians for decades. The new result is no mere curiosity. Canadian mathematician Daniel Litt described it […] … learn more→
Self‑censorship, more stress, tougher recruiting – we asked US researchers how the Trump administration’s science policies have affected them
The American academic research engine has long been the envy of the world. Generally well-funded, labs in the United States have been able to attract the best minds who generate breakthroughs and train the next generation workforce that powers the U.S. economy. But since the start of the second Trump administration in January 2025, new federal policies have destabilized the American […] … learn more→
Who gets credit for research? How the hidden rules of academic authorship can leave women at a disadvantage
Scientific discoveries rarely happen alone. Modern research often involves teams spanning institutions and even countries. Yet when research is published in academic journals, credit is reduced to a list of names – a list that can shape careers. Authorship is a key signal of expertise. It influences hiring, promotion, and funding decisions. Despite this importance, the […] … learn more→
Who gets left behind in Australia’s open access strategy?
I’ve been thinking about Australian’s recent Open Access (OA) deal now that the dust has settled on the recent showdown with Elsevier. After all, we’d been spending some $500 million to $1 billion per year on journal subscriptions (an eye‑watering 5–10% of our national research spend), so it feels sensible to negotiate as a national bloc. But the […] … learn more→
