Generating knowledge is one of the most exciting aspects of being human. The inventiveness required to apply this knowledge to solve practical problems is perhaps our most distinctive attribute. But right now we have before us some hairy challenges – whether that be figuring our how to save our coral reefs from warmer water, landing […] … learn more→
Tag Archives: research
Research does solve real-world problems: experts must work together to make it happen
What will research look like in 2035?
What will the world look like a generation from now? Will robots have transformed our working world? Will we move through cities in automated vehicles or even hyperloops? Will we choose to augment our bodies with highly functional prosthetics? Will low carbon energy generation be the norm or will climate change be changing the world around us? […] … learn more→
How I overcame rejection to turn my love of ‘poi’ into research
Ten years ago, while moping around circus practice with a torn rotator cuff, boredom and curiosity led me to try the most unimpressive prop under the big top: a sock filled with rice. It didn’t involve flipping and flying through the air. It didn’t involve extraordinary strength or speed. It didn’t appear to involve much […] … learn more→
When measuring research, we must remember that ‘engagement’ and ‘impact’ are not the same thing
In the Innovation Statement late last year, the federal government indicated a strong belief that more collaboration should occur between industry and university researchers. At the same time, government, education and industry groupings have made numerous recommendations for the “impact” of university research to be assessed alongside or in addition to the existing assessment of […] … learn more→
It’s not the end of the world if your research gets ‘scooped’
A lot of young (and old) researchers are worried about being “scooped”. No, this is not about something unpleasantly kinky, but about when some other lab publishes an experiment that is very similar to yours before you do. Sometimes this is even more than just a worry and it actually happens. I know that this […] … learn more→
Researcher organise thyself
Recently I put together a promotion application. For those of you unfamiliar with the Australian system, this is similar to a tenure application in the U.S.A. You must compile everything you have done in your academic career, assess its impact and present it all as a legible ‘story’ of your contribution to your discipline and […] … learn more→
Don’t divide teaching and research
We excel, in the research university, at preparing our students to do world-class research — everywhere except the classrooms in which they teach. From the beginning we insist that Ph.D. applicants explain their research plans. When they arrive we put them through their paces in methodology classes, carefully taking apart their ideas of what they […] … learn more→
‘Quackademics’ under fire as critical voices targeted
The is a republish of this article With independent journalism increasingly under threat, will academics be the next set of critical voices to be targeted? A report calling for research and evidence to have a reduced role in public policy, issued yesterday by a right-wing think-tank, suggests this process is already under way. These criticisms […] … learn more→
“I’m writing a book no one will read” and other reasons the PhD can get you down
The other day I received an email from a stranger. A final year PhD student wrote to my to thank me for the piece on PhD “survival strategies” that I wrote recently for the Guardian and to which many others contributed. I have to admit that this kind of feedback, as well as the comments […] … learn more→
At sea in a deluge of data
This spring, more college students than ever received baccalaureate degrees, and their career prospects are brighter than they were for last year’s graduates. Employers responding to this year’s National Association of Colleges and Employers’ \”Job Outlook 2014 Survey\” said they planned to increase entry-level hiring by almost 8 percent. But what they may not realize […] … learn more→