Posts by Anna Hutchens
Writing Process vs Written Product
I started working with a client in the middle of last year who had a writing ‘problem’. He’d been publishing consistently, and publishing in great outlets. Nothing wrong there. But, for someone in the social sciences, he had a disproportionate number of co-authored papers compared with sole authored ones. And his senior colleagues…
Read MoreSocial is Successful?
I was sitting in on a conversation with a group of ECRs this week, all sharing their anxieties and concerns about their research careers. I could relate to all those worries and what ifs, and it felt like only yesterday I was at the coal face of life as a postdoc. One question posed…
Read MoreThe Genre Games
In a recent coaching session, one of my Granted students described her anxiety about having weak grant writing skills. She said she was motivated to improve, but that everyone she’d turned to for help on the subject so far had been unhelpful. I asked her what she meant. Everyone’s response, she explained, had been the…
Read MoreTo Ask or not to Ask?
In the last few weeks, I’ve been coaching late-stage and newly minted PhDs in my PhD2Postdoc program. As we prepare a plan for getting them a research/academic position, one of the recurring themes is the fear to reach out and ask established names in their field to talk to them about opportunities to collaborate on…
Read MoreResearch impact: a security net in disguise
In my last post, I implored you to think about how you could have an impact on the wider non-academic public with your research. At this time of year, this issue has more relevance than you think. Let’s explore why this is, then look at some examples to get your imagination firing with ideas. …
Read MoreIs your knowledge ‘usable’?
The measurement of research impact is a hot topic in Australian academic circles. But let’s not for a moment think it’s a new concern. While dipping into Peter Drucker’s The Effective Executive recently (a classic written some 50 years ago), I was interested, but not surprised, to read a similar concern about the…
Read MoreBefore/After: The role of the grant ‘architect’
I distinctly remember the end of major grant rounds this year. Right on cue, I developed a chest infection, and was up to my eyeballs in application reviews at work. And then suddenly, like a storm, the deadline for the last major scheme came – and went. That night, thoroughly spent, I fell into…
Read MoreResearch merits, Research money
In the transition from PhD student to aspiring postdoc, my mentor said something I’ll never forget: ‘your PhD isn’t a job ticket’. What she meant was: an attitude of entitlement to research funding, or an academic job, misses the point. Over the years I’ve realised it’s one of the major mistakes newly-minted PhDs seeking…
Read MoreMoney with meaning
A friend of mine, an avid cyclist, recently told me about a guy on a bike who sat on her tail while she was riding to work one morning, goading her to speed up or get out of his way. He eventually overtook her, and in response to his pretty colourful language, she replied ‘Riding…
Read MoreGoals? No thanks…
Goals. The start of the year, any year, seems to be all about goal-setting. And it’s easy to get sucked into the idea that we need to set a ‘S.M.A.R.T’ goal then make rapid progress on it – in no time at all. What a shame that academic publishing and grant-winning have slower lifecycles! …
Read More