Blog
Get your impact insights and research translation learning from our regular blog articles.
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Collaboration and partnership
Five skills to boost your research career
This week I use another sporting analogy to outline a concept that applies to how we work in research.
Context considerations for research partnerships
KT is a social process with its foundations in the strength of its relationships. To be successful in KT, and ultimately in creating impact, we need to explore and implement the knowledge that comes from our partners through knowledge of lived experiences, organisations, service delivery and so on, to understand and appreciate the context.
Communication preferences for successful knowledge translation
People with good connections still have difficulty in engaging those connections or stakeholders when it comes down to disseminating or translating their findings into something that can be used.
Australian Research Funding – Three key things
Change is happening, like it or not! The good thing is that you can get involved and have your say, and there are plenty of opportunities to prepare yourself for likely changes.
Are you nurturing your relationships?
It’s that time of year where we need to take stock of the year gone by and the things we achieved both personally and professionally. Reflecting on my achievements, it becomes very apparent that none of them would happen if not for the relationships built and nurtured with the people around me.
3 ways to increase your network and gain some collaborators
My last blog talked about the things you should do before your next grant application. The key message was to build your networks, solidify and formalise your collaborations, and to make new friends! This post encourages you to take the leap, increase your network, and get new collaborators for your research.
3 Steps to research success
Researchers, you are incredible, passionate and smart. You need to be heard so that you can educate, and you want to be heard so that you can gain recognition for your efforts. But there is a black cloud approaching, we have increasing numbers of PhD students, of which 1 in 10 will remain in research after graduation, diminishing government funding, and increased emphasis on innovation and industry funded research.
3 tips to surviving the grant writing process
As you begin to prepare yourself for the upcoming grant writing season, consider the recent survey of 195 academics, by Ted and Courtney von Hippel, which found the average proposal takes a principal investigator 116 hours (see publication). It’s no wonder that the grant writing process is loathed by many researchers, as it costs them over 100 hours lost time from their ongoing work, all for a success rate as low as 15%.
Empathy for impact
Using empathy to understand and serve the people who will use your research lies at the heart of creating impact that is truly needed.
Communication & dissemination
Making the most of a LinkedIn coffee date
Following on from last week’s blog on networking, I wanted to talk about the things you should do to prepare for your first in-person meeting with a potential non-academic partner.
Key factors in planning your translation
It’s that time of year when we are planning, setting goals and thinking of what we want to achieve over the next twelve months. To make the most of your translation efforts, we have come up with these five key considerations for communication.
How to create a presentation worth listening to!
It doesn’t take rocket scientists to realise that the way we communicate, and absorb information is changing based on time available, personal preference, and innovative technologies. In a world of noise, we must do everything to be heard.
Five skills to boost your research career
This week I use another sporting analogy to outline a concept that applies to how we work in research.
Evernote as a curation tool for researchers
Don’t you just hate it when you can’t find that document you need on your computer or remember the website you visited and would like to revisit? Wouldn’t it be great if you could find an easy to use and convenient repository to organise all your thoughts, website links, pdfs of journal articles, and notes from meetings in one place?
Communication preferences for successful knowledge translation
People with good connections still have difficulty in engaging those connections or stakeholders when it comes down to disseminating or translating their findings into something that can be used.
Are you nurturing your relationships?
It’s that time of year where we need to take stock of the year gone by and the things we achieved both personally and professionally. Reflecting on my achievements, it becomes very apparent that none of them would happen if not for the relationships built and nurtured with the people around me.
3 ways to increase your network and gain some collaborators
My last blog talked about the things you should do before your next grant application. The key message was to build your networks, solidify and formalise your collaborations, and to make new friends! This post encourages you to take the leap, increase your network, and get new collaborators for your research.
3 Steps to research success
Researchers, you are incredible, passionate and smart. You need to be heard so that you can educate, and you want to be heard so that you can gain recognition for your efforts. But there is a black cloud approaching, we have increasing numbers of PhD students, of which 1 in 10 will remain in research after graduation, diminishing government funding, and increased emphasis on innovation and industry funded research.
Empathy for impact
Using empathy to understand and serve the people who will use your research lies at the heart of creating impact that is truly needed.
Research Translation
Crowdsourcing for knowledge translation
What is crowdsourcing? Crowdsourcing, also referred to as citizen science and open innovation, is the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by outsourcing tasks to the wider public. The tasks can be done online and are sometimes paid. The benefit of crowdsourcing is that the more people that are working on a task, the faster and more varied results you will get.
Crowdfunding – getting $ for research
There is a growing number of researchers and research projects bidding for funding from limited government funds which has led to a lot of discussion around alternative funding for research projects. Some have sought greater funding through philanthropy sectors and corporate partnerships, whilst others are moving toward crowdfunding.
Context considerations for research partnerships
KT is a social process with its foundations in the strength of its relationships. To be successful in KT, and ultimately in creating impact, we need to explore and implement the knowledge that comes from our partners through knowledge of lived experiences, organisations, service delivery and so on, to understand and appreciate the context.
Communication preferences for successful knowledge translation
People with good connections still have difficulty in engaging those connections or stakeholders when it comes down to disseminating or translating their findings into something that can be used.
Australian Research Funding – Three key things
Change is happening, like it or not! The good thing is that you can get involved and have your say, and there are plenty of opportunities to prepare yourself for likely changes.
Research Impact
Overcoming the Research Translation Challenge in Australia
I was interested to read the six challenges facing Australia’s medical research sector in The Conversation, outlined by outgoing CEO of the NHMRC, Professor Warwick Anderson. The challenge that was raised around research translation stuck a chord with me and I would like to share my thoughts and insights with you here.
Modern day researchers
Times are changing, we are constantly hearing that there is less money in research grants, greater expectations on the researchers time, and greater and easier access to information by both knowledge producers and knowledge users (i.e. internet and open access). The way we want to consume our information has also changed and that affects the way in which information should be conveyed or presented.
Making sense of translation in health research
It feels like translation is the new buzz word in research, or at least that’s how it could be taken in the Australian context. Over the last couple of years and particularly the last 12 months, the term ‘translation” has been thrown into everything in an effort to show that researchers and research funders are involved in making a difference to the lives of the public, who ultimately fund the research.
Is KT the key to reducing research waste?
In 2004 the Lancet published a series of papers about wastage in medical research. The findings of the series estimated that 85% of research is wasted. The wastage was highlighted across 4 stages of research.
Are you feeling uncomfortable?
Being comfortable being uncomfortable – a phrase I have heard a lot lately and that really resonates with me. There are many areas of our lives that this statement applies to.
Empathy for impact
Using empathy to understand and serve the people who will use your research lies at the heart of creating impact that is truly needed.
Funding
Crowdfunding – getting $ for research
There is a growing number of researchers and research projects bidding for funding from limited government funds which has led to a lot of discussion around alternative funding for research projects. Some have sought greater funding through philanthropy sectors and corporate partnerships, whilst others are moving toward crowdfunding.
Australian Research Funding – Three key things
Change is happening, like it or not! The good thing is that you can get involved and have your say, and there are plenty of opportunities to prepare yourself for likely changes.
3 tips to surviving the grant writing process
As you begin to prepare yourself for the upcoming grant writing season, consider the recent survey of 195 academics, by Ted and Courtney von Hippel, which found the average proposal takes a principal investigator 116 hours (see publication). It’s no wonder that the grant writing process is loathed by many researchers, as it costs them over 100 hours lost time from their ongoing work, all for a success rate as low as 15%.
Social media
Become a #connectedacademic – Social Media for Researchers
Although some of the academic world has taken up and embraced social media and other online platforms, as an enhancement to academic pursuits, there are still many researchers that are skeptical about social media or unable to see the benefit of spending their valuable time partaking in online activities. However, there is increasing evidence of the value that social media can add to the academic portfolio.