Preface

This book is based on a series of 20 workshops developed by Jane Langdale in 2005 for postdocs in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford. The topics were subsequently extended by Barbara Gabrys to cover other disciplines in the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division at Oxford. The motivation for the workshops and for the book, stemmed from a desire to help postdocs gain a thorough understanding of what being a successful academic entails, and to provide a set of tools to help them achieve that goal. The book can also act as a foundation for others who wish to run their own series of workshops – in each chapter we give an example of how we cover the topic.

We have written the book primarily in the context of the UK higher education sector. However, much of the content is equally applicable elsewhere. The main differences relate to the titles of the various academic jobs in different countries rather than to the expectations of what those jobs entail. Specifically – ‘Lecturer’ in the UK is equivalent to ‘Assistant Professor’ elsewhere; ‘probation’ is equivalent to ‘tenure-track’; and ‘Head of Department’ is equivalent to ‘Chair of Department’ (although Heads normally line manage academic staff whereas Chairs do not). Wherever possible we have used the more universal term Principal Investigator (PI) in order to avoid confusion.

The theory

In what follows we assume that you are looking for your first permanent or tenure-track academic post. In the UK this would be Lecturer, in the US Assistant Professor. There are two ways of getting such a post: either by internal promotion or by applying for an advertised post. As the latter case is more typical, we focus on it here.

As there are not many academic jobs available at any given time, the competition for them is fierce – as many as 100 people can apply for each post. Therefore, you will probably need to write several application letters before you get invited for an interview and you may only get a job offer after several interviews. In order to increase your chances of success you need to search widely, do a lot of preparation and planning and hone your interview skills. Interviewing is a communication process centred on talking and listening. It is different from a conversation as an interview is structured. Traditionally, it is conducted face-to-face, but nowadays people can be interviewed by telephone or via a video-link. While statements of factual knowledge and information on a candidate’s attitudes and beliefs can be gathered in all three types of interview, a telephone interview misses non-verbal messages. In this sense both you and the interview panel lose important information.

The theory

It should be evident from the preceding chapters that a successful career in the sciences is based on several habits as defined by Covey (2004). It is not fashionable to talk about mission and vision, but all successful people have that – it drives their choices, and is supported by doing first things first. Further career enhancement often comes through working synergistically with others. If asked what contributed to their standing in the scientific community, many would say it was luck – they were in the right place at the right time. However, luck is a combination of preparedness and opportunity – if you are not prepared when an opportunity arises, or if you fail to spot an opportunity – you will be unlucky.

We could make a long list of the attributes that successful scientists have. But it seems that there is one characteristic common to many – having established themselves, they feel a bit restless in their mid-40s and look for other outlets for their energy. It is likely that their research is running smoothly, they are accomplished teachers and they can cope with their administrative load. So how can they direct their ‘spare’ time and energy into something different?

Becoming an independent researcher

The theory

The etymology of the word mentor goes back to ancient Greek. Mentor looked after young Telemachus, son of Odysseus, when the latter was away fighting the Trojan war. According to mythology, the goddess Athena impersonated Mentor when the going got tough. Over the centuries a mentor came to signify somebody experienced who takes a kind interest in a less experienced person, offering guidance and support.

In the web of learning, where does mentoring belong? There are four distinct ways of helping others to learn – by being a teacher, tutor, coach or mentor. The teacher–pupil relationship is distant and is dominated by the teacher providing explicit information to the pupil. In the tutor–student relationship, the student goes beyond the given facts and hones his or her understanding through discussion, whereas in coaching, knowledge is transferred through demonstration and feedback to the learner. Mentoring differs from all of the other forms in that learning is less tangible – intuitive knowledge and wisdom are transferred in an environment of encouragement and stimulation. Wisdom here means the ability to apply accumulated knowledge and skills to a new situation (Clutterbuck, 2004).

The theory

The state of education in any country is intimately linked to that country’s history and to the national perception of how useful an education is for making a living. In the UK this picture is complicated as the education system is devolved: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own governance and funding systems. In all four sectors, however, over 80% of the funding for teaching and research comes from the public purse. In England, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) funds 130 Universities and 124 Further Education Colleges (with a 2010–11 budget of £6.5 billion provided by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills). The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) supports 16 Universities and four Higher Education Institutions (collectively known as the university sector) plus 43 Colleges, with a budget of more than £1.7 billion per annum. In Wales, 11 Universities and a number of Further Education Colleges are funded by the Higher Education Founding Council for Wales (Cyngor Cyllido Addysg Uwch Cymru) to the tune of more than £440 million. Seven Irish universities, 14 Institutes of Technology, 9 Colleges of Education, and a few other Higher-education Institutions are funded by the Department for Employment and Learning with a current annual budget of around £500 million.

The amount of public funding available for higher education varies (sometimes drastically) depending on the economic climate and on government policy. Despite this volatility, universities are expected to maintain both their constituencies and the consistency of their research, teaching and learning. Some of the differential between the sum required to run an institution and the funding received from government funding agencies (either through direct grants or research grants) thus has to be met by grants from industry and charities; by endowments and by income from student fees. According to data collected by the Higher Education Statistics Agency there were over 180 000 academic and 205 000 non-academic staff employed in the UK HE sector in 2009–10, and over 2.4 million students were registered.

The theory

All projects have a beginning, a middle and an end, with stages that can be classified as in Fig. 6.1.

Notably, project outcomes are never written in stone – they are anticipated at the start of the project but are often modified as the project progresses. This is accepted as an inherent property of every project, a property that emphasises the need for flexibility at the detailed planning stage, and for monitoring and control throughout. This is true both for scientific and generic projects.

The theory

Explaining your research to your peers, funding councils, other stakeholders and the general public is a professional necessity. Unfortunately, however, scientists do not enjoy the best reputation as communicators even when giving a research talk aimed at their peers. There are plenty of books and websites giving advice on how to use packages such as PowerPoint, how to decide about the content of a presentation or how to keep the audience interested using multimedia (Meredith, 2010). These sources will tell you how to improve your performance, to keep to time and to deal with the questions during the talk or after it. This is all very useful and important but we think that the key to a successful presentation is your engagement with your subject and your audience.

If you go to a live performance by famous musicians, you might notice something – invariably the music speaks through them, their bodies and instruments. The best ones are no longer there in some sense; they are lost, immersed; they channel the music. They are not preoccupied with how they look or what the audience thinks about their performance – the only thing that counts is living the music – becoming the music. Much the same can be said about a research talk, no matter what the subject is. The best speakers we have heard were ‘hardly there’ – all that counted was their subject; they were the subject.

The theory

Not everybody is both a gifted researcher and a good teacher; however, anyone can improve their teaching skills. Teaching presents complexity in its own right – it takes time and effort even to do it badly. Whereas bad teaching can put students off a subject for life, good teaching can help students improve their understanding of a subject and enable them to apply abstract principles to real problems. So, it helps to understand how students learn. In the last four decades, a lot of educational research has been carried out in this area (Ramsden, 2003). A good course should enable students to increase their knowledge of a subject to the extent that it ultimately changes their understanding of the world around them. Acceptance of this definition requires both a method to test this ‘understanding’ and a quantitative measure of what ‘understanding’ means in the context of a given course.

A summary of how students learn is shown in Box 16.1.

Thriving in your new job

Managing your career

The theory

Giving lectures is the mainstay of an academic profession – in the UK the most junior long-term or permanent position is ‘lecturer’. In Chapters 16 and 17 we discussed how to design, prepare and deliver lectures whereas in this chapter we turn our attention to other methods that can bring about effective learning. It is important to remember that a sound teaching strategy is more important than the delivery method (Ramsden, 2003). The assumption that a method, particularly a technologically advanced one, is the key to effective learning is false.

Small group teaching

Somewhat simplistically there is a basic difference between lecturing and teaching a small class: in the former the lecturer speaks ex cathedra and there is often a physical distance between the lecturer and the audience. If, in addition, there are 200 students or so, opportunities for interaction (asking questions, for example) are rather limited. Although it is not impossible, attempting to interact with a large audience is not for the shy as controlling the situation takes some experience. In class-based teaching, however, the lecturer is more approachable and even the room setting can encourage closer teacher–student interaction, and peer learning through work in small groups.

The theory

Everybody knows that, in order to live a healthy long life, a balanced diet and regular exercise (both physical and mental) are essential. This recognition goes back to antiquity; the maxim Mens sana in corpore sano (a sound mind in a sound body) has been a favourite of many different people and organisations. Whilst there is a wealth of medical research published in medical journals, and some results have made it to the popular press, it would be irresponsible of us to recommend any particular exercise regime or any particular diet above others. The reason is simple – both have to be considered in the context of everything else in an individual’s life. However, what is easily condoned is the idea that, to be in peak condition, you have to take time out of work on a regular basis – to look after your body and the mental, spiritual and emotional aspects of your mind. In effect, this is the best way to ensure that pressure (which can be motivating) does not become excessive and develop into stress.

The recreation and renewal of mind in order to be effective is acknowledged by Covey as the seventh habit of highly effective people (see Chapter 1). However, whereas Covey considers four distinct ways to refresh your mind – physical, mental, social/emotional and spiritual – we see them as interlinked. Moreover, there is no reason for classification – for some people baking a cake to share with others can be a spiritual activity whereas for others it is simply a gastronomic pleasure.

The theory

If you are reading these words now, the chances are that you have become aware of the need to manage your time or have decided that your current system does not quite deliver. Time management theory has evolved over the years through first, second, third and now fourth generations – each generation seemingly improving on those that came before. In a nutshell, the first generation approach aims to bring order into chaos through organisation, and is epitomised by the use of ‘to do’ tools. In contrast, the second generation centres on the protection of personal time in order to be effective and is about planning and preparation, whereas the third generation focuses on prioritising goals. Perhaps not surprisingly, the fourth generation encompasses all of this and aims to harmonise personal and professional aims. Objectives are set through deep questioning and reflection, and are realised through the pragmatic use of time management tools such as weekly scheduling. Among the sources of fourth generation advice on how to cope with the increasing demands of work and the hectic pace of life are the books authored and co-authored by Stephen Covey. Here, we refer to and make use of his ‘principle-based’ framework (Covey et al., 1994). According to his philosophy, short- and long-term goals can be achieved by developing independence and interdependence, respectively. Crucially, both are based on sound principles – life-long personal development and successful delegation where appropriate.

Habits

Covey lays the foundations for his theories in his book entitled The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (Covey, 2004). Here, he describes the attributes and actions of effective, successful people. His definition of habits is an unusual one: a habit is an intersection of knowledge, skill and desire. In this framework, knowledge is what and why to do; skill is how to do; and desire is the motivation, or the want to do (Covey, 2004). Importantly, while you can teach skills and acquire knowledge, you cannot teach desire – you either have it or have to discover that you have it.

The theory

Doing science, reporting discoveries and communicating the importance of our activities exposes us to criticism from various sources. It can be peer review of a paper submitted to a prestigious journal; a referee’s report on a grant application; aggressive questioning from a member of the public during an outreach lecture; or a scathing article in the popular press. To be successful as a scientist, you need to handle criticism with confidence and grace, yet nobody likes to be criticised, least of all publicly. Some psychological studies argue that, when we are criticised, our response is of the ‘fight or flight’ type. It is accompanied by physical feelings of discomfort, anger or aggression, in any ratio depending on our personality, and often our response is not a measured one. If you have ever witnessed two rival scientists hotly arguing after a conference presentation, you know what we are talking about. Some understanding of the nature of a scientist – a subject explored by both sociology and psychology (Mahoney, 1979) – may help put this scenario in perspective. Apparently, we have a very idealistic view of what a scientist should be: objective, rational, open-minded, having superior intelligence, integrity and communality (sharing results with others). This view sets our expectations of behaviour, and if the reality turns out to be different, we are likely to be disappointed. The nature of the scientist delivering the criticism – a human factor – will thus influence both your perception of the criticism and your way of dealing with it.

The practice

Dealing with criticism is a skill that can be developed and as with any lasting skill must be practiced frequently. So seek it – start with people you trust, those who understand your work and your formal or informal mentor. Have you got data that you think would make a Nature paper? Put it together and ask somebody who has published there whether they think it is good enough. Accept the advice given; work on writing a paper or collecting more data and have another go, this time asking more people. Ideally, they should be outside your field if your ambition is to inform a broad readership. Having gone through this process, by the time you are ready to submit your paper, you will be reasonably certain of the quality of your work. You will also have practised arguments and counter-arguments and possibly improved your original idea as well. Being proactive in seeking criticism also helps you to detach yourself from feeling personally criticised: it is not that you are stupid, but that your data are not watertight.

The theory

Everybody recognises good teaching intuitively, and its qualifying characteristics have been confirmed by educational research. In words attributed to Richard Feynman, one of the greatest physicists and a gifted teacher: ‘There are two types of scientists – one says look how clever I am and the other says look how simple it is’ (Leighton & Feynman, 1992). Obviously, the latter has a much better chance of engaging students. Such an attitude reflects the teacher’s enthusiasm for the subject, and also a willingness to work hard to make the subject matter accessible. But how does this teaching attitude translate into effective lecturing?

Since the Middle Ages, lecturing has been one of the principal methods of ‘knowledge transfer’ to students at universities (Bligh, 1998). Its prominent place in mathematical, physical and life sciences is implicitly acknowledged and it is seen as the core method, to be complemented by tutorials, classes, laboratories and fieldwork where appropriate. But what is the purpose of a lecture? Lectures are most effective when they are used to deliver new information, provide an overview of a subject or to weave together several ideas from different sources. A more mundane use is to explain key concepts in detail or to guide students through detailed calculations.