Thursday 5 May 2016

Thing 21, 22 and 23 - The Future ... ?



In terms of my career as a researcher, I personally see myself in more of a management role for research teams. Largely due to my organisation skills and a compulsive need to stick to deadlines. But, I will not rule out the importance of having the practical skills and expertise, so will likely have a stint abroad conducting research in fields that appeal to me at that time, before settling in a desired career path. This is all just in the pipeline and nothing set in stone so will not rule out any fantastic opportunities at home, the University or QinetiQ if presented to me.

Having a look through “Research Professional”, I came to the conclusion it is like being a freelance doctor searching for your next contract. Among offering various funding opportunities for long term research focus, it offers opportunities to speak at events and fund travel to conferences. Being a self-reliant researcher requires you to be funded and there is no easier way to fund your work than with someone else’s money. By just having these opportunities open, it will push you to strive for these awards and to want to be seen globally to hopefully propel you further in your future career.
Do I need a website? Currently, no. But in the future a definitive, yes. A website will require a lot of continual work to keep it fresh and up to date. With the level of work during the EngD I do not see it feasible to develop new content, with the only thing of note worth publishing being my results which will be kept on a “need-to know” basis among supervisors and sponsors. But, once the EngD is complete I will have 4 years worth of content including papers, key conferences, noteworthy results and maybe even a few videos. This will be key for my future employment, as being able to give employers or heads of research funds an online CV of me as a researcher to digest in 10 minutes of their own time instead of stumbling in an interview when asked a simple question regarding my research.

Overall, the 23 things programme has been fantastic in updating my current presence on and offline while showing me other avenues a researcher should be heading down. From the programme I will continue to add to my blog updating when attending conferences, key milestones in my research and just general natter about how my experiments will most likely backfire, such is the life of a researcher! I will definitely recommend 23 things to other students and have found it a most excellent programme.


.CJ*