Jack and the annual review process

Are you following jobs.ac.uk‘s PhD Vloggers?  The most recent installment catches up with Jack Donaghy, just reaching the end of his 1st year as a PhD student in Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow.

Spotlight on the RDF: “Appropriate practice”

In this series of “Spotlight on…” posts, we’ll be delving into the detail of the descriptors in Vitae‘s Researcher Development Framework (RDF).  Each one of the sixty-three descriptors is a characteristic of an excellent researcher, and we’ll be looking at how UoB PGRs can develop these characteristics.

The RDF  descriptor “appropriate practice” is one which is easier to define through its opposite:  academic malpractice is any activity – intentional or not – that is likely to undermine the integrity essential to scholarship and research.  Examples of academic malpractice include plagiarism and falsification/fabrication of results. 

What are you going to do today?

Sometimes old-school pen and paper does the job best.  Sometimes technology really does do something better.  Most of the time, it’s down to personal preference and how the tools fit with your workflow.

Image credit: Adam Diaz

A “To Do” list can be a few scribbled notes on a Post-It, or a detailed project plan.  It can be used just to help you with today, this week, or months and years.  The key advantage of a “To Do” list is that you no longer have to spend mental energy keeping track of what you have to do, which David Allen of Getting Things Done notes will free you up to think and be creative.

There’s no single right way to keep a “To Do” list, and, to be honest, they’re not for everyone.  If you think you’re a list person, there are hundreds of ways to do it, so you’re sure to find a way that works for you. 

Should Cindarella apply for research funding?

Image credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Over on her excellent blog, patter, Pat Thomson shares what she’s learned about applying for research funding from her last five years directing a research development centre for the Arts and Social Sciences.  She gives a great summary of the right and wrong ways to respond to a call for bids.

For researchers who already work on this agenda, this kind of call is a god send… The funding shoe fits.

[…]

The problem comes when a researcher or research team sees the call and decides to try to make their research fit into it… – they simply try to shoehorn themselves and their work into the call.

Read the whole post: beware the shoehorn – #researchfunding

What are your experiences of responding to a call for bids?  Have you been successful in obtaining funding?  Share your thoughts below.