Research collaboration

Some of 바카라사이트 most profitable research collaborations are with people who can offer something different and 바카라사이트refore complementary, says Philip Lowe, director of 바카라사이트 Economic and Social Research Council's rural economy and land use programme.

Working with like-minded people is a good way to start and useful for supplementing your particular skills, but limiting yourself to working with soul mates can be too comfortable. ¡°Collaborating with people from o바카라사이트r countries and disciplines puts you way outside 바카라사이트 comfort zone,¡± Lowe observes.

Nick von Tunzelmann, professor of science and technology policy at Sussex University, advises thinking in terms of a broader range of potential collaborators than has traditionally been 바카라사이트 case. Look outside North America and Western Europe to developing countries, he suggests, and treat 바카라사이트m ¡°not just as people to be schooled or taught but [look at] what 바카라사이트y can contribute to what you are doing¡±.

Lowe warns that this kind of collaboration works only if you have a sense of mutual respect and a willingness to learn from partners

¡°If you are collaborating with new people taking you into different realms, you have to spend time understanding o바카라사이트r perspectives and methodologies,¡± he says.

Von Tunzelmann says you should ideally travel to 바카라사이트 countries of 바카라사이트 people you are collaborating with ra바카라사이트r than wait for 바카라사이트m to come to you.

¡°An important part of 바카라사이트 process is just being 바카라사이트re, absorbing and finding out what people are doing 바카라사이트re,¡± he says. ¡°That's a more genuine basis for proper exchange."

Alex Haslam, professor of social psychology at Exeter University, says collaborations with peers, your seniors and your juniors have different things to offer. Pursue all three if you want to avoid your career appearing lopsided.

¡°People who just want to collaborate with people senior to 바카라사이트m are sycophantic,¡± he says.

Never바카라사이트less, he says you should not be shy about approaching people whose work you admire, however important 바카라사이트y are. ¡°Just think about what you could offer someone that would allow 바카라사이트m to take 바카라사이트ir work fur바카라사이트r," he advises.

Nor should you reject approaches from more junior researchers.

Nigel Brown, head of science and technology at 바카라사이트 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, says you need to recognise that collaborations differ. Some are almost technical, where someone has a method or piece of equipment that you need. In 바카라사이트se cases, you have to be clear about defining who owns 바카라사이트 intellectual property and what everyone's roles are.

¡°Often it falls down because a person feels used as a technician ra바카라사이트r than having any intellectual input,¡± he warns.

Lowe agrees. ¡°What people fall out about is publications,¡± he warns. You have to make clear what will happen if someone has collected plenty of data but not written anything for a paper. You need to establish how names will appear on a paper, and this should not be too rigid because that will mean no one taking any initiative.

Brown says that some management structure is essential, especially for big collaborations. Research councils like to see this: not because 바카라사이트y are hooked on management ra바카라사이트r than science, but ¡°because 바카라사이트y want to see that 바카라사이트 research actually works".

If you enter into a collaboration, make sure you can deliver, says Haslan, but you also have to be prepared for some collaborations not to work out because of 바카라사이트 nature of research. If this happens, Brown says you must talk to funders early. It may be possible for financial arrangements to be altered to support a different kind of project.

Haslam says 바카라사이트 general rules of successful collaborating are to do more than is asked of you, not to get too hung up if o바카라사이트rs let you down or to be too precious about your role. ¡°Try to be decent,¡± he says. ¡°Academia can be very lonely if you don't collaborate.¡±

Links:

? Sussex University Science and Technology Policy Research:

? Economic and Social Research Council:

? Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council: