Fundermentals Top Ten of 2017

As we stumble towards the end of 2017, our heads spinning with fake news and fake news about fake news, it's time to look back and think: well, we've got Trump and May, but at least Fundermentals is still doing lookalikes.

Yes, readers, the world may be a bizarre place at the moment but there are certain things you can rely on. And so, as 2017 shudders to a halt, we take a look back at what's tickled your fancy in the year of covfefe.

'The Productive Researcher' by Prof Mark Reed: a Review

Prof Mark Reed

One of the most common reasons that academics give for not applying for grants is a lack of time. Buffeted and battered between the thousand competing demands of modern academia, grant writing always seems to come a poor 562nd.

And yet some manage it. It’s this mystery that Prof Mark Reed sought to resolve in his new book, The Productive Researcher. To do so, he ‘reached out to the world’s most productive researchers...and asked them how they did what they do. Their answers and the answers that emerged from my reading, both confirmed and extended my thinking.’

At this point I can picture many of you arching an eyebrow and imagining that the answer lies with teams of postdocs and some very understanding spouses. But for Reed it’s both far simpler and far harder. For him it is, as it was for TS Eliot in ‘Little Gidding’, ‘a condition of complete simplicity (costing not less than everything).’

Because the productive researcher needs to strip everything back to their prime motivating force. Why did they started in academia in the first place? It is only ‘by understanding why - really why - you are a researcher [that] you can become increasingly aware of the motives that lie behind your motives.’  And only when you understand these can you start to properly prioritise your workload.

How to Write a 4* Article

Prof Mark Reed

Last week Prof Mark Reed, Professor of Socio-Technical Innovation at Newcastle University and the man behind Fast Track Impact, tweeted some thoughts on how to write a 4* paper for the REF. Here he explains his thinking in more detail.

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How do you write a 4* paper for the Research Excellence Framework (REF)? It is a question I’ve asked myself with some urgency since the Stern Review shredded my REF submission by not allowing me to bring my papers with me this year to my new position at Newcastle University.

Obviously the answer is going to differ depending on your discipline, but I think there are a few simple things that everyone can do to maximize their chances of getting a top graded research output.

Simplifying Impact: a Review of Mark Reed's 'Research Impact Handbook'

When Prof Mark Reed came and did an impact workshop at the University recently, the transformative effect he had on the audience was wonderful to behold. I could almost see eyes lighting up and weights being lifted as he spoke. To many, ‘impact’ is an intimidating mountain they have been asked to climb, and a considerable number don’t feel that they have the necessary tools or map to do so. Reed was like an experienced guide at basecamp, handing out the crampons, the rope and the carabiners, sketching out the best route to the top, and then stepping back with arms thrown wide, inviting them to take the first steps. 

This books offers up the same approachable, practical level of support. Reed starts by recognising that it’s not the academics’ fault that they don’t immediately ‘get’ impact. ‘We have been trained how to do research, not how to generate impact,’ he begins. ‘This means many of us feel unprepared and out of our depth when we think about working with people who might be interested in our research. It is hard to know where to start.’