An example of a mid-career researcher. The second example is a mid-career researcher, who is quite stretched across a wider range of activities – let’s call this hypothetical colleage Chris. Chris is committed to a range of research projects – as PI on a small grant, and Co-I on two collaborative grants. They are active in a range of outputs and dissemination, including through social media and public events, and engaging with users. On top of all of this activity, Chris is co-editor of a journal, and co-director of a research centre, and they lead a section in a professional studies association. Clearly, Chris is highly able and very much in demand across a range of activities – but they are very thinly stretched, and may well be feeling overwhelmed, especially as they are also likely to be engaged in teaching. The Tool would provide an opportunity for Chris to sit down with their mentor and reflect on what their longer-term career goals are, and what they might need to focus on – and give up. For example, it might be time to pass on the role in the journal and/or centre to another colleague, and focus on completing the projects, or the outputs or impact emanating from this. Perhaps Chris would like to lead their own major grant, so it would be important to cut down on other activities to provide the time and space to work up a proposal. View and download a blank version of the Research Careers Tool | PDF This article was published on 2022-11-17
