CHARTING A COURSE FOR A SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH CAREER

This is a guide about planning a career in science as a researcher. Whatever you do, you must make choices about the paths you take made on informed decisions. No longer is it competitive to have a Ph.D. and let your research career “drift” based on what comes along. You must be proactive rather than reactive in how you approach your research career. In fact, even those of you who may decide to focus more on teaching, community service or commercial outcomes in research should also use a plan for those areas as well. Perhaps the first stage in formulating a plan for your re search career is to ask yourself where you want to be in 5, 10 or 15 years. Do you wish to stay in the type of organisation and research area you are in now and advance your activity in this area? Do you wish to gain entry into another type of academic or commercial organisation? Or do you wish to change research fields? These are major decisions. They are within your control, but only you can decide what you want to do. Your research plan and your goals need to be optimistic and challenging but they must be realistic too. The research environment is extremely competitive internationally and while success should be attainable by everyone, and certainly having a plan for your research career will bring you closer to your goals and success, it is important that your goals are achievable.