Category: Collaborations

Lifehacker posts about two articles on networking for those that hate it (I definitely count myself in this category - see my previous post). When I started out in an academic career, I never realised how much networking would be involved - perhaps the stereotype of the isolated, introverted scientist was at the back of my mind.

In retrospect it’s obvious why researchers need to network - most projects involve collaboration. I think this is likely to be true of most fields - it’s certainly true of mine. Interesting and worthwhile projects are likely to require people with different skills, which often means people from different fields. The nature of academic research is such that you’re always in the process of planning your next project, and someone else’s input could be the factor that makes it happen.

I’m not going to say much about the articles themselves (one at yahoo finance, one at businesspundit), save to say that different things work for different people - if any particular piece of advice strikes a chord with you, then go with it. For me, the most important things to realise have been that

• academic types are usually friendly and
• they love to talk about their work

both of which make networking much easier.

An interesting question posted at Ask Metafilter on how to brainstorm successfully. A lot of the advice could be applied to any sort of collaboration, including those that you might carry out during a PhD project. Among the most relevant replies:

• Take notes in order to make sure that any good ideas are permanently recorded
• Identify the gaps in your skillset to head off future problems
• Where possible, illustrate your ideas visually - this is important in order to make sure that everyone understands the complicated ideas that are being put forward (see misunderstanding versus disagreement)
• Break a large project up into manageable chunks, and set lots of intermediate goals

Guy Kawasaki has written an article with practical advice for networking that would be useful to a lot of PhD students. Despite the title (”The art of schmoozing”) and the business-centric viewpoint, a lot of the advice is very relevant for academics. Networking is a part of research life that many PhD students (myself included!) have struggled with; but it’s essential to build relationships with people in your field. If, like me, you don’t find that networking comes naturally, it’s important to view it as just another skill that you have to pick up.