Research Career Research Articles

Achieving gender equity in academic psychiatry - barriers to involvement and solutions for success.

Women face considerable barriers in pursuing careers in academic psychiatry. A group of Australian and New Zealand academic women psychiatrists convened in September 2022 to identify and propose solutions to increase opportunities for women in academic psychiatry. Limiting factors were identified in pathways to academia including financial support, engagement and coordination between academia and clinical services, and flexible working conditions. Gender biases and the risk of burnout were additional and fundamental barriers. Potential solutions include offering advanced training certificates to enable trainees to commence a PhD and Fellowship contemporaneously; improved financial support; expanding opportunities for research involvement; establishing mentoring opportunities and communities of practice; and strategies to enhance safety at work and redress gender bias and imbalance in academia. Support for women in research careers will decrease gender disparity in academic psychiatry and may decrease problematic gender bias in research. Fellows and trainees, the RANZCP, universities, research institutes, governments, industry and health services should collaborate to develop and implement policies supporting changes in working conditions and training. Facilitating the entry and retention of women to careers in academic psychiatry requires mentoring and development of a community of practice to provide and enable support, role modelling, and inspiration.

From the lab to a career in education research

From the lab to a career in education research

BRUSH Summer Research Program: Promoting Science Identity in Underrepresented Veterinary and Undergraduate Students.

While all facets of the health care workforce need to diversify, the veterinary profession lags behind in training students from underrepresented populations. The need to increase diversity among health care professionals is not limited to clinicians but extends to those generating new information through biomedical research. To address demographic disparities within the biomedical research community, we provide a summer research program for veterinary and undergraduate students from populations historically underrepresented in the biomedical workforce that is explicitly designed to foster science identity and subsequently increase participants' interest and success in pursuing biomedical research-related educational and career paths. We hypothesized that participation in this program would enhance science identity, confidence, and pursuit of research-related education and subsequent careers. Three validated survey instruments containing qualitative ordered rating scales were administered to program participants (N = 57) over the course of the summer in which they participated (2018-2022). Questions asked at two time points were analyzed with a repeated-measures linear mixed-effects model. Significant growth was reported in most topics surveyed over time. Many queries within gains, confidence, and science identity modules displayed significant increases over time or scored high in surveys at both time points. In addition, post-graduate educational and career outcomes were obtained for alumni (N = 130) of program years 2011-2023; their post-graduate enrollment rates (78%) markedly exceeded national norms. This multidimensional experiential research program, which holistically fosters professional networking and student confidence in research-related endeavors, provides quantifiable growth in research skills and science identity. These gains support students' persistence in research and biomedical-related educational and career paths.

Education Challenges Among Early Career Researchers in Medical Informatics.

There is limited knowledge about early career researchers' challenges when studying the interdisciplinary field of Medical Informatics (MI). We conducted a qualitative content analysis through semi-structured interviews with early career researchers in MI, including individuals pursuing Master's, PhD, and postdoctoral research programmes, across two higher education institutions in the UK. We identified five challenges, including understanding biological jargon, interpreting biological data, interdisciplinary communication, understanding mathematical/statistical concepts, and programming difficulties. These insights and suggested actions to address those challenges can help to improve MI education.

Evaluation of a Multi-Site Cancer Health Disparities Research Training Program for Underrepresented Undergraduate and Medical Students.

Diversifying the biomedical research workforce is crucial for eliminating cancer health disparities. To address this need, Moffitt Cancer Center and Louisiana State University Health Sciences formed the Southeast Partnership for Improving Research and Training in Cancer Health Disparities (SPIRIT-CHD). A key component of SPIRIT-CHD is the Cancer Research Education Program (CREP), designed to train underrepresented undergraduate and medical students in biomedical science research. The CREP featured an 8-week summer internship with a web-based curriculum, community outreach, and mentored research experiences. Three cohorts (n = 39) completed the CREP. Students were evaluated before and after the internship using the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS), Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI), and Research Appraisal Inventory (RAI), modified to assess CREP outcomes. These scales measured students' intentions to pursue cancer research careers, self-efficacy in communicating scientific information, and perceived research abilities. Paired test results showed significant increases (p < 0.001) in scores across the scales (GAS, STEBI, RAI) pre- and post-training. Trainees reported heightened intentions to pursue cancer research careers (GAS; mean increase of 5.3, p < 0.001) and greater self-efficacy in relaying scientific information (STEBI; mean increase of 9.2, p < 0.001). They also showed increased self-confidence in conducting research (RAI; mean increase of 58.2, p < 0.001). These findings demonstrate the program's success in fostering interest in cancer research careers and enhancing research confidence. Results support the development of programs like CREP to positively impact the academic and professional trajectories of underrepresented students, ultimately creating a more diverse and inclusive biomedical research workforce equipped to address health disparities.

Albert Alan Townsend. 22 January 1917 — 31 August 2010

Alan Townsend is renowned for his significant contributions to understanding turbulence. He began his research career studying nuclear physics but this was disrupted by the Second World War, after which his focus shifted to the study of turbulent fluid flow. Collaborating with George Batchelor (FRS 1957), Townsend conducted pioneering experiments that uncovered the spatially intermittent nature of small-scale turbulence, profoundly shaping subsequent theoretical advances. He further shaped the field by pioneering an approach highlighting the importance of eddies, localized regions of coherent or well-ordered motion within turbulent flows. His work distinguished the eddies underlying different classes of flow, particularly turbulence in open flows, free from solid boundaries, such as jets and wakes, and flows near such boundaries, such as flow over an aeroplane or ship or within a pipe or channel. A significant seminal contribution was his attached eddy hypothesis, which provides the basis of a model for how eddies in surface-bounded flows exert control over the transport of momentum, energy and other properties within the flow. The enduring relevance of this work resonates through contemporary research, challenging established paradigms and guiding ongoing research endeavours across the globe.

Sir David R. Cox. 15 July 1924—18 January 2022

David Cox was the leading statistical scientist of his generation and had an extraordinary influence on the field. His research career spanned some 75 years and 386 published works, with several drafts in preparation at the time of his death. He was held in extremely high regard by the community of scholars for his seminal contributions to scholarship, his enthusiasm for science and his generosity of intellect. One obituary called him a ‘rock star’ of the statistical world, and in spite of the hyperbole the description is apt. His work was very broad; he made influential contributions to the fields of experimental design, stochastic processes, statistical methodology, foundations of inference, statistics in medicine and public health, and more. His 23 published books continue to be key references for students and researchers. His most widely cited paper ( J. R. Stat. Soc. B 34 , 187–220 (1972)) introduced what is now called the Cox model for the analysis of survival data; this was included in Nature ’s list of the top 100 cited scientific papers of all time. He received many accolades, including the Copley Medal (2010) and the inaugural International Prize in Statistics (2016).

Indigenous Early Career Researcher’s Perspectives of ‘safe spaces’’ in Higher Education

The Developing Indigenous Early Career Researchers Project is a three-year longitudinal study funded by the Australian Research Council that ran from January 2020 to December 2022. Its main focus was to investigate the experiences and perspectives of Indigenous Early Career Researchers working in universities across Australia. This article presents four main attributes identified by Indigenous Early Career Researchers as necessary to creating culturally safe spaces in Australian universities. These attributes include, safe to: (a) be Indigenous; (b) seek advice and make mistakes; (c) speak openly; and (d) trust. The successful implementation of these attributes requires institutional support and commitment in the form of relevant higher education policies and practices. Importantly, an overarching perspective of this article is that effective implementation of culturally safe spaces for Indigenous Early Career Researchers requires a significant shift in institutional discourse from the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples and Knowledges to recognising Indigenous Peoples as sovereign.

Information ecosystems in early academic career building: how do researchers in the social sciences and humanities learn the tricks of the trade?

Early career investigators (ECIs) in the Social Sciences and Humanities need to receive adequate information so that they will be empowered to progress in their academic career and deal with the various evaluation processes that constitute an essential part of their professional development. This article relies on an informational-ecosystemic approach originally developed in the context of resilience studies and crisis communication and uses it as a theoretical framework to analyse and understand the “early academic career building information ecosystems” (EACBIEs), into which ECIs professionally develop. The characteristics of these ecosystems are then refined through the analysis of interviews conducted with ECIs from all around Europe in the framework of the European Network for Research Evaluation in Social Sciences and Humanities (ENRESSH), European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action. The analysis reveals the remarkable heterogeneity of the information ecosystems into which early career researchers have to build their career in Europe, articulating a diversity of formal, non-formal and informal learning environments, and several related information channels, as well as showing a geographical spread that covers institutional, national and international levels. Furthermore, although the diverse information channels at hand and geographical levels at which they operate appear in some cases to be complementary, and even mutually reinforcing, they can also, in other cases, be dysfunctional, fragmented and unfair to some extent.

Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Program (NICDH)

Women's Reproductive Health Research Career Development Program (NICDH)

Challenges and opportunities for early career researchers: using the theory of practice architectures to unpack enabling and constraining conditions

ABSTRACT Globally, there are growing examinations of what it means to be ‘early career’ in contemporary academia. Across international contexts, the experiences of early career researchers appear to be similar. This paper explores the similarities and differences of the Australian early career experience, through the lens of pathways to the academy and career stage. We use the autoethnographic reflections of two early career researchers, one following the ‘traditional’ pipeline to the academy and the other as a ‘second career’ academic. We use the theory of practice architectures to frame the study and to generate and analyse our reflections: we identify the enabling and constraining conditions and how these differ depending on previous life and professional experiences. The autoethnographic reflections illuminate how practices are shaped by the organisational arrangements within the site of the institution. This study makes a theoretical contribution by using the theory of practice architectures to illuminate early career researcher experiences. By using a practice theory, our analysis and insight provide guidance for institutional policy, professional learning, and development strategies for early career researchers.

Research Culture Challenges among Early Career Researchers

Research Culture Challenges among Early Career Researchers

Climate change and societal transformation: a cohort-based international experiential learning program with an interdisciplinary focus on environmental education for graduate students

Climate change is not geographically homongeneous and disproportionally affects African nations, making the acceleration of knowledge sharing and mobilization among African-centric researchers critical for developing adaptative and preventative solutions. An interdisciplinary approach to environmental education is therefore essential. While mechanisms like short-term international exchange programs have been explored, little research has focused on a cohort-based approach centered on environmental education of international and interdisciplinary doctoral students and early career researchers. Drawing from the literature on international experiential learning and cohort-based models and employing a Theory of Change framework, we report on the outcomes of an innovative four-year environmental education short-term study program in Canada involving three cohorts of post graduate scholars from Sub-Saharan Africa. Our findings demonstrate that an interdisciplinary cohort approach is beneficial in accelerating research capacity for tackling complex problems such as climate change. Furthermore, participating scholars benefited from cross-learning, research dissemination, community engagement, network development, and enhanced soft skills. Recommendations for successfully organizing and delivering a cohort-based international exchange program are also discussed.

Factors influencing the research impact in cancer research: a collaboration and knowledge network analysis

BackgroundCancer is a major public health challenge globally. However, little is known about the evolution patterns of cancer research communities and the influencing factors of their research capacity and impact, which is affected not only by the social networks established through research collaboration but also by the knowledge networks in which the research projects are embedded.MethodsThe focus of this study was narrowed to a specific topic – 'synthetic lethality’ – in cancer research. This field has seen vibrant growth and multidisciplinary collaboration in the past decade. Multi-level collaboration and knowledge networks were established and analysed on the basis of bibliometric data from ‘synthetic lethality’-related cancer research papers. Negative binomial regression analysis was further applied to explore how node attributes within these networks, along with other potential factors, affected paper citations, which are widely accepted as proxies for assessing research capacity and impact.ResultsOur study revealed that the synthetic lethality-based cancer research field is characterized by a knowledge network with high integration, alongside a collaboration network exhibiting some clustering. We found significant correlations between certain factors and citation counts. Specifically, a leading status within the nation-level international collaboration network and industry involvement were both found to be significantly related to higher citations. In the individual-level collaboration networks, lead authors’ degree centrality has an inverted U-shaped relationship with citations, while their structural holes exhibit a positive and significant effect. Within the knowledge network, however, only measures of structural holes have a positive and significant effect on the number of citations.ConclusionsTo enhance cancer research capacity and impact, non-leading countries should take measures to enhance their international collaboration status. For early career researchers, increasing the number of collaborators seems to be more effective. University–industry cooperation should also be encouraged, enhancing the integration of human resources, technology, funding, research platforms and medical resources. Insights gained through this study also provide recommendations to researchers or administrators in designing future research directions from a knowledge network perspective. Focusing on unique issues especially interdisciplinary fields will improve output and influence their research work.

Experiences of early career researchers: Influences on the design and reporting of animal experiments, and the practical and emotional support needed to enhance best practice methods.

While best practice methodology in animal research aims to address reproducibility and translational issues, awareness and implementation remains low. Preclinical systematic reviews have highlighted many flaws, including issues with internal validity and reporting. With early career researchers (ECRs) heavily involved in all aspects of animal experiments, it is crucial we understand what shapes their research practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 ECRs, including research masters, PhD and postdoctoral academics. Data were collected and analysed concurrently using constant comparison techniques and an iterative approach. Findings revealed low-level awareness of best practice recommendations but a desire to engage in dedicated workshops on designing and reporting animal experiments. Current laboratory practices and previous literature were main influences on research practice, more than institutional training. An unexpected finding was the discovery of ethical and emotional dilemmas ECRs faced when working with animals. This highlights the need for a multifaceted approach to better support junior researchers, both emotionally and practically, to encourage responsible science.

Moving from Migration to Mobilities: Spatial Distinction and the Mobilities/Transitions Nexus in the Development of Research Careers

Moving from Migration to Mobilities: Spatial Distinction and the Mobilities/Transitions Nexus in the Development of Research Careers

Preparing Residents to Navigate Neurosurgical Careers in the 21st Century: Implementation of a Yearlong Enhanced Didactics Curriculum

Background and ObjectiveNeurosurgery residency, known for its rigorous training, must adapt to evolving healthcare demands. Formal education should now encompass areas like quality improvement and patient safety (QIPS), machine learning, career planning, research infrastructure, grant funding, and socioeconomics. We share our institution's experience with a yearlong enhanced didactics curriculum, complementing our traditional teaching. MethodsOur resident and faculty team evaluated essential skills for trainee success and leadership, identified knowledge gaps, and addressed them with 31 lectures. We conducted pre- and 6-month surveys using a Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 3 = neutral, 5 = strongly agree) to assess resident education. Survey results were analyzed using Student t-tests, with p < 0.05 indicating statistical significance. ResultsEleven out of twelve residents completed the pre- and 6-month surveys. The surveys revealed improved scores in areas such as research career preparation (3.0/5 to 4.33/5, p=0.002), building research skills (3.18/5 to 4.33/5, p=0.002), and comfort with quality and patient safety (4.09/5 to 4.75, p=0.04). Residents found the lectures highly effective in supplementing their residency training (4.58/5). Qualitative feedback from faculty was highly positive as well. ConclusionsOrganized neurosurgery excels in clinical and technical training for residents but lacks formalized training in crucial nonclinical areas, such as QIPS, machine learning/artificial intelligence, research infrastructure, and socioeconomics. Our formal curriculum focused on these topics, with positive resident engagement and feedback over the first six months. However, continuous longitudinal monitoring is needed to confirm the curriculum’s efficacy. This program may guide other neurosurgery departments in enhancing resident education in these areas.

Academic and Demographic Profile of Orthopaedic Vice Chairs of Research: Implications for Leadership.

Vice chairs (VCs) of research play an integral role in orthopaedic departments at academic medical centers; they strategically lead research efforts and support the research careers of faculty and trainees. To our knowledge, no analysis of orthopaedic VCs of research exists in the literature, and no similar analyses have been completed in other medical specialties. We aimed to investigate the academic and demographic characteristics of orthopaedic VCs of research. Doximity was used to identify orthopaedic residencies in the U.S. Personal and program websites were queried to identify VCs of research and collect academic and demographic characteristics. The Scopus database, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) RePORTER, and Google Scholar were used to obtain each investigator's Hirsch index (h-index) and the number and type of NIH grants awarded, respectively. Of the 207 orthopaedic residency programs identified, 71 (34%) had a named VC of research in the orthopaedic department. Of the top 50 medical schools, 42 were affiliated with such programs. Most VCs were men (89%). The racial and/or ethnic background of the majority of VCs was White (85%), followed by Asian (14%), and Black (1%). Most held the rank of professor (78%), followed by associate professor (18%), and assistant professor (4%). Over half were PhDs (55%), followed by MDs (37%) and MD/PhDs (8%). On average, the VCs had an h-index of 40.5. Furthermore, 65% had been awarded at least 1 NIH grant for their research, with 43% awarded at least 1 R01 grant. VCs of research develop research opportunities and shape the brand recognition of academic orthopaedic programs. Most orthopaedic VCs of research are men (89%); 85% each are White and have a rank of professor. Nearly half have been awarded at least 1 R01 grant from the NIH. This study outlines important academic and demographic characteristics among orthopaedic surgery VCs of research. Considering the mentorship aspect of their role, VCs of research have an opportunity to influence the diversity of incoming trainees in the field of academic orthopaedics.

Metamorphosis of English Preparatory Program Instructors as Researchers

Transformation of the Turkish EFL teachers working at tertiary level as researchers has received relatively little attention in the relevant literature. Furthermore, most studies in the field sought to explain the transformation of the teachers through interventions. Therefore, drawing on the underpinnings of transformative learning theory proposed by Mezirow, this study aims to investigate how the three EFL teachers have changed since starting their research careers. Unlike most of the studies in the literature, this study aims to find out the transformation of the participants as researchers with no specific intervention. This is a qualitative study, and the data were collected online through semi-structured interviews. In order to see if the participants went through the stages suggested by the theory, the recorded interviews was analyzed deductively. The results revealed that despite not following a linear order, the participants pass through all the suggested stages. The participants were found to pass through transformation at distinct stages, and how they changed was presented under the steps of the theory. Overall, this study sheds light on the longitudinal development of researchers initiated by a disruptive event, which is followed by iterative reflections which leads to the feeling of confidence in their researcher identities.

How can ChatGPT assist hospitality and tourism education?

ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence (AI) poses new challenges and opportunities for hospitality and tourism (H&T) education. This study explores how ChatGPT, a chatbot powered by a generative pre-trained transformer model, can affect H&T curriculum design and delivery. Using secondary data from academic articles, news reports, and official documents, the paper applies curriculum theory and stakeholder theory to examine the competencies, expectations, and interests of H&T students, educators, and industry practitioners regarding ChatGPT. This study reveals that ChatGPT can enhance learning outcomes and experiences, improve educational equity and efficiency, and raise ethical, technical, and pedagogical issues for H&T education. This research note also offers insights and recommendations for H&T educators to integrate ChatGPT into their teaching practices and prepare students for research work and careers that incorporate generative AI. Moreover, the study contributes to the literature on H&T education by examining the role and impact of ChatGPT as an innovative and emerging technology.