Navigating academic research: Insights from U of A experts – University of Alberta

From becoming pathologically optimistic to ensuring you’re not a butterfly in your research, read helpful tips from various researchers across U of A.
January 11, 2024
Performing academic research can mean navigating unexpected situations, making research-altering decisions and staying resilient in the face of adversity. When you’re new to your career, it can be challenging to know what to do, when to pivot and how to overcome critical feedback.
From becoming pathologically optimistic to ensuring you’re not a butterfly in your research, in this post, read a roundup of helpful tips from researchers across U of A on how to succeed as a researcher:
Jason Acker, PhD, associate vice-president of Research Integrity Support and professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (Department of Laboratory Medicine & Pathology), reminds us that:
Research is a team sport; you might be an all star, but you can’t win if you don’t have great coaches, mentors, collaborators, staff and trainees. Leverage support from the back office (department, faculty, central administration) as that is going to be important for your success. Learn how to become pathologically optimistic because rejection is going to be an important part of what makes you successful.
View Jason on Google Scholar
Russell Cobb, PhD, MA, BA associate professor in the Faculty of Arts (Modern Languages and Cultural Studies Department), recommends new researchers to:
1. Take risks.
2. Ignore jargon unless absolutely necessary.
3. Write like you’re having a drink with the smartest person from your high school class (ChatGPT will never be able to replicate that). That person may not have a PhD in your field, but they’re inquisitive and want to know what drives your research. Write for that person – not the other five scholars who already know 98% of your references.
4. Whenever you’re asked to defend your work, see it as an opportunity to tell people why your work matters. Academics are constantly being asked to defend the value of what we do; we reflexively get defensive and can perceive it as an attack. Remind yourself it is an opportunity to reinforce the value of your research.
5. Don’t be afraid to lend a personal touch to what you work on. A detail here and there about why your research matters to you as a real person humanizes the work and makes connections.
View Russell on Google Scholar
Darren Fast, PhD, associate vice-president of Innovation, Knowledge Mobilization and Partnerships, says:
Get perspectives from far outside of your subject matter area and periodically look at how your research might be used outside of the lab.
Connect with Darren on LinkedIn
Aminah Robinson Fayek, PhD, PEng, F.CSCE, NAC, vice-president of Research and Innovation and professor in the Faculty of Engineering (Civil and Environmental Engineering department), suggests:
Find a mentor you trust. Don’t be a butterfly in your research (helpful advice I received from Simaan AbouRizk), which means to focus in an area and keep that focus to truly become an expert. It takes some patience to stay the course, along with many doubts along the way, but it really paid off for me. Also, don’t be a bottleneck for others.
View Aminah on Google Scholar
James Hogan, PhD, PEng, associate professor in the Faculty of Engineering and George Ford Chair in Materials Engineering, adds:
It is important to free up your time and allow for unstructured interactions by saying ‘no’ more often to non-sustainable projects and unmotivated collaborators. As a researcher, you need time to focus on key items that make your program sustainable and impactful:
Overall, say ‘no’ and allow yourself the capacity to dream bigger.
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Philomina Okeke-Ihejirika, PhD, MSc, MEd, BEd, professor in the Faculty of Arts, Women’s and Gender Studies department, had several pieces of advice to share:
1. What’s your passion? Research is about solving social problems. It’s largely funded by taxpayers. So you have to explore how to connect your passion with social issues.
2. Research is about contributing to filling the gaps in existing knowledge. Reviews of literature are crucial to gaining a good command of the field, posing and refining your research questions.
3. Start small to build the database for larger studies. Research proposals supported by both literature and pilot studies are often stronger.
4. Go interdisciplinary. There’s something about scholars sharing insights from different disciplines and working together. An easier way to do this is to seek out existing collaboration. This brings a lot to a proposal/project.
5. Pay serious attention to EDI and intersectionality. They give meaning and piercing insight into the work you’re doing. In my view, it’s one the most innovative ways to bring marginalized knowledge-based ideas into mainstream academia.
6. For research grants, focus on innovation (not the usual things that may obtain grants). Think of what you will bring into academia, community, practice and policy. Consider how meaningful and useful the research could be — not simply the exciting stuff. For grant writing, follow the instructions to the hilt, including sections, headings and wordings.
7. Finally, focus on building your research program. There’s often the temptation to join others in order to expand your CV, publish more and get some funding. The first question is: how does this fit into my emerging research program. After a decade of academic work, you should see that progression towards establishing an expertise in one to three areas — not publications that are all over the place.
View Philomina on Google Scholar
Ian Winship, PhD, BSc, associate vice-president of Research Development and Services and professor in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (Psychiatry department), recommends you:
Embrace constructive, critical peer review of your work, empower your trainees to take ownership of their projects and understand that rejection is not failure.
View Ian on Google Scholar
Do you have experience as a researcher at U of A? We’re looking for more researchers to share their tips with the U of A community in a future story. Using the prompt “if you could talk to yourself at the start of your career and tell yourself one tip on how to succeed as a researcher, what would you say?”, email your information and tip to the Quad team at blog@ualberta.ca.

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