is exciting and discovery is a thrilling. But beyond the personal satisfaction, the goal of research is to improve the lives of people everywhere. Researchers have the opportunity to create astonishing innovations and make profound discoveries, which drive revolutionary advances in communication, healthcare, transportation, business, and government.
But to become this kind of superstar researcher, you have to be more than just lucky; you have to develop the right strategies. These strategies range from choosing problems to finding excellent collaborators, from validating your ideas to pushing back against skepticism. Learning and applying these strategies will increase the probability that your innovations and discoveries will blossom into commercial successes and influential theories that bear fruit as major societal benefits
Set your sights high! Your research could prevent cancer, cut energy consumption, or bolster cybersecurity. Your ideas could lead to highly cited papers, widely licensed patents, and successful business startups. It takes hard work, perseverance in the face of setbacks, polished social skills to push back against skepticism, and excellent presentation abilities to convey your success story.
But remember—dangers abound. Your ideas may fail, they may be bested by competitors, or they may be ignored because you failed to present them well. You also run the risk that the transformative changes you trigger may be disruptive for many people, may damage the environment, and may be appropriated by criminals, terrorists, and oppressive leaders. Research is a high-stakes endeavor, so the best researchers gird themselves for all possibilities.
Which is where this guidebook comes in. My goal is to help you redirect your research and to change your campus. If you can increase the impact of academic research, you and your colleagues can produce more potent innovations and more valuable discoveries.
The paths I outline can be pursued by individual students or faculty, or teams in a bottom-up fashion. These paths can also be important for top-down implementation by academic leaders like department chairs, deans, and administrators, as well as vice presidents of research, provosts, and even presidents. These leaders are typically the ones who promote visionary agendas described in ambitious strategic plans. And they often work closely with off-campus partners in business, government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), journalism, and beyond.
The bottom line: this guidebook is meant to resemble a backpacker’s guide to hiking. It suggests paths and gives you enough information to get started, while providing enough flexibility to take side treks and enough confidence to find your own way.
1.2 THE TWIN WIN
The design of these paths is based on the ideas of many people, but it draws heavily from The New ABCs of Research: Achieving Breakthrough Collaborations (2016, http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/newabcs). For some people, discovery and innovation are separate pursuits. For a researcher, however, they’re symbiotic. In fact, by pursuing them simultaneously, you’re more likely to succeed at both.
And this parallel approach often leads to what I call the Twin Win. The Twin Win idea is to develop breakthrough theories in published papers AND validated solutions ready for widespread dissemination.
The idea of the Twin Win is so important that it’s become the basis of a network of research leaders. The Highly Integrative Basic and Responsive (HIBAR) Research Alliance seeks to change campus cultures and has drawn support from the U.S. National Academies and the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities. (The latter hosts HIBAR’s website: http://www.aplu.org/hibar.)
What kind of work does HIBAR do? Lorne Whitehead, of the University of British Columbia, offered this description: HIBAR specializes in projects that:
• seek both deep new knowledge and new practical solutions;
• use both academic research methods and practical design thinking;
• are led by both respected academics and real-world experts; and
• have long-term goals and short-term payoffs.
The HIBAR Research Alliance, with vice presidents of research and other campus leaders, held six meetings during 2017–2018 to discuss how to achieve the campus culture changes that are described in this guidebook.
Using the HIBAR approach to achieve the Twin Win isn’t easy. That’s because traditional academic attitudes and policies make it difficult to pursue fresh strategies. Old beliefs and established policies about how to do research are tough to shake, even in the face of growing evidence that new models are more reliable in producing large positive results.
Put another way: Changing the long-held convictions of your colleagues and mentors is a challenge—but it is possible. Changing institutional traditions and established policies is equally difficult, but these transformations are also possible. These changes are exactly what HIBAR Research Alliance seeks to engender.
The University of British Columbia, HIBAR Research Alliance (November 2017).
1.3 CHANGE
Most change-agent handbooks note that the first step of change is for those whose work will be changed to be aware of the big problems and to identify opportunities for improvement. For example, as a researcher, you need specific instructions about what steps to take. This clarity promotes willingness to give up familiar practices and try something new. Meanwhile, any improvements you make need to be measurable; this will reassure participants, even in the face of personal resistance and active opposition from others.
Additionally, because setbacks are inevitable, constant reassessment on your part is critical. Finally, recognition of your success from peers and superiors is essential to spread your ideas. Recognition also strengthens the commitment by others to new methods and goals.
If this all sounds hard, it is. As it should be. But remember: It’s also possible.
Equally important: while these ideas are meant to help you achieve personal success and raise the impact of your lab or campus, they also have a larger impact. After all, each research project helps bring broader benefits to more people. Each small contribution is a tile in the mosaic of societal transformation.
1.4 CHECKLIST
If you want to become a visionary change agent in education, here’s a checklist (derived from https://bit.ly/2MOyAO9).
1. Alignment and Buy-in: The change being considered should align with the overall values, vision, and mission of the initiative. Senior leadership must champion any new initiative. If someone at the C-suite level opposes the new initiative, it will likely die a slow and painful death.
2. Advantage: If the initiative doesn’t provide a unique competitive advantage—preferably a game changing advantage—then it should at least bring you closer to an even playing field.
3. Added Value: Any new project should add value to existing initiatives. If it doesn’t, it should show a significant return on investment to justify the dilutive effect of not keeping the main thing the main thing.
4. Due Diligence: Just because an idea sounds good doesn’t mean it is. You should endeavor to validate proof of concept
