A research visit: an opportunity for personal and professional development for early career researchers
Posted on: 4 September 2024 by Dr I Gusti Ngurah Edi Putra (Edi) in Researchers
Dr I Gusti Ngurah Edi Putra (Edi) is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Department of Psychology, University of Liverpool, UK, working under the mentorship of Prof. Eric Robinson in the Obesity and Appetite research group.
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Edi received a small amount of funding (€2500) from the 2nd Call of The COORDINATE Transnational Access Visits (TAV) project, part of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. This funding, covering accommodation, travel costs and subsistence, allows researchers across Europe to visit another European country’s institution for up to three weeks and conduct a research project related to child health and well-being. University of Liverpool promotes the guidelines of the Researcher Development Concordat, which states that contract-based research staff have a minimum of 10 days per year (pro rata) that can be allocated for their professional development. With his mentor's agreement, Edi used his 10 days to visit and collaborate with the researchers from the Department of Psychology, University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland as part of his TAV funding success.
Edi embarked on his two-week journey (10 working days) (18 – 30 June 2023) in Dublin, Ireland, where he visited The UCD Psychosocial Approaches To Health Lab (PATH) Lab at the Department of Psychology on a mission to foster research collaboration and initiate a new independent research project focused on understanding the role of neighbourhood environments in explaining socioeconomic inequalities in child mental health in Ireland, a project distinct from his primary postdoctoral work. Edi was mentored by Dr Sonya Deschenes, the Director of the UCD PATH Lab who introduced him to other lab members, provided support, and taught him a novel methodology for his project.
Working in a new research environment with limited knowledge of the Irish context was challenging, but the warm welcome from the UCD PATH Lab members made the experience truly special. Edi was also grateful for the constructive feedback he received from the UCD PATH Lab members during his presentation of the preliminary findings of the TAV project. It was also a rewarding experience to connect with new people and gain insights into their research interests.
A research visit, even for a short period offers many opportunities for early career researchers to learn new skills and foster a collaborative research network. Meeting and collaborating with new people help broaden perspective through knowledge and ideas exchanges. A research visit may not only be about “academic and professional development opportunities”, but it also helps contribute to “personal development” through adapting to a new environment and building interpersonal relationships.
Having returned to Liverpool, the collaboration has remained with the findings progressing into a full paper draft which has now been published in the Health and Place journal. The findings were also presented at the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine (formerly the American Psychosomatic Society) Annual Meeting in March 2024 in Brighton, UK where Edi was honoured with a Scholar Award for this research. The meeting was particularly special as it allowed to reconnect with the UCD PATH Lab members.
Key takeaways
- A research visit provides an important opportunity for personal and professional development for early career researchers through exchanges of knowledge and ideas, fostering a collaborative research network, and improving skills related to adaptation to a new environment and building interpersonal relationships.
- Valuable collaborations that extend after the research visit may result in improved research outputs and long-term professional relationship development, enhancing the research portfolio and providing more future collaborative opportunities
Further Reading
Keywords: Research funding, Managing uncertainty, Researchers, Team work.