Becoming a Member of an Academic Community

1) Becoming a member of an academic community can be an important means of support during the course of your research. When we talk about an ‘academic community’ we are referring to a number of different groups or ‘ communities’. Of course, once you become a student you become part of a large academic community of students studying undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, as well as other non-degree courses such as diplomas. However, as a research student there may be a number of other groups you may well have access to and which can be a rich source of information and support.

2) Most departments that offer research degrees also hold research seminars. Although these are primarily, and sometimes only, open to students doing research degrees, occasionally they are open to all members of the academic department concerned – and sometimes, though less commonly, even other departments. The purpose of these seminars is usually to provide a forum where research students are able to talk about their research or, indeed, other issues in the field. Students often present their research, or certain aspects of it, either as a way of clarifying their own thinking or in order to benefit from the feedback of seminar participants.

3) Conferences can be excellent places to get connected with others in your field, and particularly those interested in areas related to the focus of your research. They are also places where you can share ideas, either informally through casual interactions with others, or more formally via presentations. Those ideas may be things you are mulling over or considering incorporating into your research, and a conference audience can be a very valuable sounding board and a source of inspiration and new directions you may not have previously considered. In fact, it is at professional conferences that many people first get the seed of an idea which they eventually grow into a fully-fledged thesis or dissertation.

4) Local chapters of professional bodies and special interest groups (SIGs) can also be excellent communities with which to become involved for very similar reasons. SIGs, as their name suggests, are much more focused in their interests, and provided you can identify a group that shares your particular interests, an association with them can be very fruitful and fulfilling.

5) All the events and organizations provide opportunities for you to network with others in your field, some of whom will be engaged in their own research projects, and a few may even have interests very closely aligned with your own. Networking is a way of surrounding yourself with a community of broadly like-minded people. These can collectively or individually serve as a support mechanism when necessary and can help immerse you in your field of study and keep you engaged and switched on. They can stimulate new ideas, provoke new ways of looking at problems and inform you of developments or resources of which you may be unaware.

6) In this age of the internet and virtual learning environments, the way in which research is conducted has changed quite radically. One of the great benefits of this technology is that it allows us to communicate with one another very quickly, even instantaneously, at the click of a button. We can use email to contact people on the other side of the world and expect a response within a day or two, if not hours or even minutes. We can setup conference calls with half a dozen individuals and create a truly interactive environmen t, much like we would experience in a regular, ‘terrestrial’ seminar. These new technologies provide, as never before, the means to become connected with other individuals and groups who share your research interests and with whom you can build useful dialogues and professional friendships that can prove valuable in numerous ways. They may be sources of new contacts, conduits of useful information, paths to new research subjects or references, and sounding boards.

7) You may also choose to set up your own research group in order to discuss issues of importance to your own project. Members of that group will probably, though not necessarily, be individuals who are working in a similar area and who will benefit both intellectually and emotionally from each other. Groups of this kind can regularly ‘get together’ online, as discussed above, or in person – every week or month, say.

(Inside Track to Writing Dissertation and Thesis)