August 21, 2019, by Lisa Chin

Supervisory Research Seminar Series #4: Managing the Middle Stage of an Academic Career

The fourth instalment of our Supervisory Research Seminar Series was held on 5 August 2019. This session delved into the topic of managing the middle stage of an academic career. It aimed to support and develop researchers, in particular early career researchers, as they take a critical and strategic view of their research and the wider academic research environment. This was achieved through engaging participants with the key factors in developing a successful research profile.

The session was presented by Professor Dominic Foo who is a world leading researcher in process integration for resource conservation and has various international collaborations with researchers from multiple countries in Asia, Europe, America and Africa. Professor Foo is an active author with 5 books and more than 140 journal papers. He has made more than 190 conference presentations with more than 30 keynote/plenary speeches.

Read more about Professor Dominic Foo

Seven keys to establishing a successful research career in academia

In the 2-hour session, Professor Foo introduced the seven keys to establishing a successful research career in academia. These key points were developed based on own experiences by Professor Foo together with one of his research collaborators, Professor Raymond Tan from De La Salle University, Philippines.

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African proverb

Notably, one of the key points is networking. Professor Foo stressed the importance of this key point in developing a research profile by way of collaborations, networks and consortia.

Setting goals & strategising plans

Apart from the nuts and bolts of research management, Professor Foo also covered the topics of goal-setting and plan-strategising towards becoming an internationally recognised researcher. In addition, Professor Foo shared success stories of other established researchers. Through it, he hoped the attendees can learn from the experiences and further draw inspirations in building their own successful research career in academia.

We would like to take this opportunity to once again thank Professor Dominic Foo for his valuable sharing of insights and experiences. We hope that the information and guidance shared in the session is useful for the continuous development of researchers on campus, in particular early career researchers.


What is it about?

The Supervisory Research Seminar Series is aimed at all active research supervisors, especially early career researchers who are new to research supervision at University of Nottingham Malaysia. The landscape of research supervision is constantly shifting; from changes in policy through to new and different models of doctorate, the expectations of funding bodies to the expectations and capabilities of research students. Navigating these differences and knowing the best thing to do for all concerned is not always straightforward, even for experienced supervisors. The sessions cover topics that have been highlighted by supervisors as areas where they would like more advice and practice-sharing opportunities. These sessions aim to support a culture of the discussion of research supervision purpose and practice across the University and inform staff on a wide range of supervision topics.

Contact us

If you have any suggestions or would like to lead a supervisory research seminar series session, please contact Dr Tissa Chandesa, Research Training Development Manager at Tissa.Chandesa@nottingham.edu.my.

For any queries, please contact us at RAD@nottingham.edu.my.

Posted in News and EventsResearcher Development