Full transcript
0:00hi today I want to talk about how to
0:01write a research statement for use in an
0:04application for a faculty position or a
0:06similar position a research statement is
0:09a typical part of an application package
0:12for a faculty position or similar
0:14position in Academia along with your
0:15teaching statement your cover letter
0:18your CV and your publication list so
0:21what's important to know about writing
0:23that research statements here um six
0:27points and those points are based on an
0:29experience of being on search committees
0:31for several decades and also having
0:33applied for academic positions several
0:36times the first point is people in the
0:38search committee will look at a lot of
0:41these applications and therefore a lot
0:43of research statements so it's very
0:45important to be concise and not to
0:47overwhelm people with a lot of
0:49information so I would look at making
0:52that research statement basically about
0:54one to three pages three pages Max I
0:57would say and I would start with with a
1:00very general statement about who you are
1:03for example you could write I am an
1:05ecologist with a passion for soil and my
1:09major research topics are Global change
1:12biology and soil biodiversity with a
1:14focus on fungi and then you could also
1:17list maybe some two or three or so major
1:21research questions that you have been
1:23working on and will continue to work on
1:25now of course it's also important that
1:27your research statement is a aligned
1:30with the job description now you cannot
1:33completely reinvent who you are of
1:35course for every position but you can
1:38slightly tune it for example in this
1:41particular example of me you could say I
1:43am um fungal ecologist who works in the
1:47context of soil and with questions um
1:50dealing with global change biology and
1:52soil biodiversity in
1:53general or if you were to apply for more
1:57of an ecosystem job you could basically
1:59emphasize the ecosystem component of
2:01that work so without of course
2:04Reinventing yourself very many times
2:07you're going to have sort of a similar
2:10fosi in your research and it's important
2:12that in that beginning statement
2:16basically of your research statement you
2:18make clear how you also fit that
2:20position now for the same reason people
2:22having to look at a lot of these
2:25applications make sure that your uh
2:28research statement is very accessible
2:30easy to read so for example use subheads
2:33for example for the different research
2:34lines or research questions and if you
2:37can also support those statements with
2:40um short graphical abstracts and also if
2:43you're good at making graphical U
2:45designs maybe this would also be an
2:46opportunity to showcase basically your
2:49entire research as a as an overview and
2:52a sort of a conceptual figure that you
2:54then go through in the various parts of
2:56your research statement that of course
2:58will help people read it the third point
3:00is make it accessible also in terms of
3:02content you got to realize that people
3:04on the search committee are not going to
3:06be all specialists in your particular
3:08topic so usually this is depending on
3:10the University fairly broad so make sure
3:13that when you um write your different
3:15sections for example of the research
3:17statement the different research
3:19questions or research topics that you
3:21always start with a more general
3:23statement why this is important and like
3:26a very broad overview lead in sentence
3:29before you actually get into the
3:31technical detail of your work so you
3:33don't lose people that are not
3:34Specialists on a particular topic the
3:36fourth point is by all means make the
3:40effort to connect with the department or
3:43Research Unit that you applying for and
3:46make that explicit so as you go through
3:48your various research lines or research
3:50questions or topics in within your
3:52research statement make sure you align
3:55them to the extent possible of course
3:57with the expertise that's already there
3:59at that University and make clear how
4:02you could be working with this different
4:04faculty so for example on my research
4:07line on soil biodiversity I could very
4:10well interface with Professor
4:13xyz's um research because they do such
4:17and such or in terms of my research
4:20focus on ecosystems I could use um the
4:24expertise or could interface well with
4:26the research group of Professor b um
4:29because do I could use their facility or
4:31their field experiment or something like
4:32that so of course that will not be
4:34possible for each and every one of your
4:36points depending on the department to
4:38which you apply but where it makes sense
4:40by all means also mention the names now
4:44you are applying typically to a
4:46department and this is very important
4:48for you to fit into this department but
4:51universities have usually several um
4:54departments or
4:56schools and so it's also an opportunity
4:58to look a little bit broader at that
5:00University or at that school um and
5:03other departments to make sure that you
5:05don't miss some obvious opportunities
5:08for collaboration also outside of that
5:10particular department for example you
5:12work on microplastic and therefore you
5:14could also maybe interact with somebody
5:16in chemistry who does something with
5:18polymers even though that's not within
5:20the department to which you're being
5:22recruited that can also help um making
5:25your application more attractive of
5:28course don't force any of these things
5:30this is sort of a fine line make sure
5:32that when you name somebody in the
5:35research statement there is a real
5:36connection I think this point is very
5:38important because because it also shows
5:40that you have really um taken the time
5:43and have taken an interest in getting to
5:45know this place to which you're
5:47applying not only when you are there
5:50basically so basically in advance you
5:52have taken an interest in that
5:53particular school department or
5:55university and you have actually shown
5:58how you you can align with the expertise
6:01and the facilities or core facilities
6:04whatever there is um how you can
6:06basically fit in there the fifth point
6:08of course you will tell people what you
6:10did um sort of in brief summaries maybe
6:13you also want to site some key papers in
6:15there but also don't forget that this is
6:17a research statement that should also
6:20outline where you are going to take your
6:22research if you were to move there so
6:26very often this can take uh the form of
6:29if I were to join your department this
6:31would enable me to do this and this
6:33together with such and such a person and
6:35that facility which would enable me to
6:37achieve this or I could add this
6:40expertise which you apparently are
6:41currently lacking in this department and
6:44so as a department overall we could
6:46achieve such and such a goal so this is
6:49very important to make clear that you
6:52have a vision for where your research is
6:54going and that's also a good point to
6:55think about when you apply where am I
6:57actually going to go a good good
6:59question to ask yourself and also to
7:01make explicit at least for some of the
7:02themes in your research statement is
7:05where do I see myself in five years now
7:09where do you see yourself in five years
7:11also might imply that you have thought
7:13about what funding sources you could tap
7:15into depending on where you apply what
7:17country or whatever it is very good if
7:20you have um already thought about where
7:22you could get funding for this kind of
7:24work for example you might get for
7:26certain um types of funding for more
7:29basic research but maybe there is also
7:31going to be some other funding sources
7:33for more applied aspects of your work
7:37foundations or more Regional funding
7:39that may be available there and so if
7:42you have that knowledge it is very good
7:44to put that in your research
7:46statement for example I see myself in 5
7:49years having reached major insights into
7:52how funi aggregate soils for example and
7:56uh the more basic aspects of this work I
7:58see myself getting fun fed by National
8:00Science Foundation do or whatever and
8:04then for the more applied aspects of
8:07this work in such and such a context
8:09let's say agriculture I can see myself
8:12receiving funding uh from certain
8:14programs from the US Department of
8:16Agriculture or from the Federal Ministry
8:19of um agriculture or whatever the
8:22country is that you applying for so I
8:24think that is very important because it
8:25shows that you have um not only a vision
8:28for your research but you also have
8:30thought through how you might be able to
8:32finance that vision and then finally the
8:34sixth Point really carefully read that
8:37job ad that job ad you have to
8:39understand is the result of a process at
8:42the University that's trying to hire and
8:45usually a bunch of different interests
8:48um come together or are in conflict with
8:51each other so sometimes there is um more
8:53or less a wish list of possible research
8:56topics that are listed in the job ad and
8:58this is the result of this compromise
9:01and so as you look at this list you will
9:04probably see that you fit some of them
9:06very well and maybe others not so well
9:10but this is important to um have
9:13reflected in your research statement
9:16that uh you check as many boxes as
9:19possible don't overdo it like if they
9:22want somebody who works with data signs
9:25or or statistics or machine learning or
9:27something for example and this is not
9:29what you do then of course don't write
9:31in there that you will do that since you
9:33have no demonstrated ability to do so
9:37but if you can connect with that then by
9:39all means listed so you can check as
9:42many boxes of the topics that are listed
9:44in the job at in the first place so
9:47that's it these are my six points I
9:49think the bottom line is tailor tailor
9:52tailor to the particular um job ad you
9:55will have sort of a basic stock that you
9:58will have written is more General but if
10:02you're really serious about about a
10:03particular job then it is well worth the
10:07time to really tailor your research
10:09statement for that particular University
10:12or department and with that good luck
10:14with your application I hope you're
10:17successful thanks for watching see you
10:19in the next one bye