What is research?
Why should I research?
Where can I find useful resources?
How is research funded?
How do I get funding?
Who can I talk to about research?
What is the RAE?
How do I find out who is research active within the school?
What are the hallmarks of good research?
What is match funding?
How do I show, or document my research?
Can I research with someone else?
Can I get someone to do my research for me?
Can I research in a different area?
Does my research need to be international?
How do I add content (questions, answers) to this faq?
What is research?
Formal description:
Research is original investigation undertaken to gain knowledge and understanding. It includes work of direct relevance to the needs of commerce and industry, as well as to the public and voluntary sectors; scholarship1; the invention and generation of ideas, images, performances and artefacts including design, where these lead to new or substantially improved insights; and the use of existing knowledge in experimental development to produce new or substantially improved materials, devices, products and processes, including design and construction. It excludes routine testing and analysis of materials, components and processes, e.g. for the maintenance of national standards, as distinct from the development of new analytical techniques. It also excludes the development of teaching materials that do not embody original research.
Informal description:
It is your work: it is often an investigation of something
new, but it might be an extended study or practice of something you have done
previously. It can take many forms: from abstract to concrete — from a
collection of thoughts in the form of a published text (a conference paper, an
article, a contribution to a book, a whole book), to the greater tangibility of 2 and
3 dimensional media (drawing — architecture), to experiential work such as
music, moving images or performance (if I've left anything out, please tell me). ¶ Quality, quantity and context. Quality of
research is important but quantity is also significant: an exhibition of things will
be more highly valued by the RAE than a single thing. But if that single thing appears
in a well-known gallery, it beats an exhibition of 24 things in a small local gallery.
Context is influenced by several things — geography: international
dissemination of your work is generally preferable to local —
association: if your work is in the company of well-known individuals in the
field, it will be more highly thought of — peer-review: acknowledgement
of your work. Permanence and status are better, so a printed article in an esteemed
journal is better than a mention on a transitory webpage.
More descriptions will be added as the faq grows. Please supply your own descriptions.
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Why should I research?
A similar question might be, why should I sharpen my pencil?2
Research
activates, energises and invigorates us (ourselves and each other). It contributes to
the general body of knowledge in our subjects. It strengthens links between our
subjects. It informs our teaching, (many, if not all, of the books we read and refer
to in the course of our teaching, are the fruit of someone's research). Furthermore,
universities are increasingly interested in research from an intellectual and
financial perspective (see RAE).
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Where can I find useful resources?
Books
Visual Research
Vizualizing Research: A Guide to the Research Process in Art and Design
Art Practice as Research: Inquiry in the Visual Arts
Material Thinking: The Theory and Practice of Creative Research
Image-based Research: A Sourcebook for Qualitative Researchers
Doing Visual Ethnography: Images, Media and Representation in Research
Contacts:
Research Office
Emma Jones, Research administrator
Clare Charnley, Research fellow
Timothy Donaldson, Research fellow
Funding:
HERO
The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
The Leverhulme Trust
The British Academy
AHRC (The Arts & Humanities Research Council)
The Arts Council
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How is research funded?
The money to pay for research comes from many sources. Initially, it comes from our own pockets (who paid for that sketchbook and pencil, in which you first mapped out your idea, and that computer and software you used to make some early refinements?). It may continue to be and remain, self-funded but often we reach a point where we need money from someone else. The university has a research budget, and there are also many organisations whose primary function is to give money away to individuals, to produce research.
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How do I get funding?
You must ask for it in the right way. This usually involves preparing a bid, in which you must follow the benefactors protocol (often stating things in an exact number of words).
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Who can I talk to about research?
The university has a research office and they
are helpful. They will listen to your ideas, help you prepare a bid and offer advice.
You can also talk to Research fellows: Timothy Donaldson and
Clare Charnley: approachable colleagues employed by the university to conduct self-directed research
but also willing to listen to your plans, offer advice and help in any appropriate
manner.
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What is the RAE?
The Research Assessment Exercise is the government's way of assessing the quantity and quality of a university's combined research and awarding funding on this basis. It has happened in 7 yearly cycles and participating universities submitted their research in December 2007 and now wait about a year for it to be assessed.
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How do I find out who is research active within the school?
A good way to do this is to talk to Research Fellows, who do their best to keep their ear to the ground and find out who is doing what. This can be done in a very humane manner, possibly over a nice coffee (or a mug of tea with two sugars), and in a variety of locations. This is also an excellent opportunity to discuss any research ideas you might have and how best to get them started.¶ Another good way is to have a poke around on the staff research pages, many of these contain extensive references to their work and links to external sites. And then you can always Google them.¶ Here's a small selection for starters.
Jayne Bingham,
Clare Charnley,
Timothy Donaldson,
Michael Esson,
Michael Healey
Neil Maycroft,
Paul Middleton,
Deanna Petherbridge,
John Plowman,
Carolyn Puzzovio
Barrie Tullett...
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What are the hallmarks of good research?
Quality, quantity and context. (see the first question). Good research extends our knowledge within our discipline, connects to industrial practice and informs teaching. It seeks to be cross-disciplinary and international.
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What is match funding?
This is additional funding that you are required to find from another source, as a condition of a funding award. This is often met by the university that you work for.
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How do I show, or document my research?
It needs to be made public in some way. Typically these are exhibitions, reviews, articles, websites, books, television programmes, catalogues, conference handbooks. . .
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Can I research with someone else?
Yes. There are many examples of successful research partnerships.
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Can I get someone to do my research for me?
It wouldn't be your research if someone else did it, but there are many ways you could seek assistance: Research Fellows, Research Administrator, Research Office.
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Can I research in a different area?
Yes. Cross-disciplinary, or inter-disciplinary work is very well thought-of. If you have an idea with this potential you should waste no time approaching the other party. If you're uncomfortable with this, you could ask a Research Fellow to mediate for you. ¶ The AHRC has a helpful page on the subject.
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Does my research need to be international?
No. But it'll be more highly esteemed if it is. Even if the work is only of national status in the first instance, you can disseminate it internationally.
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How do I add content (questions, answers) to this faq?
Send an email to Timothy Donaldson
If you have any observations, suggestions, additions or improvements of any kind,
please let me know.
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Footnotes
1. I prefer axe, as a blunt pencil is sometimes desirable for drawing.
2. Scholarship is defined for the RAE as the creation, development and maintenance of the intellectual infrastructure of subjects and disciplines, in forms such as dictionaries, scholarly editions, catalogues and contributions to major research databases.