Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University’s Post

Our latest enews came out this week. We shared the news that our #education research appeared in a New York Times article, discussed our new strategic partnership and introduced our new Senior Research Associate. You can read it here- https://lnkd.in/grqBbBVA #growingbusiness #researchers

Thanks to Gill Haddow, Professor and Director of the Early Career Academic Network in the School of Social and Political Sciences at Edinburgh, for bringing together a panel to talk about one of the rather painful #ResearcherRealities: Unsupported grants and what to do with them. Dr Eve Mullins and Prof Sarah Childs shared their experiences alongside me. I have written up the key take aways from the conversation for our Research Staff blog. Most importantly: Rejections are normal!!! 📌 Expect to be unsuccessful on first attempt. 📌 Know your institutional expectations. 📌 Understand the expectations regarding your funding profile for recruitment and promotion. 📌 Share your unsuccessful stories. 📌 Identify the obstacles. 📌 Develop your funding portfolio brick by brick. 📌 Don't underestimate timing. 📌 Control the controllables. 📌 Create visibility for your ideas. 📌 Have a strong personal and professional support network to (re)gain perspective. 📌 Have a diverse support network. https://edin.ac/494seR6

Hugely recommend this blog post by Anna Pilz on what to do with unsuccessful grants - there's some really excellent advice for those of you applying for funding, or dealing with that dreaded email to tell you your application wasn't successful. Funding rejections are so much more common than we think - I regularly work with researchers to apply for schemes with success rates of <10%, so based on the numbers alone, most applications are unsuccessful. We definitely don't talk about this enough, and I think sometimes we as researcher developers can forget that applying for funding is an emotional process as much as an academic and logistical one. It might help if, as Anna says, we start to normalise rejections. They suck, but they don't mean that your research isn't valuable (and they don't mean that you're not a great researcher, either!).

Job Opening: Berkeley is accepting apps for a cluster hire on Asian American & Pacific Islander Transpacific Futures! Positions open in Geography at Berkeley, the School of Education, Berkeley Public Health, & Department of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley Review Begins Oct 1st https://lnkd.in/e_T7HRDG -- The Asian American and Pacific Islander Transpacific Futures Cluster initiative brings together units in the social sciences and professional schools to understand the formation of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities within the US-Asia-Pacific dynamic, the continued growth and diversification of Asian American and Pacific Islander populations, and the political, economic, and social challenges and opportunities in these communities. The fates and struggles of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are central in the entanglements of people, capital, power, empires, militaries, goods, cultures, ideas, and political movements among Asian, Pacific, and American nations. Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are essential sites of inquiry to understand the futures of California, the U.S., Asian-Pacific-American relations, and the effects these sites and dynamics have for people. The Asian American and Pacific Islander Transpacific Futures Cluster initiative seeks to ensure that UC Berkeley is at the forefront of this consequential research area. This cluster will foster interdisciplinary and evidence-based research on the capacities and challenges of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities to strengthen their communities, address their social conditions, and shape the futures of California, the U.S., and Asian-Pacific-American relations. Three themes and areas of inquiry define this cluster: (1) Community-driven change and the futures of the Asian-Pacific-American region, (2) Understanding diversity and informing change through research and data justice, and (3) Working toward healthier futures and community and environmental wellbeing.

The Paradox of Political Science Graduates: The discipline of political science has witnessed significant growth in recent years. Its relevance has been underscored by the increasing complexity of global politics, the rise of political consultancy, and the critical need for informed policy discourse and political risk analysis. However, despite this expansion, the graduates of Political Science often find themselves lagging behind their peers from other disciplines in securing prominent roles within this burgeoning landscape. This paradox raises several questions: Why are political science graduates not keeping pace with the discipline's growth? Who is driving this growth if not the graduates themselves? And how can we make political science more relevant and rewarding for its own students? It must be recognised that the growth of political science as a discipline is being propelled not just by traditional academics but by professionals from diverse fields such as technology, law, and management. These individuals bring a wealth of expertise and innovative approaches to political analysis, election management, policy discourse and political risk analysis. At the same time, Political Science graduates often find themselves on the periphery of these advancements. They tends to focus heavily on theoretical knowledge and classical methodologies, which, while valuable, may not equip students with the practical skills needed in today's data-driven world. This gap in skillsets makes it challenging for political science graduates to compete with their peers from more technically-oriented disciplines. We need to address this issue and ensure that political science graduates can also benefit from the discipline's growth. Some steps are to be urgently taken; 1. There is a need to integrate more practical and technical training into the curricula including courses on data analytics, programming, and the use of AI in political analysis. We have to prepare our students for the demands of the modern political landscape. 2. Interdisciplinary collaboration should be encouraged to provide students with a broader skillset and new perspectives. In fact, a professionally curated joint degree programmes can help bridge the gap between traditional political science education and the skills needed in the emerging competitive world. 3. The students should be offered more opportunities for internships, workshops, and hands-on projects in areas like political consultancy, election management, political risk analysis, and policy analysis. These experiences can provide students with practical insights and valuable networking opportunities. 4. Engaging successful alumni who have navigated these interdisciplinary fields can provide current students with mentorship and guidance. In doing so, political science graduates can reclaim their place as key contributors to the discipline's growth and reap the benefits of its expanding horizons.

As the title indicates, please include your current location / country when asking questions about BA/MA/PhD programs and/or career advice. We have people from all over the world who participate in this subreddit, and the relevance/quality of the advice that they are giving is going to depend a lot on where they are currently from and where they are looking to study. Political Science is an incredibly diverse field and it's important to recognize this in the advice we give and the discussions we have. Going forward, posts that don't include this information will be subject to removal. Also, it's a good methodological caution. Don't assume your starting point is the universal, or even general, experience :-

The best decision during my PhD was to apply for the PPS Policy Associates Scheme. I wanted to do something a bit different to my research for some diversity during my doctorate and wanted to dip my toes into something other than academia. Now three years later I have contributed to several local and national policy projects, undertaken three secondments in central and local government, and hopefully set up a successful career in policy - all with no experience before joining! I couldn't recommend the scheme and this team enough to any doctoral researchers at the University of Southampton. See the link below to apply :) Public Policy|Southampton, University of Southampton Psychology, University of Southampton

Are you (or do you know) a minority faculty member in STEM with an active research program who was the first in their family to graduate with a bachelor's degree? If you know of someone who may be eligible and interested in participating, please consider forwarding this link (to a consent to participate followed by an intake survey) to those you feel may be interested in participating: https://lnkd.in/gcjeGYrc. #Collaboration #Research #FacultySuccess (please repost!)

The great thing of a large Research Master's programme, is that there are always excellent Research Master students to work with. Without doubt, Courtney Tabor, Ph.D. is one of them. It has taken a while to get this complete (I see the first documents are from 2018) — Courtney in the meantime completed a full PhD — but here we are with the the outcome of a pre-Covid research internship: "Mutual Influences in Economic Agendas: Assessing Dynamics and Conditionality in Longitudinal Relationships Between Media, Politics, and Public". The paper is relevant for anyone interested in Politics-Media dynamics or agenda-setting. Link: https://lnkd.in/eDk6sRE8

I'm thrilled to share some of my recent achievements and aspirations as I embark on the next phase of my career journey! 🚀 During my time at Bristol, I delved into in-depth research projects that honed my analytical skills and deepened my understanding of critical issues in security, conflict, and human rights. For my Master's program dissertation, I conducted a critical discourse analysis of news articles reporting on the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, examining how the discourse framed and legitimized the actions of police officers, inadvertently delegitimizing the protest's purpose. This project highlighted my ability to conduct rigorous research and analyze complex social issues. Another project, "Trust in Transition," involved quantitative research using SPSS to analyze the UK population's trust in key institutions post-Brexit, based on the British Social Attitudes survey. This experience strengthened my data analysis skills and provided valuable insights into public perceptions and attitudes. These experiences have not only expanded my knowledge but have also fueled my passion for driving positive change through evidence-based research and policy analysis. As I aspire to transition into roles focused on research and policy, I'm excited about the opportunity to apply my learnings to real-world challenges and contribute to creating a more just and secure world. I'm particularly interested in connecting with individuals working in the criminal justice, international relations, human rights, and social justice fields in Northern California, as I believe in the power of collaboration and collective action to effect meaningful change. Let's connect and explore how we can make a lasting impact together! 🤝 #Research #Policy #SocialJustice #HumanRights #Networking #CareerGoals