Planning Your Scientific Journey : Assessment Questions

Instructions for Q6-Q10:

Identify resources you would like to explore on one of your topics of interest, previously described in the Q1 assessment of lesson 1. If you have already started a research project and are clearly not at this stage in developing a scientific question, feel free to leave these fields blank (just be sure to complete 21 assessments out of 36 in the whole course, if you desire to earn a certificate of completion) :

Q6. Possible papers to read (for each paper listed, write the author names, title, and year of publication, or cut and paste a PubMed URL, for example, so you can find it again):

Think of the potential pitfalls of your project. You do not need to answer each question below but rather use them as a guide in crafting your overall response to Q20.

• Are there assumptions in your model, hypothesis, approaches, or resources upon which your project is based? For a reference on assumptions in science, here is an excerpt from the online course, “Understanding Science: How Science Really Works” by University of California, Berkeley. It describes how assumptions play a role in doing experimental research and uses basic examples: http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/howscienceworks_13
• What technical barriers might your project encounter?
• What results do you anticipate your experiment(s) producing? Will they be interpretable or could they be murky or inconclusive?

What are the potential pitfalls in the project?

Consider the feasibility of your project. You do not need to answer each question below but rather use them as a guide in crafting your overall response to Q22.

• Do you have all the resources you need to do this work? If not, then how can you get them?
• Do you have local expertise in your lab, institution, or other collaborations to supply needed reagents and intellectual or technical expertise?
• Do you have any other concerns?

How feasible is your project?

Identify the unique attributes that make this a good project. You do not need to answer each question below but rather use them as a guide in crafting your overall response to Q24.

• Have you identified an interesting question or hypothesis that has not been articulated in the field?
• Do you have a preliminary finding or observation that provides a seed for the project?
• Do you have a unique technique or experimental approach that might provide new answers to an old question?
• Have you established a powerful collaboration where various skill sets can be applied to your question?
• Are you harnessing local intellectual, technical or natural resources?

Identify the unique attributes that make this a good project. What is your “niche”?

Research Project Goals: Next steps for your research…

Whether you are just getting started on developing a scientific question or well-immersed in your research project, setting concrete goals and putting them on a timeline is important. We will get more into how to set specific and concrete goals in the next lesson, but for now write down at least 3-5 short-term goals you want to accomplish in the next 3 months. You might find it useful to remind yourself what you wrote down in Module 1 about what your process for identifying a research question to pursue will be (Q5). If there is an important decision-making point (e.g., a “go, no-go” experiment) or other critical experiment, please highlight this for special attention. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be completely certain of your goal list. You will revisit these goals later and revise them, if you choose.

Write down at least 3-5 short-term goals you want to accomplish in the next 3 months.

Research Project Goals: Long-term project planning…

It is also important to keep your longer-term (6 months – 1 year) project goals in mind. Are there areas in which you intellectually want to grow and potentially expand your project? Are there other questions that you might want to consider investigating in case your project finishes or reaches a dead end? Please write down at least 3-5 longer-term, perhaps more aspirational, goals for your project and your training.

Write down at least 3-5 longer-term goals for your project and your training.

In order to make progress on one’s research, and to grow as a professional, there are often skills that must be developed in training. These can be everything from expanding your research skills to include a new technique, to improving your presentation skills to make you clearer at communicating your science. Identify current areas that need improvement in the following two categories. List at least 3 skills for each category that you want to work on this year: For Q27, you’ll want to refer to Module 2, Q11.

List the technical skills or knowledge that you want to develop as you pursue the scientific question you identified in Module 2 (Q11). For example, “I want to become more proficient in biostatistics.” ** Even if you don’t have a question yet identified, please try to fill this out. There are likely technical skills or knowledge you want to learn, no matter what your question will end up being.**

List the professional skills you want to develop (for example, writing, presentation, interpersonal communication skills, project or time management skills), which are important for success in research, training, and most career paths. Note in particular any professional skills that you will be practicing this year as part of your training (e.g., via your qualifying exam, journal club or research group presentation, fellowship application).

Make Your Goals SMART: Short-term Research Goals

Now is the time to update all of your short-term research goals. You can find the list of short-term research goals that you wrote in the last lesson here (Q25). Using the SMART principle, update all of your short-term goals. Remember that you might have to split up a general goal into smaller SMART goals. Make sure to include the most important goals you have for the next 3 months. You might even consider organizing them in order of priority (or due date). Also, feel free to remove, add or change any goals, now that you have thought about them more.

Use the SMART principle to update all of your short-term research goals.

Make Your Goals SMART: Long-term Research Goals

In the previous lesson, you also wrote at least 3-5 long-term research goals for yourself. You can go back here (Q26) to remind yourself of what they are. Using the SMART principle, update your long-term goals. It can be hard to make long-term goals SMART, because there tends to be more uncertainty around the goals, but do the best you can. And remember that’s why it is important to re-examine your plan from time to time. Also, feel free to remove, add, or change any goals, now that you have thought about them more.

Using the SMART principle, update your long-term goals.

Finally, in the previous lesson you also wrote out skills development goals for yourself (at least 3 technical skills goals and 3 professional skills goals). You can go back to remind yourself of what they are (Q27 and Q28). Using the SMART principle, update your skills goals. Remember that often skills goals can be the hardest ones to make SMART, and often are too general. Don’t let yourself get away with making goals that aren’t truly SMART. Also, feel free to remove, add, or change any goals, now that you have thought about them more.

For Q31 and Q32, refer to Q27 and Q28.

Using the SMART principle, update your technical skills goals.