The Craft of Scientific Research

The final chapter of the book is about writing a research proposal.  The doctoral course that inspired this book is intended for 1st year PhD students.  If you are also a PhD student, discussing fundraising may seem a bit premature. But the real purpose of this chapter is to challenge you with the problem of describing a research project you have not conducted yet, but that a third party needs to evaluate. The most obvious reason for this could be fundraising, but there are other reasons as well.  For example, in your career, you may be asked to describe in detail your future research activity for a promotion or for a new job. We start with the Shannon-Weaver model of communication, since a proposal is a specialised form of communication, to discuss the message and the target.  We point out the differences between basic and applied research in answering the “why?” question, talk about S.M.A.R.T. objectives, and so on.  We briefly touch on project management and ...

In my career, I have established three research groups from scratch.  The first, from 1990 to 2011, at the Rizzoli research hospital; the second, at the Insigneo Institute for In Silico Medicine at the University of Sheffield, from 2011 to 2018; the third and last, at the University of Bologna, from 2018 to 2025.  Along the way, I have made many mistakes, but I have always tried to learn from them.   Over the years, some ground rules have emerged from this trial and error, bolstered by specific readings I had on leadership, team building, etc.; all this is summarised in this chapter. Specifically, I talk about leadership, vision and strategy, funding and resources, upskilling and motivating team members, and building effective internal communication. As usual, I take some space for some digressions on whether, in my humble opinion, academic research is a job or a vocation. Enjoy the reading! Summary of Chapter 9 of “The Craft of Scientific Research”, by Marco Vicecon...