How to Succeed in Postgraduate Study

Networking

by Marie desJardins

One of the most important skills you should be learning in your postgraduate program is how to "network." Breaking into the research community requires attending conferences, meeting established researchers, and making yourself known. Networking is a learned skill, so you shouldn't expect to be an expert at it immediately; but it is also a skill that you can, and should, learn in order to be a successful member of the research community.

Going to conferences and standing in the corner is not enough. Especially if you're not normally an outgoing person, you have to make a conscious effort to meet and build relationships with other researchers. Presenting papers is a good way to do this, since people will often approach you to discuss your presentation. Introducing yourself to people whose presentations you found interesting, and asking a relevant question or describing related research you're doing, is also a good way to meet people. Sometimes it's easier to meet other postgraduate students than senior researchers -- this is fine, since those postgraduate students will provide contacts to the senior people they know, and someday they'll be senior people themselves (as will you)!

You should talk about your research interests every chance you get. (But also be sure to spend some time listening: you'll learn more this way, and people will feel that your conversations are a two-way street.) Have summaries of various lengths and levels of detail of your work mentally prepared, so that you can intelligently and clearly answer the inevitable "So what are you working on?". If someone expresses an interest in your work, follow up! Send them email talking about new ideas or asking questions; send them drafts of papers; ask them for drafts of their papers and send them comments. (If you do this, they'll be sure to remember you!) Bring business cards with your email address to conferences to help new acquaintances jog their memory.

To maintain the relationships you form, use email and re-establishing contact at each workshop or conference you attend. If you work at it, and use your initial acquaintances to meet new people, you'll find that your "network" grows rapidly. (Agre [1] has some excellent suggestions for networking on the Internet.)

Sometimes these contacts will grow into opportunities to do collaborative research. Seize these: you will meet more people, often become exposed to new methods of doing research or new subfields within your research area, and the responsibility you feel towards your collaborator may give you more of an incentive to stay motivated and keep accomplishing something.

Other professional activities can bring you into the research network as well: volunteer for program committees, send your resume to a book review editor, offer to give seminars at other universities, write conference and workshop papers and send them to people you've met or would like to meet, or organize a workshop on your subfield at a larger conference. Summer internships at research laboratories or even other universities is a good way to get an idea of what the "real world" of research is like, to meet more new colleagues, and to get a different perspective on research problems in your field.

Mentoring junior postgraduate students and undergraduates is a good investment in the long run (besides providing them a valuable service and making you feel useful and knowledgeable).

Finding specific mentors can be very useful. Especially if you feel that you are isolated at your institution, having a colleague at another institution who can give you advice, feedback on drafts of papers, and suggestions for research directions can be extremely valuable.