Research careers can be very fulfilling, allowing you to explore your intellectual interests in depth and make a significant contribution towards solving key global problems. However research careers can also be competitive, particularly in academia, and there seems to be significant variation in the amount of impact different researchers have, so considering your personal fit for this kind of work is important. As it can be hard to predict what you will be good at and enjoy ahead of time, here are some ideas for getting more evidence on your fit for a research career.
Some high level questions you could keep in mind while exploring are:
Look at the qualifications and career trajectories of researchers whose careers you might want to emulate and consider reaching out to them to ask about their work. It may be relevant to learn about research careers both inside and out of academia and the experience of different roles – to learn more about the latter you could start by looking at some of the profiles here. Consider whether there are any careers outside research that you would also be interested in. You may find it useful to apply for a call with 80,000 Hours, a careers advice organisation, for help considering your broader options.
Remaining in academia to do research has advantages. A PhD can give you a number of years focused almost entirely on doing research and can help you build connections with other talented researchers. Later career academics generally have relative stability and autonomy, connections with talented collaborators across disciplines and the ability to pursue research topics which would be unlikely to get commercial funding. On the other hand, PhDs are typically highly demanding, take at least several years to complete, and may not be the best choice unless you plan to stay in academia.
Non-academic research, for example in industry, government and nonprofits, often provides more structure and easier paths to tangible impact, although in many disciplines it offers fewer opportunities for curiosity-driven and highly explorative research.
To learn more about the experience of doing a PhD, try reaching out to PhD students in your field to ask about their experiences. This podcast recommends asking people broad questions to learn more about their experiences (e.g. what’s the story of your research career?), to elicit useful information that you might not hear if you ask narrow questions. You could also ask questions like ‘what do you wish you’d known about doing research earlier in your career trajectory?’ and ‘what key questions would you suggest I explore to determine my fit for research?’
It’s probably also valuable to ask researchers about the predominant, day-to-day experiences of doing PhD research; what thinking styles do students in your research area use, what methodologies and skills are they working to master, and what’s their experience of using these like? You could also try reading completed PhD theses and considering what methodologies and skills these suggest you would be cultivating and how you could test your interest in them if you’re not already sure of this.
The experience of writing a thesis during an undergraduate or Masters will likely have involved more synthesis and less exploration of the frontiers of knowledge than would be expected during a PhD and research career. However you will still likely be able to learn about your chances of success by reflecting on your experience. You could ask yourself:
You should also consider the grades you received for your undergraduate and/or Masters study, as these provide an indication of your academic ability and additionally are one of the criteria which will determine whether you are accepted onto a PhD programme or receive funding. The emphasis on grades varies between countries – if you’re in a country where grades are not emphasized and you might be interested in studying for a PhD abroad, you should likely pursue getting as high grades as possible.
One study has found that 25% of institutions produce 71-86% of all tenure-track faculty depending on the field, so if you stand a good chance of getting into a top university this is also a good indication of fit for a research career.
You could get additional information about your fit for research through doing small experiments in producing research outside your degree. Start with a test that is as close as possible to the experiences you would have if you pursued a research career, but that doesn’t take a great deal of planning or investment, and then move on to more time intensive tests if you feel you still need more information.
If you haven’t yet completed your undergraduate or Master’s thesis, we would suggest you should first focus on writing a great final thesis, as this will both give you information about your abilities and affect the opportunities you can later apply for. After completing your thesis, you could consider applying for a (summer) research fellowship or internship. You could also consider doing a self-directed research project, which might be a particularly good test of your ability to be self-motivated.
Primarily if you’re in a STEM field, working as a research assistant may be another good way to learn – as the senior researcher you work with will be using the work you produce, they will be particularly incentivised to give you good feedback, although as a result your projects may be less self-directed than during a PhD. Working as a research assistant may also be a good way of making useful connections and increasing your chances of getting into a PhD programme by giving a potential supervisor much more information about your abilities. Anecdotally, the quality of your experience will likely be heavily influenced by the skill of the senior researcher and your relationship with them, so only choose this option if you can find a researcher you are excited to learn from and think you will form a positive working relationship with. Try to talk to others with relevant experience (e.g. who have worked in the same lab) to find out more about the day-to-day experience of work.
Depending on your discipline you could also explore taking a year out between undergraduate and PhD studies to get a feeling for doing research full time in industry, which may give you useful information about your options. If you think you might want to work in academia, it’s worth exploring non-academic careers before a PhD rather than after, as academia is competitive and it’s advantageous to avoid a break after a PhD.
If you’re interested in trying out volunteering, internships or fellowships to test your fit for research, you could explore these opportunities. You can also sign up to our newsletter to receive up-to-date early research career opportunities into your mailbox.
What qualities should you try to assess and develop in yourself as you’re exploring your fit for a research career? 80000 Hours writes that the key characteristics necessary for an academic career are high intelligence, conscientiousness, need for intellectual stimulation, ability to work independently, deep interest in the research area and willingness to focus on particular questions for long periods.
It’s important that you will stay motivated while tackling novel problems and dealing with setbacks. Many researchers emphasise the importance of self-motivation, and comfort with uncertainty and the hard work of trying to answer novel questions, for example: ‘Once you reach the cutting edge of research, progress slows down dramatically. Things not working is the norm and things working is the exception.’
It may also make sense to consider your skill at working collaboratively – in The Science of Science the authors write, ‘In 1963, the sociologist Harriet Zuckerman set out to discover how outstanding scientists worked, interviewing 41 out of the 55 Nobel laureates living in the US at that time. She found that an internal bent toward teamwork seemed to be a trait that they all shared.’
On a more concrete level, being a researcher requires sufficient competency at a number of complex steps to even succeed in publishing papers, however it may increase your success as a researcher to a surprising degree if you can make additional improvements in any one area. This is based on the model William Shockely proposed to explain the lognormal distribution of how productive academics are. This post summarises his findings as follows:
“Shockely suggests that producing a paper is tantamount to clearing every one of a sequence of hurdles. He specifically lists:
Shockely’s theory means that any improvements you make to your ability at each step of the research process make the work you do at every other stage more valuable, and becoming slightly more productive at multiple steps will make you a lot more productive overall. For example, if you are 50% above average in each of the 8 areas then you will be 2460% more productive than average overall.
According to this model, gauging your current fit for a research career should involve considering your ability in every step that is necessary to produce impactful research and you may find it useful to discuss what your current bottlenecks might be with someone familiar with your research skillset. If you discover you can improve in one area, it could have a surprisingly large impact on how successful you might become.
If you decide to apply for a PhD, we can help you find a PhD supervisor and reach out to them, as well as finding PhD funding and relevant early-career research opportunities. We can also help you explore how to have a greater positive impact with your research – apply to our free coaching and one of our coaches will help you think about how to begin a successful career in research and connect you with experts working on one of our prioritised research directions if you want further support.