What's your plan for the summer?

As the semester begins to wind down, or heightens to a frenzy (based on what side of grading you are on), you should begin planning your summer. Certainly, make sure you spend some time relaxing and unwinding when that last paper is graded. But, also plan for how to be productive in your research over the summer, so that you feel you accomplished an appropriate amount come fall.

To decide what you will do, check in with your research plan. What research plan? Aha! If you don't have a research plan that is moving you toward your 5-10 year goals, spend the first part of your summer devising or updating your research plan to help keep you on track.

Below are items that your research plan should include:

Begin with the end in mind: Take a moment to envision where you want to be in 10 years. To do that, think about where you want to be in 5 years. Once you've dreamed a little bit and gotten excited about your opportunities, you can work backward to benchmark where you need to be at the end of each year.

Identify publications: To get where you want to be, where do you need to bolster your publications and what kind of publications do they need to be to best position yourself for grants and in recruiting partners and collaborators?

Identify funding sources: You will likely need funding to achieve what you're planning. What are those sources? What are those agencies looking for? When are their deadlines? How long will it take between developing your grant proposal and having the money, if funded? It's important that you account for things like rejections and planned resubmissions and alternate plans for when you don't receive the funding you were hoping for the first or second time.

Plan for preliminary data collection: Most sponsors expect applicants to have some preliminary data before they apply. This preliminary data demonstrates to the sponsor that the researcher can and will execute a successful research project if funded. So be sure as you map out your research plan that you have also planned for preliminary data collection or small projects that show you will likely be successful in your research.

An article in Science suggests that you should develop a 3-5 page research plan before you hit the job market to show your future colleagues that you are worth the investment you're asking them to make in you and your work. However, if you have secured a faculty position without a research plan, that's great! Now, go and write one. :)

Resources
Writing a Research Plan - Jim Austin (Science)
Charting a course for a successful research career - Alan M Johnson (Elsevier)