UTS PhD and Research Masters students got together this week to meet peers from different faculties and share experiences. FASS, LAW, DAB, and FEIT were all represented.

Conversations were kicked of with a brief panel discussion where Dr Jesse Adams Stein, Anne Casey, and Alicia Pearce shared their perspectives on publishing while engaged in higher degree research (HDR). A/Prof. Sarah Kinkel Miller did a great job moderating the panel, asking interesting questions and keeping them to time.

Anne talked about the benefit of finding your scholarly tribe, those researchers, scholars and practitioners who fit neatly in your niche. Jesse suggested finding internal arguments in thesis chapters that could then form the basis for journal articles. Alicia emphasised writing for impact as well as discussing how reaching out to other scholars for collaboration is one way to achieve this, as long as you’re paid of course (Find detailed insights below photos).

A large part of the night was dedicated to chatting, sharing experiences, and getting to know HDRs from different disciplines, all while enjoying the great selection of delicious food, beer, wine and soft-drink.

Talking to researchers outside your field is a great way to discover new perspective, learn about different methodologies, and sow the seeds of future research collaborations.

Higher Connections is a student led event series that is enthusiastically supported by the UTS Graduate Research School, the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, and the Faculty of Law. This event was joint funded by FASS and GRS. The next one will be joint funded by LAW and GRS. We really appreciate the support.

Are you a HDR student at UTS? What would you like to be the focus of the next Higher Connections event? Leave a comment below.

Find your tribe: Which people understand what you’re trying to accomplish? Who’s going to be cheering you on and want you to be successful? And what conversations do you actually want to engage in and help shape? Figuring out the answers to those questions will help you think about what conferences to attend and journals to publish in. One place to start is to look at what journals you cite most frequently; that’s a good hint that that’s a reasonable place for you to try to publish. (Anne)

Be strategic with your thesis: some thesis chapters will make good articles, particularly ones that have coherent stand-alone arguments or are case studies that you can frame for a specific audience. Having parts of your thesis peer-reviewed will improve those chapters, and reassure future thesis examiners that your work is up to a good standard. (Jesse)

Think about the impact you want to have: who is it that you’re trying to persuade, and where will they most easily find your work? Modern researchers disseminate their research in a lot of places that aren’t academic journals, including through policy papers, podcasts, or popular media. They’re all worthwhile, and can all be useful to building your research profile, but they won’t all reach the same people or have the same effects. (Alicia)