I was recently asked by my Faculty to give a presentation on mentoring Early Career Academics (ECAs) for success in the ARC DECRA Scheme. I thought I could expand the presentation into a short article to share.

I see DECRA as a great way to focus the research training, track record and professional development of ECAs. This is because generally what makes a person successful in DECRA makes them a very successful academic. Focussing on the DECRA selection criteria and working towards a successful application is no bad thing. It could win you a DECRA, but at 14% success rate, you might be thinking - why should I bother? My argument is aiming for DECRA will give you an outstanding CV and set you up for your next job or promotion, so it’s worth it.

Don’t just slap together an application in a week and hope for the best. Aiming for a DECRA is a multi-year process that requires the development of your track record, your project and your environment. Senior staff will support all three, but they have special responsibility for the environment you work in.

Developing an outstanding publication record, quality and quantity, is really a must. This is not an option. Publish in the best journals possible. A few “practitioner" journals may be ok as well, depending on your field. Avoid (or limit) conferences, but I know this is sometimes unavoidable. Talk with your supervisor, Senior academic staff and research leaders outside your university. Ask them what they think is a competitive track record. If you can find a successful DECRA candidate, talk to them. Ask them for their application. They can only say no, but most likely they will be flattered and say yes.

Something that not a lot of ECAs do, especially at Research Associate (postdoc) level, is develop a track record in funding success. Having funding success, even small, shows leadership; it also hones your grant writing skills. Start with small grants and build to larger and more prestigious ones. Start now. Develop a plan. Go on, even if it is just in your head. Think of an easy travel grant or two. Think of something bigger to aim for next year. Aim for something prestigious, like a Fulbright. Look to your professional society, they may have a grant or two. Ask your supervisor if you can team up on a grant. If you have a good track record, seek out opportunities as a CI on an ARC Discovery or Linkage.

Now for something even more important - develop a collaborative network - get out there, go visiting and give seminars on your work. Get known at home and abroad. Get invited to talks if you can. Keynote speaker roles are ideal (I know, not always practical for an ECA). Get yourself on technical boards, professional societies, panels. If you can, try for editorial roles or assistance with special issues. If you find this difficult, I recommend finding support from your supervisor, senior academic staff, mentors and other ECAs. Just asking for help develops a network of support.

Another important one is industry connections. This is very hard for some disciplines, others not so much. Try and make contact with some companies or industry groups, even if it is for “advertising" your research. This will help show your work is applicable and has impact. It will increase your support network and may lead to a great industry project.

Start developing your own research plan as soon as possible. This should integrate with your current research. Think about your career and what you want. If it is to be in academia, then you need your own research plan and ideas. Best to start now. Make sure your plan is innovative and credible.

The most impressive, in my opinion, is to focus your research program on solving a very large problem that will have long-term benefits. Aim for major, substantial change in the long term (your career). Then, you can identify the major problems that need to be solved by your research. Breaking it down further, you can identify what needs to be done in the next 3 years. There’s your DECRA. This type of strategic planning is very useful for planning research and will identify projects for ARC DP, LP, PhD projects and industry funding.

This is where mentors, senior academics and the whole organisation have a role.

ECAs will thrive in a supportive and inclusive research environment. They need to work in a well-run research group and learn how to do that. They need to learn how to be a manger and a leader. I guess that’s where senior academics are most important, to show the way to be successful. Not just in writing grants, but how they are administered. How they treat colleagues and students creates a collegial culture that will support ECAs into the future. ECA’s professional development should be, and is, one of our highest goals in academia.

Senior academics must give high-quality feedback. Discuss ECAs work with them, guide their experiments or simulations. Be frank if the work is poor. Praise success and console disappointment. Provide fast (as you can) feed back on manuscripts - don’t hold up work. Be a good and fair PhD supervisor. Be collegial and inclusive. Listen. I am as guilty as the next academic when it comes to brutal time management; however, it pays to recognise the way you use your time. Five minutes might make all the difference to an ECA, which isn’t really much for you.

DECRA is a scheme that all ECA’s should aim for. Aiming for DECRA will simultaneously develop you as a researcher and make you competitive for either employment as an Academic or Promotion, make you competitive for other grants and, most importantly, gives you a solid research plan to build your research.

In summary - success is not guaranteed, but these things will help your chances:

Candidate: one who wants to grow as a researcher and academic

Track Record: aim to develop an outstanding track record in publications AND funding - build towards a DECRA by applying for smaller schemes first and build.

Project: Develop an innovative and important long-term research plan and use this as to plan your DECRA application.

Environment: This is what senior academics should work on the most. ECAs will thrive if there is a supportive research environment. Senior academics can help by supporting all young researchers to the best of their abilities. The best way to do this is to provide high-quality feedback AND to be as inclusive as possible.

Hard work is required as well.

Professor Con Doolan is at UNSW Sydney in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. He runs the Flow Noise Group and is also Deputy Head of School (Education).