RESEARCH SCHOLARS PROGRAM (RSP)

OVERVIEW

The Research Scholars Program (RSP) is a faculty development program designed to help IARSA and non IARSA members interested in enhancing their academic credentials to develop research skills and to plan, implement, and write-up a research project. The mission of the RSP IARSA Research Scholars Program is to assist researchers in all areas of human endeavors in developing themselves as fulfilled faculty members engaged in important and exciting research and to increase the quality and breadth of education research.

The RSP is a three-day faculty development program designed to help researchers interested in enhancing their research credentials and skills; to plan, implement, and write-up a research project. The RSP assists researchers in developing themselves as fulfilled faculty members engaged in important and exciting research

The Research Scholars Program aims to foster this skill of choosing actions for their all-things-considered effects, and give people space to exercise it. We give scholars tools for thinking about the long-term impact of research and other activities. In most cases we foresee participants coming out of the program with views on topics such as: what the future might look like at timescales of tens, thousands, or billions of years; what the largest determinants of different possible futures are; which technologies are most likely to be transformative at a timescale of decades; what the largest levers in the world are for affecting these.

We encourage participants to explore different research ideas they have, and practice making judgments about what to pursue. (This need not be macrostrategy research; the idea rather is that the choices are macrostrategy-driven, i.e. informed by thinking about long-term consequences first. We think research in any of the other areas studied at IARSA can fall within this category, as well as some other topics.). We support scholars with mentorship and the best other feedback loops we can construct, and a collaborative, curious working environment to encourage exploration and the challenging of ideas.

Why participate in this program?

This is a unique opportunity for people who intend to soon assume research and research-adjacent positions critical to addressing the world’s most pressing problems.

In particular, we expect that you will get a lot out of the program if you:

• Have lots of ideas, but are unsure which ones to pursue and could benefit from research mentorship;
• Are interested in multiple different research areas, or in macrostrategy work itself;
• Would benefit from the freedom to explore your options (for instance before committing to a topic for a PhD or postdoctoral project, or working out whether you can contribute best through direct research or an adjacent activity); and/or
• Are excited by being part of a cohort of exceptional individuals with shared curiosity and desire to identify and pursue the highest-value opportunities.

On the other hand we don’t expect this to be right for everyone interested in impact-driven research. In particular this might not be the right fit for you if:

• You have a clear idea of what you want to work on long-term (especially if it isn’t one of IARSA areas. In this case you might well be better working on it immediately, and doing so with domain experts (for instance by doing a PhD).
• You don’t enjoy self-directed research, and would prefer to work as part of a larger research team. In this case you could be better off directly joining an organization in such a role, or becoming excellent at the type of research tasks that you might be given.

People in the program may work on topics in IARSA research areas, including global priorities research, AI strategy, AI safety, and reducing catastrophic risks from biotechnology. We hope that many will go on to careers working in or adjacent to these areas, either directly pursuing or otherwise facilitating research. Direct research roles are a natural next step, but we believe that many important roles (such as working in community-building or grant-making) are helped by a good understanding of important research directions.

COURSE OUTLINES

DAY 1

• Introduction to research data management
• Basic types of test and study design
• Exploratory analysis and introduction to sampling distributions
• Data Management and Introduction
• Interviewing skills for researchers
• Survey and Questionnaire Design
• Research ethics in practice
• Research Effectiveness

DAY 2

• Describing and exploring data
• Methodology of hypothesis testing
• Understanding, Planning and Measuring the Impact of Research
• Using Photographs and Photography in your Research
• Systematic reviews
• Visualizing your data
• Grant Writing Skills
• Basics of Impact Evaluation

DAY 3

• Advanced literature searching
• Supervising research degree candidates
• Examining research degree theses
• Finding funding for administrators
• Grant writing the easy way
• Costing research
• Mock peer review panels
• Managing research projects (financial management)

WHO SHOULD APPLY?

Research scholars, early career researchers, Research Fellows, junior faculty, and mid-career faculty in all disciplines who want to increase their research skills, experience a mentored research project, and/or who are trying to define an academic focus in their careers.

Additional service: Personalized guidance for the application of scenario building method to your research

CHARGING

There are costs associated with running these courses such as trainer, facility, refreshment and administrative costs; however, if you are eligible to attend the workshop, you are to pay $400USD only.

Please do get in touch if you would like other types of development opportunities – if you need something, it is very likely there are others in the University who need it too, and we will try and source the training internally or externally. Just email training@iarsac.org