Further helpful questions to ask may be:

• What are the project objectives?
• What are the key milestones and deliverables from the funder’s perspectives?
• How much time can I devote to other activities?
• How does my research project alignment with research strategy?
• How do I fit within the organisational structure?
• What resources and support are available to progress my project?
• What career development opportunities can I access?
• Where am I expected to conduct my research?

Agree personal and project targets, set expectations and methods of reporting and meetings (frequency and mode).

Research staff should have an annual Performance and Development Review (P&DR) with their PI, line manager or another agreed person. Research staff can access the online module on getting the most out of your P&DR (UoM login required), designed and developed specifically for research staff.

If you are keen to engage in additional responsibilities, such as teaching, ask what percentage of your time you can allocate to these. Some funders may have restrictions on applying time away from the research project.

How to get the best out of your research project

Dr Paul Chan (Lecturer at MACE) has the following advice for Early Career Researchers:

• If you are employed on a specific project, mapping out the key stakeholders is important, so that you know who to call upon for support and also how your research impacts on whom. This includes obviously the funders, but also technical support staff, research participants, other users of laboratory facilities such as students, other collaborating partners especially in multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional research projects.
• If you haven’t worked with the PI before, ask your PI at the beginning what outputs have been planned in the proposal and how often you will meet. This will give you a sense of the expectations of deliverables on the project. How to book laboratory time and resources, what forms to fill to purchase a kit, are also important questions to ask the PI. Knowing the institutional procedures is the key to getting things done.
• From the start, think about the academic profile you are trying to create for yourself and make sure the impacts of your research are tracked along the way. If you are proposing a project, ensure that it aligns well with your profile. A coherent profile means that you become known for something in your chosen field. Another important consideration is to reflect on how your profile sits within the Technology-Readiness-Levels, that is whether you are to be known more for fundamental science, or more on the applied end.
• Networking is always crucial since being known for something means drawing more attention to the research project and its outputs, which can in turn raise your profile in terms of citations, technology adoption etc. At the same time, you should try to find opportunities for independent thinking and working; researchers grow in their career by becoming more independent from their PI.