Outrider 4 - What is a researcher

Summary

In this video, Tara Brabazon, Dean of Graduate Studies at Charles Darwin University, explores the evolving role of a researcher. She emphasizes the importance of scholarly conversation, the transformation of information into knowledge, and the necessity of verification within the research community. Brabazon also discusses the challenges faced by researchers, including ethical considerations, the impact of social media, and the precarious nature of academic employment, urging researchers to uphold the integrity and nobility of their profession.

Takeaways

• 📚 The term 'researcher' has a long history, dating back to its first use in 1544, and originates from the Old French word 'searcher'.
• 🗣️ Research is defined as a conversation between the researcher and the scholarly community, aiming to free citizens from ignorance and fear.
• 🌟 Researchers play a noble role in transforming information into knowledge and making it meaningful for society, which is crucial in the face of misinformation.
• 🔍 The goal of research is to find the 'right conversation' and engage in a social sense-making process, as emphasized by Half in her 2009 book.
• 🔑 Researchers are information professionals who use methodology, epistemology, and ontology to analyze and prepare data sets for consumption by diverse communities.
• 🔬 The scientific method is a key tool for managing subjectivity and bias in research, ensuring rigorous validation and verification of findings.
• 🏛️ Research ethics are paramount, with a focus on respect for citizens, animals, and the environment, guided by codes and legislation like the National Review Act.
• 🌐 The challenges facing researchers include maintaining the integrity of peer review, dealing with the volatility of the academic workforce, and navigating the ethics of using public social media posts in research.
• 🏫 The current state of higher education, with its focus on short-term contracts and casualization, poses significant challenges for researchers and the quality of research.
• 💡 Researchers must continually innovate and pursue further qualifications to improve their knowledge and skills, reflecting the dynamic and evolving nature of research.
• 🌱 The importance of research is underscored by its potential to drive competitiveness in various sectors, including public and private corporations, and its role in shaping the future.

Q & A

What is the origin of the term 'researcher'?

The term 'researcher' originates from the Old French word 'searcher' and was first used in 1544.

What is the motivational definition of 'research' as mentioned in the script?

The motivational definition of 'research' is a conversation between a researcher and the scholarly community, aiming to free citizens from ignorance, fear, pretenders, and fear mongers.

What is the role of a researcher according to the script?

A researcher's role is to engage in scholarly conversations, transform information into knowledge, and make it meaningful for citizens, enabling strong and clear decision-making.

Why is the peer review process important for researchers?

The peer review process is important as it verifies the work done by researchers, ensuring that ideas are checked and validated by colleagues within the intellectual community.

What does the script suggest about the nobility of being a researcher?

The script suggests that there is nobility in being a researcher because it involves contributing to the advancement of knowledge, holding oneself accountable to high standards of intellectual life, and serving the community through verified research.

How does the script define 'research ethics'?

Research ethics, as defined in the script, is concerned with the well-being of people, animals, documents, or the environment involved in the research process, ensuring respect and safety throughout.

What are some of the challenges faced by researchers in the context of the script?

Challenges faced by researchers include maintaining high standards of intellectual life, dealing with issues like research misconduct, gatekeeping of knowledge, and the instability and precarity of academic contracts.

How does the script describe the importance of research in various sectors?

The script describes the importance of research in various sectors by stating that research makes corporations competitive, contributes to public and private organizations, and is integral to innovation and knowledge advancement.

What is the significance of the scientific method in managing subjectivity and bias according to the script?

The scientific method is significant as it provides a structured approach to validate and manage subjectivity and bias through observation, hypothesis testing, data collection, analysis, and iterative refinement.

What does the script suggest about the future of research and researchers?

The script suggests that the future of research and researchers will involve addressing emerging debates around research ethics, especially with the use of public posts from social media, and navigating the challenges of an increasingly volatile academic workforce.

How does the script emphasize the importance of research in the face of 'fake news' and 'alternative facts'?

The script emphasizes the importance of research by highlighting the need for rigorous, high-quality research to counteract the spread of misinformation and to uphold the integrity of knowledge in a time of 'fake news' and 'alternative facts'.

Outlines

00:00

🎓 The Role and Identity of a Researcher

Tara Brabazon, Dean of Graduate Studies at Charles Darwin University, introduces the concept of a researcher, emphasizing the importance of research in shaping human understanding and societal progress. She discusses the etymology of 'researcher' and its historical significance dating back to 1544. Brabazon highlights the definition of research as a conversation between the researcher and the scholarly community, aiming to liberate citizens from ignorance and fear. She stresses the nobility of research and the researcher's role in transforming information into meaningful knowledge.

05:01

🔍 The Scholarly Conversation and Verification in Research

The paragraph delves into the nature of research as a social sense-making conversation, with a goal to find the 'right conversation'. It underscores the researcher's responsibility to build relationships between past and present knowledge to create new knowledge for the future. Verification is highlighted as a crucial aspect of research, with literature reviews, methodologies, and peer reviews serving as checks and balances. The paragraph also addresses the importance of intellectual honesty and the avoidance of research misconduct, emphasizing that researchers are part of a community held accountable to high standards of scholarship.

10:02

📚 Research Training and the Iterative Process

This section discusses the iterative nature of research, where researchers continuously circulate and update knowledge through various platforms like conferences and publications. It mentions the overlap between research plans and proposals, focusing on the organization and management of information, knowledge, ethics, and resources. The importance of research training, or 'research education', is emphasized, covering theory, methodology, evidence, dissemination protocols, and ethics. The paragraph also touches on the diverse skills researchers need, including budget management, leadership, and information literacy.

15:05

🧐 Managing Bias and Errors in Research

The paragraph focuses on the importance of managing bias and errors in research. It acknowledges that bias and errors are inevitable but can be managed through rigorous methodologies, epistemology, and ontology. Researchers are encouraged to control and understand their subjectivities and to use the scientific method or other appropriate methodologies to validate and manage subjectivity. The paragraph also discusses the importance of research ethics, particularly in the social sciences, where timely and sensitive topics require careful handling to avoid harm to participants.

20:07

🌐 Research Ethics and the Future of Research

This section discusses the importance of research ethics, especially in the context of social sciences where the research can be timely and impactful. It mentions the need for respect for citizens' lives and the balance of values between researchers, the research itself, and the citizens. The paragraph also addresses emerging challenges in research ethics, such as the use of public social media posts in research. It highlights the importance of peer review as a cornerstone of research integrity but expresses concern over the current state of higher education and the volatility of academic employment, which may affect the quality and integrity of research.

25:10

🏡 The Reality of a Researcher's Life and the Pursuit of Knowledge

In the final paragraph, Brabazon reflects on the current realities of researchers, many of whom face job insecurity and precarious living conditions. Despite these challenges, she emphasizes the critical role of researchers in pursuing knowledge and contributing to a future that values truth and rigor over fake news and alternative facts. She calls researchers the 'best of us' and expresses hope for a future shaped by their courageous work in the face of ignorance and foolishness.

Keywords

💡Researcher

A researcher is an individual engaged in the pursuit of knowledge within a specific discipline or field. In the context of the video, the term is used to explore the evolution and responsibilities of a researcher, emphasizing the role of a researcher as a participant in a scholarly conversation and the importance of research in contributing to the body of knowledge. The script discusses the etymology of 'researcher' and its significance in transforming information into knowledge.

💡Scholarly Conversation

The concept of a scholarly conversation refers to the ongoing dialogue between researchers and their academic communities. It is central to the video's theme, illustrating how research is not a solitary endeavor but a collaborative process that aims to advance understanding and dispel ignorance. The script cites the definition from Booth, C. Williams, describing research as a conversation that aims to free citizens from fear and misinformation.

💡Research Ethics

Research ethics are the principles and guidelines that govern the conduct of research to ensure the integrity of the process and the well-being of participants. The video underscores the importance of ethical considerations in research, highlighting the responsibility of researchers to respect the lives of citizens, animals, and the environment, and to manage biases and errors within their work.

💡Peer Review

Peer review is a critical process in academia where the work of researchers is evaluated and verified by other experts in the field. The script discusses the role of peer review in maintaining the integrity of research and the challenges faced, such as gatekeeping and the impact of casualization in academia on the stability and quality of this process.

💡Research Training

Research training, or more accurately, research education, refers to the formal instruction and development of skills necessary for conducting research. The video mentions the importance of this training in equipping researchers with the theoretical knowledge, methodologies, and ethical understanding required for their work. It also touches on the need for continuous learning and adaptation in research practices.

💡Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the adherence to ethical standards and principles in academic pursuits, including honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. The script discusses the importance of academic integrity in ensuring the credibility and reliability of research, mentioning issues such as data fabrication and authorship respect.

💡Verification

Verification in research is the process of checking and confirming the accuracy and validity of findings. The script emphasizes the necessity of verification, stating that having an idea is just the beginning, and that a researcher's work must be peer-reviewed and checked to ensure its contribution to the scholarly community.

💡Research Proposal

A research proposal is a document outlining the plan for a research project, including its objectives, methodology, and significance. The video mentions the research proposal as a critical component of research planning, which overlaps with the research plan in terms of organizing information, managing resources, and understanding the research process.

💡Information Literacy

Information literacy is the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively, ethically, and efficiently. The script discusses the role of researchers as information professionals, who transform information into knowledge through clear methodologies and prepare data sets for analysis and consumption by various communities.

💡Dissemination

Dissemination refers to the spreading of information or knowledge, often the findings of research, to a wider audience. The video highlights the importance of dissemination in the research process, mentioning various channels such as conferences, blogs, podcasts, and videos, which are used by researchers to share their work and engage with stakeholders.

💡Intellectual Community

An intellectual community is a group of individuals who engage in the exchange of ideas and knowledge within a particular field of study. The script discusses the role of researchers as part of an intellectual community, emphasizing the collaborative nature of research and the importance of peer review and scholarly dialogue in building and maintaining this community.

Highlights

The etymology of 'researcher' dates back to 1544, originating from the Old French word 'searcher'.

Research is defined as a conversation between the researcher and the scholarly community, aiming to free citizens from ignorance and fear.

The goal of research is to enable informed decision-making and counteract the influence of fear mongers and pretenders.

Researchers are information professionals who transform information into knowledge through methodology, epistemology, and ontology.

Verification is a key aspect of research, emphasizing the importance of peer review and literature review in validating research findings.

Research is not merely about expressing opinions or emotions; it is a precise intellectual endeavor checked by other scholars.

Ethics, decency, regulation, and governance are crucial in maintaining the integrity of research and the intellectual community.

Researchers are employed in diverse organizations beyond universities, including corporations, consultancies, and government laboratories.

Research training, or more accurately research education, encompasses theory, methodology, evidence, and dissemination protocols.

Researchers must manage bias and errors through a tight combination of methodology, epistemology, and ontology.

The scientific method is a structured way to manage subjectivity in research, from observation to hypothesis testing.

Social scientists must balance rigor with respect for citizens, especially when dealing with timely and sensitive topics.

Humanities and arts researchers focus on context, connecting theoretical, intellectual, and socio-political elements to knowledge emergence.

Research ethics is fundamental, ensuring the well-being of participants, animals, documents, and the environment during the research process.

Axiology balances the values of researchers, research, and citizens, guiding ethical considerations throughout the research process.

Peer review is essential for the research conversation, but current challenges include gatekeeping and maintaining integrity in academia.

The volatility of the academic workforce and the casualization of academic roles pose significant challenges to the stability and continuity of research.

Researchers are the best of us, conducting courageous work in a time of ignorance and alternative facts, driving us towards a different future.

Transcripts

hello I'm Tara brabazon and I'm the dean

of Graduate Studies at Charles Darwin

University and welcome to outrider for

what is a researcher now obviously this

is a request from Ruth thank you to Ruth

and this particular outrider what is a

researcher is paired with our last one

what is research so what we're

investigating is how research is poured

into a human form

and how that human being is supported

cared for but also trained and verified

this is a really exciting interesting

topic and I'm so grateful to have the

chance to share it with you so let's do

this what is a researcher now

etymologically the word researcher comes

from old French from the word searcher

and it was first used in 1544.

so it's got an incredibly long history

and it is an incredibly interesting

history and I wanted to start if I can

with a meaningful and motivational

definition of the term for you and this

definition emerged when I was a young

Jedi

when I was a young Jedi researcher I had

just gained my PhD I just graduated from

my PhD and the first book I read after I

completed the PHD to welcome my new

research career was this particular book

and it was by Booth column and Williams

and it was called The Craft of research

published in 1995 by Chicago University

press and Booth Coleman Williams

stated and this has stayed with me

through my entire life really that

research is a conversation

it's a conversation between a researcher

and our scholarly community

between a researcher and our disciplines

or fields

changes your life just a little bit

doesn't it so the goal of this

conversation

is to free citizens from ignorance

from Fear from The Pretenders and from

the fear mongers

so our role therefore as a researcher is

to dialogue with our peers

to enable strong and clear decision

making from citizens our role is to

transform information into knowledge and

make it resonant and meaningful for

Citizens so that they're not impacted by

The Pretenders

and the influences

now if that definition doesn't make you

want to get up in the morning and change

the world like oh yes

that's who I am I am a researcher if

that doesn't make you want to get going

then I'm not sure what Pharmaceuticals

you're actually going to require because

colleagues there is a nobility

to research and there is nobility

to being a researcher

similarly half in her

2009 book designing research for

publication and again I strongly

recommend that book to you focused again

on the importance of this scholarly

conversation and she defined a

researcher's goal as quote finding the

right conversation end of quote and

described research as quote a social

sense making conversation

end of quote these are brilliant

definitions they still get me going and

get me excited so Huff stress the

importance of the scholar and the

researcher as an identity so when we as

a human

make a decision to claim the identity of

a researcher

we identify

we confirm that making strong scholarly

choices is important to us and we don't

just offer a vibe that we move through

life as a researcher

seeking and asking for validation and

confirmation of our evidence our

research and our arguments therefore

as you can see a researcher has an

incredibly powerful role and what a

researcher does in many ways is link the

past and the present and we link that

through scholarly conversations we try

and build the relationship between the

past of knowledge and the present of

knowledge and the reason we're doing

that is to create new knowledge for the

future but we also must the whole point

of being a researcher is we must

recognize the importance of verification

so us having an idea is great but being

a researcher means that we demand that

colleagues check and verify the work

that we do put another way this is why

we have a literature review this is why

we have a methodology and this is why we

put our work through peer review being a

researcher

and this is so important now can I say

being a researcher is not about

expressing emotion

it's not about expressing an opinion

it's not about expressing A vibe it's

not about occupying an identity and

assuming that that particular identity

narrative has truth

instead it is activating a very precise

very clearly configured intellectual

space

we build with transparency a pathway

through knowledge and that pathway is

checked by other Scholars that is the

nature of the conversation now these

other people that are going to check our

work can be peer reviewers but of course

they're also

PhD examiners as researchers we must be

checked

and that verification process is part of

an intellectual Community Building

knowledge the challenge I think so often

that we have is you know I believe

passionately

in these goals the highest standards of

intellectual life the higher standards

of scholarship I think it is a tragedy a

personal and professional tragedy every

time any of us go below those standards

and that can occur through sexual

assault sexual harassment research

Integrity research misconduct issues

bullying but also you know the stuff we

really talk about and we should talk

about a lot more the gatekeeping of

knowledge and also intellectual jealousy

and that's why ethics and decency and

Regulation and governance are required

we are only a researcher

because we are held accountable to and

with the community of researchers you

can never be sort of a researcher on

your own

we are only a researcher because we are

verified as a researcher by others

While most researchers are still housed

in our universities research and

development will use the phrase research

and development they are both integral

to public and private corporations

businesses smes and of course this

includes government Laboratories but

also the glams galleries libraries

archives and museums consultancies and

also environmental agencies as well

researchers therefore are employed

through a diversity of organizations

about sixty percent of our PhD students

do not work in universities they leave

our universities for other modes of

employment and so therefore the reason

research matters particularly to public

and private corporations is because

research renders those corporations

competitive and allows them to compete

well with other organizations

the researcher is important because we

are information professionals I think we

very rarely talk about that these days

we are information professionals what we

do is transform information into

knowledge through methodology

epistemology ontology and what we do is

we deploy clear methodologies to find to

create to locate to curate data sets and

then we analyze those data sets and we

prepare them for consumption and

engagement via diverse communities

as you can see therefore researchers

have very precise

responsibilities and we need to talk a

lot about the responsibilities of

researchers because we are assigned or

we seek out a particular research topic

research question research area and that

often aligns with the priorities of a

particular industry or a particular

government or Nation at a specific time

but from that topic we develop a

research plan now in outrider 2 we

talked about the research proposal and

looked at research plan and research

proposal have a lot of overlap because

really they're about

organization and understanding how to

manage information knowledge other human

beings ethics and also resources time

and money

so a researcher continues to iteratively

circulate the knowledge that is

activated in that research so

dissemination is crucial

to being a researcher we provide updates

on our research via conferences or blogs

or podcasts or videos such as this

Nitros of course and we make sure that

our data sets and data collections are

always tested and verified and improved

so we iteratively look have we got the

right data set how can we improve our

information literacy and our information

collection strategies and then of course

we develop those strong strategies for

dissemination to diverse and I'll use

the weird word stakeholders

researchers are qualified

[Music]

and one of the reasons they're qualified

is they participate in research training

research training is a weird phrase and

in a future outrider I'm going to take

that phrase on I think the better phrase

to be frank is research education but

the research education that we as

researchers activate and share is about

Theory it's about methodology it's about

evidence it's also about dissemination

protocols and ethics

we also through research education talk

about reading

and we talk about writing and the

technical skills that are required in

many disciplines so in the experimental

Sciences theoretical Sciences field work

based Sciences or indeed in high Theory

that's what we talk about being a

researcher therefore is intensely

specialized without apology

we hold Bachelor degrees

master's degrees doctoral degrees and we

gain diverse experiences from around the

world we are internationally checked for

our research we understand diverse

research cultures and we continue to

test and check ourselves every single

year via peer review there are also some

other important skills you know we've

got to do budget management time

management there may be leadership

skills there more importantly there may

be followership skills there but also

information literacy skills

communication studies communication

skills and that's why so many of us as

researchers don't stop at our PhD we

activate further qualifications micro

credentials or often what's called Nano

learning

because a researcher is able to continue

to innovate

and to create and curate and transform

with a singular goal

to improve knowledge

how amazing is this

part of what a researcher must do is

learn to recognize and learn to manage

bias and learn to manage errors bias and

errors if you're alive if you're

breathing you're going to have bias and

you're going to have errors

but we learn to manage and acknowledge

those biases and those Errors By a very

tight combination between methodology

epistemology and ontology and we

continually revise that relationship

researchers learn to control and manage

and understand our subjectivities

subjectivity not a problem but you must

acknowledge it you must control it and

manage it it is a lens to research and

you must understand how that lens

operates in terms of developing your

research outputs scientific researchers

of course have the scientific method

that validates and tries to manage

subjectivity in bias and of course

that's the scientific method from

observation to hypotheses working

definitions start to deploying you know

scientific equipment then getting the

data set doing the analysis going back

to the hypothesis and saying you know

what the hypothesis was wrong and going

through the whole process again so that

scientific method is a great way to

manage and acknowledge and work through

bias and subjectivity the social

scientists of course have diverse

methodologies working through say

ethnography or field work or participant

observation

and particularly in the social sciences

the imperative is to create those

reactive data sets through interviews or

through surveys

ethics is crucial in The Sciences but

particularly I would argue the social

sciences and I'll tell you why because

the investigations that are done in the

social sciences are important but are

often very timely and a very very hot

topics and that's great but the problem

with the very timely Hot Topics is that

they can do great harm

to the participants so all this social

scientific rigor must be tempered

by respect for citizens

any research any researcher must respect

deeply

the life of citizens okay Humanities and

arts research and research as wow this

is a a very very wide field but

researchers in these disciplines at its

most basic are very involved in thinking

about context

and that context may be theoretical

context intellectual context social

economic political geographical context

so the humanities and social sciences

terribly interested in thinking about

how context operates in our changing

views and the emergence of knowledge

so for example historians deploy very

intricate epistemologies to try and look

at the granular relationship between the

past and the present and build that

relationship very intricate like skin

delicate delicate skin between the past

and the present High Theory and high

theoretical research is absolutely

crucial very very difficult and we need

to acknowledge the importance of the

high Theory and the high theoreticians

amongst our researchers who construct

mind furniture and move our mind

furniture around brilliant inspirational

human beings and of course art based

research is important here some of this

is based in studio so Studio based

research but also practice LED practice

based creative-led creative based often

involving the construction of artifact

and again the relationships between

artifact and exegesis and what happens

in that space is incredibly interesting

for a researcher to explore

so what aligns all of this research is a

commitment to research ethics

and in Australia we have a code for

research conduct which must be the

punctuation of every second of every

minute of every hour of the research

that we do but can I say most national

systems around the world to all our

friends around the world who are joining

us you also have clear ethical

parameters and in the United States for

example the National Review Act was

formed in 1974 and so institutions still

uphold that legislation to this day

which is incredibly inspirational

research ethics is concerned with what

happens to people

or animals or documents or the

environment and what happens to those

people and environment and animals

during the research

process

axiology is the frame and the guide

through research ethics at its most

basic what axiology does is it balances

the values of the researcher

the research and citizens and so it

carefully ensures you so so values

matter a lot here and how we balance

those values between diverse

stakeholders is the key of axiology very

precious very important so therefore

researchers must endlessly check their

research design

particularly when it's involving human

beings or animals or the environment

medical research of course is guided

through a series of ethical codes as we

would hope starting with of course the

Nuremberg code in 1947 moving through

the Declaration of Helsinki in 1964 and

the Belmont report in 1978 so through

these governance

protocols research ethics becomes the

foundation of medical research and

applied science more generally so as you

can see research training yucky phrase

but research education must include

foundationally attention to research

ethics but also academic and research

integrity

and that includes particularly it starts

with uh monitoring data and ensuring

that the fabrication of data is not

enacted and authorship is respected and

logged so the challenges I think that

are going to emerge for you are

researchers of the future are very very

clear

we've got the research ethics and the

methodologies around using public posts

so say for example you want to cite a

public Twitter post or you're on

Facebook and someone has made a post

public they have made a decision to

render a post public now the interesting

research ethics conversations at the

moment are involving the circulation of

public posts from social media and can I

acknowledge my wonderful former student

Dr Leanne McRae who is doing some

amazing intellectual work in this space

and Leanne I need you to write this work

up for us okay so these are the new and

emerging debates around research ethics

and of course then there are the

challenges with peer review and I'm

going to get really stroppy about this

for which I apologize but I get angry

about this every day

peer review is crucial to building those

blocks building that conversation

between an individual researcher and

their intellectual Community that's

where we started our definitional work

today but we've seen in so many recent

controversies that there are a series of

Gatekeepers

in our disciplines who are keeping out

new voices keeping out the innovative

ideas to maintain their own power

and the other key problem and challenge

we've got in the maintenance of the

Integrity of peer review is what is

happening to higher education at our

Universities at the moment it breaks my

heart every single day look a tear just

popped out it's not unbelievable

research colleagues is conducted in the

long term a PhD is a three-year degree

you are enrolling to complete a PhD in

three years but the challenge with that

is that supervisors are being hired who

are not on a three-year contract

so your supervisors may be rendered

redundant by the organization may be

restructured out of the organization or

they may be on a contract casual or zero

hour contract right and of course these

contracts are creating great instability

as does I'm gonna go there the

differentiation of academic functions so

in the last 10 years particularly in the

last five years all sorts of new

contracts have arrived in academic life

so now we have a group of colleagues

that are called teaching only academics

or teaching focused academics now I've

thought that I've lost I always lose but

can I make an obvious can I ask you a

question and you can ponder it in your

own life in the next week

if an academic is not research active

are they an academic

and I Define research activity by the

way compliance level five refereed

articles or five refereed objects in a

five-year period so very low level five

in five years is research activity if

you're below that

are you actually an academic just

putting it out there please disagree

with me offer comments in the comment

section if you like but what I'm talking

about now is the volatility of the

academic Workforce peer review editing

these are noble Acts

that have been conducted for free

by generations of researchers so that we

are able to continue that research

conversation right

but as Publishers like El Sevilla and

Springer become two of the most

profitable corporations in the world

and that profit is based on the Free

Labor

of academics

we have to ask ourselves what exactly

we're doing here

now that free peer review that free

academic labor was absolutely fine when

academics were on full-time permanent or

tenured contracts okay this was about

service we were given the gift of tenure

and therefore we serve our intellectual

community

but those days are long long over

and all of us are on short-term

contracts as I've said thousands of

times where all the precarious now we're

all one day away from getting the sack

and we've got a large number of our

colleagues on part-time casualized jobs

battling to find food security or

housing security and of course

ironically I've performed this through

many of the videos that you've seen my

degree of Housing and security you've

seen in these videos so I'm currently in

a temporary accommodation this is the

last week I'll be in this particular

temporary accommodation and then next

week I'm moving to another place to live

so I am writing my research on a wonky

table in temporary accommodation day

after day week after week and I am not

alone

this is the reality of a researcher's

life now

so through these tough times to be a

researcher

the pursue pursue knowledge

has never mattered more

we need you

and we need your high quality research

in a time of fake news

in a time of I'm going there alternative

facts wow

time of Twitter pylons

and photo opportunities rather than

rigor

the quiet

distinguished

and careful work of a researcher

must be respected

it'll rarely be supported by governments

because it really creates those quick

outputs those quick outcomes that create

profit for particular Industries

but this is courageous work

in a time of cowardice

an ignorance

and foolishness

you as a researcher

you are the best of us

and you will move us

to a different future

I wish you love light and peace

tea out