On 28 January, WIPCAD visiting researcher Prof. Stephen Osborne from the University of Edinburgh held a workshop open to WIPCAD doctoral fellows as well as students of the Master of Public Management (MPM) program. While Prof. Osborne presented his research on “The SERVICE framework - towards resilient and sustainable public services in the twenty first century" during the previous day’s WIPCAD Lecture Series, the emphasis of the workshop lay on sharing his experience as an academic researcher.
Five doctoral fellows in various phases of their dissertation project as well as one MPM student had the opportunity to engage with the founder and editor of the leading journal Public Management Review (PMR). After gaining a brief overview of the participants’ profile and research topics, Prof. Osborne introduced his own career track and gave a context to the different steps that lead him to be a professor at one of the World’s Top 20 universities. He for example depicted his way back into academia after having worked as practitioner and compared the opportunities and limitations of management vs. research positions within universities.
Building on this, he gave the participants ten tips for building a good academic career. Major takeaways were the value of serendipity, the importance of building networks and the identification of learning opportunities. Upon request of the participants, Prof. Osborne further elaborated on questions related to publication strategies. He shared his experience as an editor of PMR and discussed the issue of journal ranking. Other topics that were addressed are the benefits of collaborating with senior researchers during the early steps of an academic career, the way to deal with journal rejections and the importance of creating and delineating a field of expertise.
Concluding the workshop, Prof. Osborne welcomed the participants to contact him for advice on matters related to his fields of expertise.
Jennifer Bansard