The bottom line

Money is still a dirty word in science. 💰

We sublimate "getting paid for your work" with expressions such as "was awarded a grant", "received recognition", "was presented a prize". Money is how we "fund" our activities or "source" our next project.  

When I started working as a freelancer, it was the first time I had to think of how much my time is worth. 💱 So, I decided that my work would be measured in realized projects and client satisfaction, not how long it would take me to do the job: quality, regardless of effort.

This is even noting how important it is to keep to deadlines. Being professional in your conduct means being able to estimate how long a task will take you, based on prior experience. Also, knowing when to take breaks to maintain consistency and accuracy.

Within the allocated timeframe, freelancers are also expected to practice quality controls regularly, and self-correct. These are the kind of project management tasks that researchers often conduct without even being aware of  —the transferable or soft skills of academia. 🎓

I work with a couple of larger companies and smaller clients. Communicating expectations at the onset is crucial to establish a productive relationship. Thus, setting and meeting my financial goals 👇 is essential to keep a healthy work-life balance. 

That means working smarter, not longer. 👀

Similarly, when writing grants, it is key to clarify how and where the money will be spent. 💳 Some funders value knowledge transfer and others professional development for early career researchers. Some funders require the outputs to be made publicly available, others expect patent submission as a return. 💊 Clearly communicating the results of a project to a funder is part of its successful completion.

Research outputs are now more diverse than ever. Producing research papers and patents used to be sufficient to secure the next round of financing. 📀 Maybe academics became part of a learned association in their field to increase recognition. 💼 But nowadays, we can have public engagement, community outreach, training materials, patient advocacy, policy consultancy, and even social media presence.  💁

A project that is completed in the lab 

and written in the scholarly record 

may still be influencing education and policy 

years later.

The ever changing landscape of researcher recognition is finally catching up, partly because it is becoming evident that AI will not be able to replace us in any of these activities soon. How we incorporate prior knowledge into future predictions, how we adapt and change, even the mistakes we make are highly individual and human.

My advice is that if it is work, and you treat it like work, allocate time and resources to it. 

Get yourself and your team paid for what you contribute and produce. 

This will ensure that all the different outputs resulting from a grant are valued by funders and peers.