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Episode 7

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Published on:

25th Sep 2016

Marcus Foth on creating a research niche and building a lab

Marcus Foth is an i/Director of the QUT Design Lab, founder and former director of the Urban Informatics Research Lab, and Professor in Interactive & Visual Design, School of Design, Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology. Marcus talks about being on sabbatical, creating a research niche at the intersection of disciplines and publishing in diverse venues. He also shares his experiences of setting up a new lab and of chairing conferences. 

“We need to first focus on the passion and zest of our researchers - and it’s not these bean counting KPIs, it’s the beans themselves”

He talks about (times approximate) …

01:41 His sabbatical experience (long professional development leave) – nice to have time to think

04:10 Moving from Germany to Brisbane Australia and finding a PhD focus

09:15 Finding his PhD niche at the intersection of various fields

12:45 Choosing a deliberate publication strategy across different disciplines, rejecting a monolithic approach (not just think of CHI)

15:55 Publishing edited books and value of the process for networking, building a new field

20:45 Lessons learnt choosing a publisher

23:35 Conveying the narrative of your research, helping people interpret your publication venues

25:35 Starting up the Urban Informatics Lab and building a culture and identity – the value of the sign on the door

29:45 Lessons learnt leading a group, needing time to grow, and promoting inclusiveness

34:45 Reflecting on service roles, chairing a conference and the opportunities that come with service

40:05 Lab activities and when the lab grows too big

42:35 Needing more conversations about the research beans, not just counting the beans

46:05 End

Related links:

Urban Informatics Lab - http://www.urbaninformatics.net

References to his books from here - http://staff.qut.edu.au/staff/foth/

Smart Cities Summer School – http://summerschool2016-smartcity.tuwien.ac.at

Jaz Choi - http://staff.qut.edu.au/staff/choih/

Designing Interactive Systems (DIS2016) conference - http://www.dis2016.org



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About the Podcast

Changing Academic Life
What can we do, individually and collectively, to change academic life to be more sustainable, collaborative and effective? This podcast series offers long-form conversations with academics and thought leaders who share stories and insights, as well as bite-size musings on specific topics drawing on literature and personal experience.
For more information go to https://changingacademiclife.com
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Geraldine Fitzpatrick

Geraldine Fitzpatrick (Geri Fitz), is an awarded Emeritus Professor TU Wien, with degrees in Informatics and in Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, after a prior career as a nurse/midwife. She has International experience working in academic, research, industry and clinical settings. She is a sought-after facilitator/speaker/coach who cares about creating environments in which people can thrive, enabling individual growth, and creating collegial collaborative cultures. Apart from her usual academic work, she is an international keynote speaker, and a facilitator/trainer of seminars, workshops and courses for academics and professionals at all levels, from senior academic leaders, to mid and early career researchers, to PhD students. She is also a mentor/coach for academics and has been/is on various Faculty evaluation panels and various International Advisory Boards. An example of a course is the Academic Leadership Development Course for Informatics Europe, run in conjunction with Austen Rainer, Queens Uni Belfast. She also offers bespoke courses.