What does research demand?

Research is often thought of as painful work creating and making great inventions. Does the work of a researcher require any qualities from the researcher? 

A researcher must never give up
A small chunk of creativity
Everyone builds in a personal style
Problems in short term research
The researcher often participates in a project
Perseverance
When the grand lines are settled the research can progress alongside with other work.
Doctoral students' bread and butter
Missing for teamwork
Genuine motivation, perseverance and a systematic approach
The time for research needs guarding with barbed wire
Researchers are suspected of working on narrow problems that are divorced from life
The public image of a researcher is often far from the truth

The researcher should never give up

”Research work requires perseverance and tolerance of uncertainty. Researchers' abilities are tested in particular when compiling articles for referred international publications. On the other hand getting articles through into good journals is rewarding. Obtaining funding for research requires a lot of work and the applicant should be prepared for negative responses even if the application is a good one. This is frustrating but the researcher should never give up. One should learn from criticism and do it better next time. Shortage of time also follows the researcher, especially if there are teaching and administrative duties to be taken care of at the same time. Information overflow is also getting worse, so that it is more and more difficult to find relevant pieces of information from the flood of useless and unrelated information.”
(Reijo Savolainen, REGIS)

A bit of creativity

Persistence and the ability for independent work are some of the qualities that are expected of researchers. They have to have the strength to strive for answers even if it sometimes feels hopeless. A disciplined and systematic working style is beneficial. In my opinion, the ideal researcher has a bit of creativity for finding new approaches and thoughts along with a good memory and a logical way of thinking.
(Pekka Henttonen, REGIM)

Everyone builds in a personal style

”The work in research requires genuine motivation, persistence, perseverance and readiness to go deep into what is being researched. This manifests itself especially in preparing dissertations. I could say that the working days of a university teacher turn out to be long, especially if your responsibilities include administrative tasks. During academic terms there is a chance to do research only a few moments at a time. Therefore the best chances for doing research are in summertime. At weekends it is possible to use a few hours, for example for reading the latest research literature. It is hard to describe a researcher's working processes in general way or to characterize what a typical working day is like. In my opinion every researcher "builds in his or her own style". The working practices that feel best evolve over years of working.”
(Reijo Savolainen, REGIS)

 

Problems of a short-term researcher

"The worst downside of being a researcher is being a short-term researcher. You can devote all your time to research only occasionally. It is painful to decide about allocating time between family, working for one's living, and doing research. You cannot cut short on family therefore research and regular work are competing with each other. It is also a question oft economy if you can afford to launch into a research with a scholarship if you manage to get any funding at all. These are difficult questions of priorisation. It is up to how much you want your research to get completed: if there is will there will also be means of achieving the goal."
(Tiina Peltola, REGIM)

The researcher often participates in a project

”Certainly the work requires the ability to concentrate, the ability to go deep into something. You must not be too impatient, but not too social either (because the work is mostly lonely). I'm technically a researcher but I'm working on a project which is not advancing my dissertation). The 'research work' includes programming for example. I think that the idea in public does not match the reality in researcher's work. A researcher is often working in a project where they are having meetings etc. and the result from the project may be something else than just a pile of paper.”
(Eija Airio, FIRE)

Persistence and perseverance

"Doing research requires that you are interested in the object of research and also patience even if the work does not progress as expected. Persistence and perseverance are required and also the ability to stand long boring phases of work and routine data collection, after which there may insightful moments. When I was doing research full-time the progress could be seen and the success was rewarding. Progress in research is slowed down after returning to regular work but this is a dark side of making research that one just have to stand."
(Tiina Peltola, REGIM)

When the grand lines are settled the research progress alongside other work.

”At least for me it was necessary in the beginning to get into full-time research. When the whole has a shape and the grand lines have been settled it is easier to do research alongside other work."
(Pekka Henttonen, REGIM)

Doctoral student's bread and butter

"During the grant period I was working at home. This included days in the library and days at home. I felt that the regular rhythm of days was good for me. For example, waking up in the morning just the same way as if you were leaving for work. Getting a little fresh air suited me very well and kept the mental agility high all day long. As a simple hint for those working at home could be that you should completely drop doing housework in daytime. I have found doing research rewarding especially when you I an insight into something after long and grinding data collection."
(Tiina Peltola, REGIM)

Missing for teamwork

“There are no limits to the challenges in this work; it is the skill to choose that is the skill of a researcher. There are dark sides like never-ending lack of time, shortage of money, the usual. For myself personally the major dark side is the lonely grinding work; there is no proper research community in my research area to give support and with which one could consider things together. I miss for teamwork. Envy, jealousy, hiding and snitching are familiar in my research as well."
(Marjo Rita Valtonen, REGIM)

Genuine motivation, persistence and systematic approach

”Research requires genuine interest in the phenomena that are being researched, learning new things, plus persistence and a systematic approach in the implementation of the research. A professor has a chance to enjoy full-time research only while on leave. During office hours the research is discussed in project meetings, meetings or guiding of student work, and postgraduate seminars. On normal working days you can snatch time for research only after the working hours.
(Eero Sormunen, FIRE)

The time for research needs guarding with barbed wire

”Encircled by teaching, tutoring, all of the electronic mail hassle plus numerous other disconnected things time must be encircled with barbed wire! In my dreams someday I will be full-time researcher, at least every now and then you need a chance for different kind of phasing of research tasks. I have categorized my working week as preparing teaching, teaching and research phases. In the morning I do the reading and writing, in the afternoon and after dinner the odd jobs and the mail.”
(Marjo Rita Valtonen, REGIM)

Researchers are suspected of working on narrow problems that are divorced from life

”There seem to be many 'general conceptions' of research work. Research is typically individual work within a research group and within the goal of that group (not completely individualistic as in traditional stereotypes of research). Researchers are suspected of working on narrow problems that have no connection to real life (the ivory tower metaphor). This point of view is hard to abolish since 'narrow problems' and 'divorced from life' are very relative concepts. On the other hand the quality requirements and economic terms of action force research into a focused approach. In the long run the ivory tower can be avoided by emphasizing practical importance when choosing the research problems and by actively creating connections to the professional field in particular and generally into the whole community.”
(Eero Sormunen, FIRE)

The public image of a researcher is often far from reality

“Many people at least outside of the academia have either too idealistic a view or have completely misunderstood the idea of what a researcher does or why research is conducted. There are examples in the public of studying ridiculous or already known things. For example a road either goes on straight or then it turns left or right!”
(Marjo Rita Valtonen, Regim)