Hacking Academia
An ever-growing series of tutorials (with detailed notes) filled with practical, experience-driven tips and tricks for being effective, happy and successful in modern day academia and related careers.
Episodes
39 episodes since 2023
Pushing Your Limits and Flirting with Burnout
It's Friday, and, given my life currently, it's a great time to talk about pushing to, and beyond, your limits, and managing as best you can the associated risk of burnout.For a while now, and likely for a while into the future, my prof...
June 20, 2024
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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15:43
The Great Tape Prank
It's late on a Friday afternoon here in Brisbane, so it's time for a fun story about a prank my PhD labmates played on me two decades ago, and how it unexpectedly led to my most highly cited and awarded research work. ๐๐คAt the time, I w...
May 31, 2024
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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8:53
Success and Rejection Rates in Academia - An Informal, Personal Account
๐๐๐ญ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐!!! ๐๐The concept of success rates (and by extension, rejection rates) is something that comes up a lot in research and academia. ๐Grant schemes and publicatio...
May 03, 2024
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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27:25
Breadth versus Depth: Key Considerations for Focusing or Diversifying in Your Career
Of all the advice that is dispensed in academia, one of the most varied is about whether you should focus narrowly and deeply, or diversify and broaden your repertoire.The reason for this variety of suggested approach is of course, circ...
March 10, 2024
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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16:39
Tips for Writing Compelling Grants
Tips for Writing Compelling Grants
February 01, 2024
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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11:09
Flying Close to the Sun... and Why it Can Be Exhausting!
I'm excited to release my first Hacking Academia video and podcast for 2024, "Flying Close to the Sun... and Why it Can Be Exhausting!".The basic premise is that if you're pushing hard in your career, you're going to inevitably land som...
January 28, 2024
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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14:59
Lifestyle Crafting Research
๐ (0:00) Opening Scene๐ (0:09) Introduction to Lifestyle Crafting Work Activities ๐ (0:43) For People Who Want to Be a Bit More Deliberative ๐ (1:07) A Process for "Just Say No"๐ (1:21) Career Relevance and Applicable ...
November 10, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 32
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13:02
Working While Travelling
For those who travel for work, one of the challenges they must grapple with is how to balance the work that they would normally be doing back at home, with the activities associated with the trip. Here I highlight some of the key concepts...
October 05, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 31
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13:33
Structuring a Robotics Conference Paper
It's conference paper writing season for #roboticists!With the 2024
September 07, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 30
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23:03
Being Young For Your Career Stage
I've spent much of my adult career in roles where I was on the younger side what is "typical": this has led to a range of interesting experiences, learnings and insights.In this Hacking Academia video, I run through four key concepts rel...
August 26, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 29
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13:31
Ideation for Research
In any research career where you are responsible for conducting or leading a program of innovative research, your success will depend on your ability to generate good research ideas โ a process known as โideationโ. In your career, you may have ...
August 13, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 28
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12:58
Leadership Principles and Pitfalls
Leadership...In my newest video, "Leadership Principles and Pitfalls", I delve deep into the core concepts, misconceptions, challenges and pitfalls of leadership. I cover misconceptions around leaders being the most eloquent or best at ...
July 30, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 27
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13:24
Public Profile Building: Why, Why Not, and Your Options for How
Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door???Just because you do great work, doesn't mean that work will have the impact and achieve the benefits it could.The chances of your contributions having the...
July 23, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 26
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14:40
The Importance of and Art of Taking a Break from Work
In professional careers we tend to focus a lot on what we're do at work - but what we do *outside* of work can be just as important. This is a well known phenomenon in other endeavours in life - for example in athletic endeavours it's not just ...
July 08, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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13:38
Budgeting for Research Centres and Major Groups, Part 1: Key Concepts
Do you manage the discretionary budget for a large research group or centre? If yes, then you know budgeting can be a challenging yet crucial aspect of your work. โ My most recent Hacking Academia release walks through the theory and prac...
May 23, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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11:50
Why Recent AI Developments Are Not Business as Normal
Iโve been meaning to get my thoughts on the recent developments and likely disruptive impacts of #Artificialntelligence into a video, and to do this free of any constraining context, as most of my keynotes, workshops etc. over the coming year w...
May 17, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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20:53
The Power and Perils of Implied Messaging
๐ค โItโs what wasnโt said thatโs most interestingโฆโMy new video covers the significance of implied messaging in settings such as job interviews, grant rejoinders, job referee reports and more.I highlight the importance of recognizi...
May 17, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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8:22
Interpreting Robot Tech Demo Videos
Are you one of those people who get excited when a new robot or autonomous tech demo goes viral? ๐ Me too!But did you know that not all videos are created equal? Itโs crucial to understand the varying motivations behind them and what you...
May 17, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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13:33
Key Considerations for Transitioning to Leadership Roles
๐ฃ Excited to share my latest video: โKey Considerations for Transitioning to Leadership Rolesโ ๐ฅ๐Are you considering a leap from small team leader into more senior leadership positions in academia or research? This video is for you! I de...
May 17, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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9:34
Carry On Only Baggage Travel Tips and Tricks
Iโve been fortunate to travel โ a lot over the last 20 years, both professionally and personally.One thing Iโve refined over many years is my so-called โcarry on onlyโ baggage game for work trips specifically. This is where you only take...
May 17, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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16:43
Writing Effective Grant Rejoinders
If you are in the business of applying for #grants or #fellowships, you are in most cases in the business of writing #rejoinders!The rejoinder is a critical stage in many grant applications where you get the chance t...
May 17, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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10:45
Effective Generation and Filtering of Industry and Government Leads in Volatile Sectors
Most academics and researchers in a university context will engage in some sort of work with industry, government or public organisations at some stage in their career. However, how this is done can vary hugely: the experiences of a biotechnolo...
May 17, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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12:39
Interpreting and Communicating New Technology Concepts
With all the coverage of #ChatGPT3, #generativeai, the speculated demise of #AutonomousVehicles and the ever present dialogue around #robotics, #artificialintelligence, and existential threats and opportunitie...
May 17, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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13:22
Intelligence: Overrated, But Also Under Accounted For
Intelligence and intellectual capability!Can you find a more controversial and debated topic? Especially how they do or donโt affect success of all types in life, from professional to personal, and simply being happy.Yet we need t...
May 17, 2023
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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12:09