Three years after his defence, an early-career researcher reviews his publications: five papers, all from thesis data, all circling the same narrow question. Applying for a permanent post, the panel asks: “What will you be researching over the next ten years?” He answers with the title of paper number six. It is not wrong, but the panel is looking for someone with an agenda, not just a topic.
A research agenda is one big unifying question pursued through several connected projects. This article shows how to turn your thesis into such an agenda, with a five-year plan that balances safe papers against questions worth chasing.
Step 1: find your unifying question
Write your thesis as an answer, then state the broader question it is part of. For example:
- Thesis: the effect of spoken versus written feedback on first-year students' writing.
- Unifying question: which kinds of feedback help learners regulate their own work, in which contexts, and why.
A good unifying question has three features: it is narrow enough that people recognise it as yours, broad enough to hold five to ten projects, and meaningful to people outside your immediate subfield.
Step 2: a project portfolio at three risk levels
| Level | Characteristics | Suggested share of time | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safe | Data in hand or easy to get, familiar methods, very likely publishable | About half | Unpublished thesis chapters; further analyses of the same data |
| Extension | Familiar methods, new setting or population | About a third | Replicating the design with a different group of learners; a collaboration abroad |
| Breakthrough | New question or method, high risk, may yield nothing | About a sixth | A large intervention trial; a new measurement approach |
The shares are not a rule. What matters is leaving no level empty: only safe projects give a steady but thinning record; only breakthrough projects can mean years without a paper.
Step 3: a paper pipeline
Experienced researchers rarely have just one paper in progress. They manage a pipeline with papers at different stages:
- Idea sketched and feasibility checked.
- Data collection under way.
- Analysis under way.
- Draft in progress.
- Submitted, awaiting review.
- Revising after review.
Aim to have at least one paper in the early, middle and late stages at any time. When a paper is rejected or data collection stalls, the others keep flowing.
Step 4: attach resources to the agenda
Every extension and breakthrough project needs answers to three questions: how much time, which people, which money. Note next to each project:
- A suitable funding type: small internal grants, early-career schemes, national or international funding.
- Collaborators you need: someone with data, someone with methods, someone in another context.
- Student involvement: undergraduate projects, master's dissertations or doctoral theses.
An agenda tied to concrete resources shows you have thought about delivery, not just ideas.
Writing the research statement for job applications
A research statement is the written version of this agenda. A two- to three-page framework usually covers:
- Your unifying question and why it matters, written for readers outside your subfield.
- What you have done: the main contributions of your thesis and papers, grouped by theme rather than listed.
- Near-term plans (two to three years): two or three specific projects with data, methods and expected outputs.
- Long-term vision (five to ten years): the breakthrough direction and the funding you will target.
- Fit with the institution: research groups, facilities and students you could supervise.
Common mistakes
- Listing papers instead of telling a research story.
- A plan made entirely of breakthrough projects, with nothing to suggest steady output.
- An agenda so broad that nobody remembers what you work on.
- Abandoning the thesis entirely for a new topic, throwing away expertise built over three or four years.
- No mention of collaborators or students, as if you will do everything alone.
What you do not need yet
- A detailed ten-year plan. A five-year plan with a long-term direction is enough, and you will revise it annually.
- A choice between loyalty to the thesis and a complete change of direction. Most good agendas are a curve that gradually opens out from the thesis.
- A large grant straight away; small internal funds often bridge to extension projects.
Do this: one afternoon to build the frame
- Write your unifying question in one sentence of no more than 30 words.
- List every project idea you have ever had, including half-formed ones.
- Place each idea on one of the three levels.
- Drop ideas that do not connect to the unifying question, or move them to a “later” list.
- Draw your pipeline: where each paper stands and which could be submitted in the next six months.
- Note the resources each extension and breakthrough project needs.
Next, send a one-page version of this frame to a senior person you trust, a former supervisor or a senior colleague, and ask one question: “If I had to drop one project, which would you drop?” The answer usually shows where your agenda is spread too thin.
Câu hỏi thường gặp
What is the difference between a research agenda and a research project?
A project is a specific study with its own question and data. A research agenda is a broader unifying question pursued through several connected projects over many years.
Should I keep working on my PhD topic after graduating?
It usually pays to use the thesis as a launch point and extend gradually into new contexts, methods or questions. Dropping it entirely wastes the expertise you have built.
What goes into a research statement for an academic job?
Typically your unifying question, your contributions so far, plans for the next two to three years, a long-term vision and how you fit the institution. Two to three pages is common.
How can I keep publishing steadily after my PhD?
Maintain a pipeline of papers at different stages and spend most of your time on lower-risk projects, alongside a few extension and breakthrough projects.
How detailed should a five-year research plan be?
Detailed for the first two or three years, with the later years as a direction. Review and adjust it every year as results come in.
