Ge#ng ready to do your

research
• When should I start my research?
– NOW!
– If you don’t start now, you will never start, and
forever gonna ask the same quesAon

• Why should I do research? I just want to teach…

– Great, you don’t have to do research. It’s enArely fine
to just teach.
– Be the best teacher, strive for the Best Teacher
Award! ...
– By the way....
the best teacher does not teach the same old slides for the
next 30 years! You need updates of knowledge and
technologies
• When should I start my research?
– NOW!
– If you don’t start now, you will never start, and
forever gonna ask the same quesAon

• Why should I do research? I just want to teach…

– Great, you don’t have to do research. It’s enArely fine
to just teach.
– Be the best teacher, strive for the Best Teacher
Award! ...
– By the way....
the best teacher does not teach the same old slides for the
next 30 years! You need updates of knowledge and
technologies
• When should I start my research?
– NOW!
– If you don’t start now, you will never start, and
forever gonna ask the same quesAon

• Why should I do research? I just want to teach…

– Great, you don’t have to do research. It’s enArely fine
to just teach.
– Be the best teacher, strive for the Best Teacher
Award! ...
– By the way....
the best teacher does not teach the same old slides for the
next 30 years! You need updates of knowledge and
technologies
• When should I start my research?
– NOW!
– If you don’t start now, you will never start, and
forever gonna ask the same quesAon

• Why should I do research? I just want to teach…

– Great, you don’t have to do research. It’s enArely fine
to just teach.
– Be the best teacher, strive for the Best Teacher
Award! ...
– By the way....
the best teacher does not teach the same old slides for the
next 30 years! You need updates of knowledge and
technologies
• When should I start my research?
– NOW!
– If you don’t start now, you will never start, and
forever gonna ask the same quesAon

• Why should I do research? I just want to teach…

– Great, you don’t have to do research. It’s enArely fine
to just teach.
– Be the best teacher, strive for the Best Teacher
Award! ...
– By the way....
the best teacher does not teach the same old slides for the
next 30 years! You need updates of knowledge and
technologies
• I have not Ame to do research!
– Really? That’s an excuse
– Spend 30 minutes less from Facebooking,
Instagramming and TwiRering; Spend 30 minutes
less from watching drama between PH and BN;
spend 30 minutes less from gossiping who is
joining the fac and why is he/she resigning – you
get extra 1 ½ hours to sit on your proposal write
up.
• I have not Ame to do research!
– Really? That’s an excuse
– Spend 30 minutes less from Facebooking,
Instagramming and TwiRering; Spend 30 minutes
less from watching drama between PH and BN;
spend 30 minutes less from gossiping who is
joining the fac and why is he/she resigning – you
get extra 1 ½ hours to sit on your proposal write
up.
• There is no support to do my research!
– Really? That’s an excuse
– Ride on it
– Collaborate; outsource, etc
• There is no support to do my research!
– Really? That’s an excuse
– Ride on it
– Collaborate; outsource, etc
 Great scienAsts transform an apparent defect
into an asset:
It’s a poor workman who blames his tools – the
good man gets on with the job, given what he’s
got, and gets the best answer he can
• What do I need to prepare before I start my research?
You need
– Courage & interest
• No interest? Or was it because you never tried therefore no
interest?
– Respect and proud on your profession:
• You are Academician; you are not academic staff!
– Confidence
– Curiosity; always ask yourself a quesAon on the
phenomenon that surrounds you
– Humble; learn from senior people; talk to the senior
people; open to suggesAons and criAcisms
– Honest & sincerity; to your peers; to Science; to Life
– Time management; self management
– Commitment
• What do I need to prepare before I start my research?
You need
– Courage & interest
• No interest? Or was it because you never tried therefore no
interest?
– Respect and proud on your profession:
• You are Academician; you are not academic staff!
– Confidence
– Curiosity; always ask yourself a quesAon on the
phenomenon that surrounds you
– Humble; learn from senior people; talk to the senior
people; open to suggesAons and criAcisms
– Honest & sincerity; to your peers; to Science; to Life
– Time management; self management
– Commitment
• Work hard!
– The moment you are in academia:
• Don’t dream to be millionaire
• There is no short cut in science
• Your Quality of Life is your work
Have discussions over the lunch, teleconferences over the
midnight, preparing manuscripts over the weekends, catch your
proposal deadline by tomorrow!
• Don’t be too calculaAve
– Instead of spending Ame to be calculaAve… spending
10 minutes Ame to fill up the milage claim form to
aRend a reseach meeAng in UKM; spending 10
minutes to apply replacement leave; spending 30
minutes Ame to argue with HR why do I deserve a day
off - why don’t you spend this 50 minutes to read a
page journal?
Well, I may have exaggerated this...
But
There’s how you are get your Ame to do research...
• Get a mentor to coach you
– The experience from seniors are invaluable – it safes
you lots of Ame from “trial-error”
– Keep in touch with your supervisor, he/she knows you
best

• But, find the ‘correct’ person to coach you!

– Someone that has track record, sincere, professional,
strong ethics and integrity
– Of course, someone that you could get along with
• Learn to deal with rejecAons and criAcisms
– Respect the seniors, respect the professors
– Accept their criAcism
– They have gone through what you are going
through now, probably more than you are
experiencing
• Form your own research niche
– The most difficult part
– Experience does maRer!
– Explore

• Should be your experAse/specialist; but not to

overlap with your supervisor(s) / mentor(s)
• Have a back up plan – what if this project
doesn’t work?
• You can’t work solo
• Get a research team; collaborate with people
• Be confident yet doubmul to your hypothesis
and findings
Don’t behave like a Professor when you are not
a professor – Get to your bench and work!

Quote from a senior professor (outside UCSI) to me

• How should I start preparing a research
proposal?
• Ask yourself a simple but most relevant
quesAon, a quesAon that most laymen
concerns but likely to have no answer…
– Where do I come from?
– How can I make you see beRer?
– Why do they look different…. yet similar...
• Ask yourself a simple but most relevant
quesAon, a quesAon that most laymen
concerns but likely to have no answer…
– Where do I come from?
– How can I make you see beRer?
– Why do they look different…. yet similar...
• Get ideas
– Avoid being modest – do something (and publish
something) that maRers
– Novel; but not too novel
– Again, the simple quesAon that you asked…
• Do background study
• Read, read, read & read!
– But read the best & reputable journals, not the
Journal of Ulu Kelang, please
– Get the most recent updates of knowledge in your
field
– Learn from the best research project in your field, and
ask how can you implement it in your research
• IdenAfy the gap of knowledge
• Those who has already got funding before – good
to show some preliminary findings to convince
your funder (But don’t reveal all your findings!)
• Form a scienAfic quesAon
• Hypothesis
• ObjecAves to address the hypothesis
• Form your study design, experimental
method(s)
• Samples
• StaAsAcs
• You can’t work solo
• Get a research team; collaborate with people,
but make sure they contribute
• IdenAfy source of funding
• Study the nature of the funders – match the
interest of the funder(s) to the nature of your
study
• Follow VERY STRICTLY the guideline.
• Do not double submit your proposal!!
The most important component in
research!
• Ethics & Integrity
– Malaysian Codes for Responsible in ConducAng
Research (MCRCR)
– Be RESPONSIBLE to your work
– Be HONEST & SINCERE to your work
– RESPECT your subjects
– RESPECT & ACKNOWLEDGE your co-workers
(including students!)
Are you ready now?