How to be a Successful Researcher?

10 Essential Skills to Master for any Researcher

Prasanna Date
The Faculty
4 min readMay 16, 2021

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The ladder of 10 research skills that every researcher must climb in order to be successful.
Ladder of Research Skills

Of all the intellectually demanding professions out there, research is probably the most demanding. By ‘research,’ I’m not only referring to academic research, but also data science, business analysis, market research, medical research and any profession that requires an optimal mix of the left brain’s analytical skills coupled with the right brain’s creativity. Researchers are tasked with the challenging job of finding innovative ways to solve some of the most complex problems known to mankind.

So, what do you need to be a successful researcher? Well, it all starts with intrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic Motivation: The ability to pursue something because you enjoy the pursuit itself, and not have any expectation of external rewards like money, status or power.

For example, solving a math problem just for the heck of solving it, actually imparts superior math skills as opposed to solving it with the sole purpose of acing the math exam. Intrinsic motivation (a.k.a. passion, drive etc.) is the thread that weaves the fabric of a successful research career. It is the hallmark of anyone who has been at the pinnacle of their fields (not just research): Leonardo da Vinci, Mother Teresa, Richard Feynman, Sachin Tendulkar, Beyoncé, you name it! Don’t worry too much about the money, status or power — they will inevitably follow as your expertise grows.

Based on my experience as a Research Scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, I have compiled a list of 10 skills that every researcher should develop in order to be successful:

  1. Domain Knowledge: You’d expect a physicist to know physics, a data scientist to know data science, right? Whatever be your domain, others expect you to know it well. So, brush up the basics regularly, familiarize yourself with the latest research, and be confident in your knowledge.
  2. Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is what keeps us grounded to the objective reality, differentiates facts from fiction, keeps us unbiased and lets us have an open mind. So, never take anything for granted — no matter who you heard it from — and always ask, “Why?”
  3. Speed Reading: The ability to read complex material quickly without losing comprehension is an invaluable skill. New information is always presented as text first and speed reading with comprehension is the best way to absorb it.
  4. Effective Writing: A good written piece (paper, proposal, book, etc.) is concise, coherent and crisp. It helps to start with a bird’s eye view, and work your way to a rough draft, followed by a final version. Avoiding procrastination and conquering the writer’s block are key.
  5. Graphic Design: A hallmark of some of the best research artifacts is the associated imagery. A picture does speak more than a thousand words. The ability to create such imagery, rooted in sound graphic design principles, definitely gives a competitive edge.
  6. Powerful Talks: Your research gets recognition when you present at a conference, workshop, or even on YouTube. If you keep your audience engaged, you’ve got yourself a research fan base. So, know your audience, communicate succinctly, use the narrative structure, and practice hard.
  7. Eloquent Communication: Communication can be verbal or nonverbal (body language, written, email, chat etc.). Irrespective of the form, it should be clear, concrete, courteous and honest. If you wouldn’t like to receive communication in a certain way, don’t deliver it yourself.
  8. Active Listening: Although listening is central to communication, it warrants its own place, especially in a world with low attention spans, sensationalism over substance, and quantity over quality. Curiosity-driven, purposeful listening actually finds us those needles in a world of haystack.
  9. Sensible Management: Think of your research as a small business — you’re the brand, your papers, patents etc. are the products, and your team members (scientists, postdocs, etc.) are the employees. To be successful, you must manage people, time, money and resources sensibly.
  10. Influential Leadership: As your expertise and stature grows, you will find yourself in roles where you not only influence the research direction within your group, but also drive the larger research community forward. It is worth pondering, “How do I bring out the best in my peers?”

There you have it! A list of 10 skills to master to be a successful researcher. They are skills, which means anyone can learn them. Do remember the intrinsic motivation though — it brings everything together, and imparts a sense of purpose to these skills…

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Prasanna Date
The Faculty

Research Scientist at ORNL. RPI and BITS Pilani alum. Writes about life, philosophy, career, computer science, food and other interesting topics.