A journey in research, from research assistant to Doctor of Philosophy

There is emerging a considerable literature on the development of higher degree research and supervision. This literature deals with issues of quality, standards of supervision and many of the common problems experienced by novice researchers in their pursuit of a higher degree. Within this literature, however, there is little that addresses the specific and often quite different issues presented by funded Projects. For example, the relationship between such projects and the higher degree proposals that often run in parallel the intention of this paper is to consider the impact, both positive and negative, of the institutional and funding context on the shape and planning of research, the value of doing funded research for career and personal development, and potential conflicts of interest. The aim is to use my own experience of working on a funded project in parallel with a higher degree registration to explore some of the problems as well as the benefits of being paid to do research