University research calendars

[Farang]

I know there's a lot of academics on here, I tried this on a professors forum and got ignored so here goes.

What would be the best way to figure out research calendars for universities? It would be even better if I could sort all universities in the world by location of their projects. I imagine that is not possible so I expect to have to collect calendars from large universities around the world and organize it myself.

So I guess I'm asking who should I ask at a university, is it a common inquiry, is there any reason they would refuse to tell me (i.e. should this be easy information to obtain).

I've noticed some countries have ministries of education that list foreign research projects but those are spotty at best

Specifically I'm trying to find interesting field work that would be good to document

 

[kami333]

What do you mean by research calender? Like a schedule of what research is going on when? When a lab is leaving for fieldwork and where?

 

[IronWing]

I've never heard of a university that maintains such a calendar. Research tends to be decentralized to the point that professors within the same department don't have a clue what their colleagues are working on. Add to that that professors don't know the meaning of the words schedule nor deadline and I simple cannot conceive of a university developing a research schedule such as you are requesting.

 

[yhelothar]

If you want to find out what kind of work universities are doing, just look at publications. Go to google scholar or pubmed(for biological sciences).

 

[kami333]

Add to that that professors don't know the meaning of the words schedule nor deadline and I simple cannot conceive of a university developing a research schedule such as you are requesting.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Farang]

What do you mean by research calender? Like a schedule of what research is going on when? When a lab is leaving for fieldwork and where?

Yes exactly. I'm traveling to different parts of the world as a writer and would like to cover interesting field work being done. I noticed this is basically the bread and butter of what magazines like Nat Geo and GEO do.. most of the really cool stuff is just a writer tagging along with a research team.

I agree it will be tough given it's really just up to researchers. Maybe the best path would be to network with professors who are most likely to do crazy stuff (those in the natural sciences I'd imagine).

 

[unokitty]

Yes exactly. I'm traveling to different parts of the world as a writer and would like to cover interesting field work being done. I noticed this is basically the bread and butter of what magazines like Nat Geo and GEO do.. most of the really cool stuff is just a writer tagging along with a research team.

I agree it will be tough given it's really just up to researchers. Maybe the best path would be to network with professors who are most likely to do crazy stuff (those in the natural sciences I'd imagine).

You might consider coordinating with the government groups that administer research grants.

Uno

 

[kami333]

Yes exactly. I'm traveling to different parts of the world as a writer and would like to cover interesting field work being done. I noticed this is basically the bread and butter of what magazines like Nat Geo and GEO do.. most of the really cool stuff is just a writer tagging along with a research team.

I agree it will be tough given it's really just up to researchers. Maybe the best path would be to network with professors who are most likely to do crazy stuff (those in the natural sciences I'd imagine).

If it's actual fieldwork, where the researchers are outside of the campus for an extended period of time then it will probably be scheduled in advance with the department, especially if it involves grad students (liability, credits, etc). While sweet-talking the department secretary into getting you in contact with profs who have that sort of schedule may be a way, another way to go about it may be through the university's marketing or PR department. No school will turn down good publicity, of course this depends on your reputation as a writer.

The thing about working with academia is that you have to respect the turf. They generally don't like working with media and there is a hierarchy that can be a hindrance or exploited depending on your position.