Research is an extremely important part of an academics job, but understanding and appreciating the intricacies behind the idea of what research is and how it should be undertaken at an institution can be seen as being a mysterious thing by PhD students, and early/mid-career academics. This book is not only a personal journey of Distinguished Professor Jim Macnamara, it is a guide that is full of information, advice, tips, cases and words of inspiration that is recommended to those considering an academic career. -- David Waller, UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney, Australia This is exactly what we need a practical guide to living a good academic life written by somebody who understands how to communicate. Its grounded, human, insightful, easy to read and offers a lot of great hacks. Buy it for any Early Career Researchers in your life and learn from it yourself. -- Alan McKee, University of Sydney, Australia I did my PhD under Jims supervision and his practical and academic research expertise were an invaluable guide to me in adapting to the academic world. He tells many home truths and explains the formal and informal need to knows, which will guide students and early career academics navigating the idiosyncrasies of academia. -- Andew McCowan, University of Technology Sydney, Australia This lively, informative and often humorous book addresses a potentially stressful issue for many aspiring academics namely how to get a good job at a good university as a successful researcher. The book is global and multi-disciplinary in scope. There is plenty of teaching, remarkably little preaching, and much to be learned from this authoritative and wide-ranging book. -- Mark Casson, University of Reading, UK
