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Research process Reyer Zwiggelaar What drives you to do research? "There are several aspects, but the most important for me is that I am investigating new things and in the process I am indirectly helping the general public and patients in particular. In the process of formulating a better understanding of a research area you need to be creative and also form a solid background in that area. The creative part tends to be underestimated, but it gives a real buzz to come up with a novel approach to a particular problem (especially if it might save the lives of patients). On the other hand, it can be very frustrating if the novel approach takes longer to develop than initially expected." Can you explain how a new research project begins? "In this case, a new research project begins with discussions between a researcher and a radiologist. It may well be that the radiologist has a particular problem for which the researcher thinks they have a solution. Or more likely, the radiologist together with the researcher, have a general discussion from which a number of problem areas emerge and of which one will be selected as the one most likely to be solved." So after some initial discussions the project will start? "No, in most cases the researcher (or the radiologist) does not have enough time to do the work themselves which means that either a research assistant or a PhD student must be employed. The research assistant or PhD student will work under close supervision of the lead researcher, but it is also expected that they use their own knowledge and creativity to further the project. As most researchers do not have limitless funding, they will need to find external funders." Where can you get money for projects? "There are a number of government funding agencies (like EPSRC and MRC) and charities which can provide funding for breast cancer based projects. In all cases you are required to write a grant proposal. This gives a detailed account of how much money you need and what you intend to do with it. In general, the submitted project proposal will be evaluated by experts within the specific research area and when deemed of sufficient (international) standard, will get funding." What kind of projects are there? "It just depends on what people can dream up, ranging from finding better ways to detect cancers to finding evidence of Einstein's theories." "A lot of projects tend to be for a period of one to five years, with most of being three years. Projects can range from a pilot study, which tends to be shorter, to long-term fundamental research, for which continuous funding may be available. Continuous means that the money comes in blocks of three to five years and at the end of that period there may be some sort of review. There are also more applied projects for which three years funding is thought to be sufficient. There are also projects that are aimed at evaluation, which tend to be in the medical field, before new imaging techniques or treatment methods are introduced. These are sometimes known as clinical trials." You have been successful in getting a grant for the project. What's next? "There is usually a period of time (six months) between when you hear you are going to get funding and when the project is due to start. This is the time to find suitable workers for the project. This can be very hard, as the market is very competitive and for most people with an appropriate undergraduate or postgraduate degree, it tends to be more attractive to work in industry." What typically happens at the start of the project? "One of the first things to happen is that meetings are held between all the people involved. This is to make sure that everybody knows what is expected. In most cases this will mean that a detailed project plan (broken down into months or weeks) is produced. Another thing which may be required is an in-depth review of the research area (this tends to be the case for new subject areas). Depending on the experience of the project members, some of them (especially the research assistants and PhD students) will have to spend time reading into the subject area." Are there any other people involved in the project? "Again, this depends on the project. Purely theoretical projects may not involve anyone else. However, certain development projects will have a number of end-users. Quite often medical projects involve a small number of clinical staff and patients. At the extreme end of the spectrum there are clinical trials in which several hundreds or thousands of members of the public are involved. These people are not all "patients". Most trials include a high number of healthy people. Finally, there also tends to be some indirect interaction with other researchers within the subject area. From this point of view it is important to be able to communicate well and work well in a team." How much interaction is there between the various people? "There tends to be a lot of interaction between the main researchers and research assistants/students. This can take the form of weekly meetings. Depending on the radiologist's involvement there may be monthly meetings between the radiologist and the rest of the research team. These meetings are less frequent and more on a needs basis. There is usually limited interaction with other researchers in the field and this may be restricted to a few national and international meetings at which the results of projects are presented. Interaction between the main researchers and the general public or patients tends to be very limited. This is not to say that this is not important. In some projects, like clinical trials, this is the most important factor." How do you decide the project is finished? "Most of the time, this is determined by the project proposal and for how long funding is given. Within the project plan there tends to be a list of objectives, which are to be met at particular stages. The end-point for one project may be easier to indicate than for another. So maybe there should be a difference between the project being finished and the money running out." What decides the success of a project? "Again, within the project plan there are aims and objectives. At the end of the project you could go through these and "tick" the ones that have been achieved. However, full evaluation tends to be less straightforward and the full effect might only become clear after a number of years. Two examples, a) how should an automatic method to detect abnormalities in mammograms be evaluated (one could come up with a number measures to provide an indication of success, however, in the end you would like to improve the performance of a radiologist but this is difficult and time-consuming to establish), b) how do you decide that a website (like this one) is successful (you could look at the number of hits but that would not give an indication of success, only of access). In effect you will need to measure the quality and quantity of something." How do other people find out about the project? "In the first instance other researchers will find out through scientific conferences and journal publications. It may take longer for the general public to find out about a particular project as this tends to depend on companies taking up the research and developing it into (or incorporating it in) a commercial product (like the laser in your cd-player or an MRI scanner in a hospital)." What happens at the end of the project? "As you might expect, this depends on the success and type of project. Let's give two examples. If it was a pilot project which showed great potential it may well be that money for a follow-up project will be necessary. In that case there is a need for a new proposal, etc. If the project was there to solve a particular problem and was successful, there may be no need for a follow-up." "However, the nature of the whole research process is such that even if a project is successful and gave a solution to a problem, it also tends to generate a new set of questions that need to be answered. In that case the researchers might want to write another research proposal to get money to attempt to answer those questions." Do you have to pay any of the funding back? "In principle no. However, whatever money you have not spent by the end of the project might have to be returned to the funding body." Woman's view | Radiologist's view | Researcher's view | Research process |