Writing Exercises - Research Statement

Write Your Research Statement

For this exercise, write your research statement. You’ll be able to update this document as you progress through your career and your interests and experiences evolve. As an example, you can look at my research statement from when I went up for tenure in 2004. I encourage you to also look at the research statements of your friends and colleagues who have gone up for tenure. If you are getting ready to go up for tenure, they will give you a template you can follow. If you are still in graduate school, they will give you something to aspire to. Mine is pretty long. As a starting point, I recommend keeping it to 2-3 single-spaced pages. As you write your statement, identify the following:

  1. Your “elevator pitch” that describes your research program in one to two sentences.

  2. Explain why you are interested in studying what you do.

  3. Identify your main (2-3) research streams

  4. State what’s unique or important about your research program theoretically, and empirically?

  5. For each research stream, identify studies that can be grouped together, if possible, summarize the research question and key findings. State why they study is important and what it contributes.

  6. Provide any evidence of your research impact

  7. Use the personal pronoun “I”, even for co-authored studies. Now’s the time to toot your own horn.


© 2021 Timothy G. Pollock

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