Dear Ahmad,

I can't give any specific direction to ongoing work in your area.

What I can say is that opportunities are many if you can show sufficient ability (through publications and personal encounters) and interest (when speaking or corresponding with potential hosts).

In my own case (starting out as a post-doc in the more friendly 1990s), opportunities in Japan arose through my communication with students of my own generation, post-docs of my own generation, and eventually with potential senior hosts.

I gave seminars whenever and wherever I could find an interested audience for my work. I explored potential work places while working on short-term contracts in nearby work places. And I kept writing and publishing my own single-author papers and reviews whether or not I had a current employer.

In fact I never applied for an advertised position but was able to find hosts to support my applications (to Japanese government funding agencies) for funding to work in particular labs on projects of mutual interest.

Whenever I had income I invested as much as possible in my own work, field travel and equipment, and kept working and writing. I had my own research direction and goals and found people and institutions willing to support me.

I found people and work opportunities through proactive correspondence (which is what you have done by joining this network; thankyou for joining).

All this is to say:  have courage, and have faith that the work you do matters and needs to be done, and keep looking for opportunities wherever they may be, and keep looking for ways to add to your experience and learning.

Best regards, Admin. (Kyoto)

Dear Dr Zimmerman,

Thanks very much for joining. As network founder, I would be grateful for your comments/advice regarding the Research Cooperative - at any time.

The network is my own attempt to encourage better communication among all the people involved in getting research published, at every level, from learner to volunteer to professional.

There seems to be a great deal of inefficiency in how journals and research organisations go about building up the human support networks needed to produce a successful journal.

How does the journal you work with manage this?

I am sure there is also inefficiency in how I have attempted to solve the problem for the present network itself. Which is why I need feedback, comments, and advice...

Best regards, Peter (Admin., Kyoto)