Each one should contain a few paragraphs that encapsulate and define the most significant ideas or concepts that have emerged from the research, the significance of these ideas, and their actual or expected impact on their the scientific community or on practice. This discussion should be written in terms that can be understood by the non-specialist in the field. Faculty engaged in research should also be constantly thinking about ways to improve. Self-assessments for portfolios should explicitly describe such things as intellectual barriers that have been reached in conducting research and steps that were taken to overcome these barriers. The faculty member may have taken a course on new techniques or traveled to a different institution to learn from others.
Several characteristics are common to most outstanding researchers.
As with teaching, different groups are in more favorable positions to evaluate certain characteristics of good researchers than are others. Internal peers, for example, are in a good position to evaluate the level of intellectual curiosity, scientific integrity, communication skills, and the ability to think programmatically, attract resources, and inspire others. External peers can offer useful insights into the creativity and the impact of the work of the faculty member. Users of the research usually have useful insights into the communication skills of the faculty member and the impact of the research. Faculty members should feel free to draw regularly upon internal peers, external peers, and users of research for help on ways to improve performance.