Am I crazy for spending money on research?

[theferry]

I suspect the answer is yes. I’m tying myself in knots about this.

My university has announced redundancies are going to happen. It is on the verge of bankruptcy within two years. I am in the Humanities. We have been targeted for job losses for the last 15 years and have lost 7 members of staff in the last 5 years so there are only 11 of us left. There weren’t any compulsory redundancies. All of them left and haven’t been replaced.
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Nobody knows how the university is going to drop the jobs. It’s all unknown.

My research requires me to travel to the USA. I need to go out this summer, otherwise my research is going to stall. I will be stuck without anything to do until I can go out in summer 2026.

I have no funding for this travel. All travel/research funding from my work has been withdrawn. I’m in the difficult position where I need to get a grant to do the research, but I need to do some of the research to put together a grant application that stands any chance of success.

That leaves me having to fund this trip in the summer myself. We’ve done it before and it’s not unusual at all in my discipline. DH is my carer so he needs to come and that means DDs are going to have to come. So for a 4 week trip for the 4 of is will cost £10k easily

Would I be crazy to do this, given the currently precarious situation with work? We can afford, although it will sting. If I don’t go, my research won’t advance at all for a year and that will make me more likely to be redundant. If I keep my job,, I’m going to really get it in the neck for twiddling my thumbs for a year.

Originally my thoughts were yes, if you can afford it, go.

However, it all seems to be hanging on whether you keep your job.

Potentially, you could drop the 10k on the trip and still be made redundant. Where would that leave you financially?

If it were me, I'd be waiting to hear about the redundancies first and if kept on, then go on the research trip.

I wouldn't care if I got it in the neck, as long as I kept my job.

In your shoes I would spend the year doing some high profile thought pieces that get me noticed so I could jump ship to a more secure university.

DH has just taken severance and his institution is not one under threat of closure. It’s just because it’s all so miserable and he could take his pension. He was head of dept. Just told DH your predicament, he was shocked. I worked in HE I have never heard of someone funding a trip themselves like this.

Do not do it. Are you main breadwinner and how many years have you been there?

I don’t know what thought pieces are?

I will have literally nothing to do if I don’t go. Not getting into the archives is like a scientist not having a lab. I’ll be finished editing my book by the spring and then I’ll have nothing to do until I can travel. If redundancies go as they did before, not having any research will make me more likely to be chosen over others.

@theferry There can't be nothing that you can do? There must be something you could do in the UK?

Don't do it. You won't get any thanks for it and it sets a precedent. If you are not funded to do the research, you can only do what is possible within the confines of your paid contract (is that teaching and research?). A colleague of mine recently self-funded a conference on the other side of the world when our institution made big cuts. I can see why they did it - everything was booked. But I would be so filled with resentment about it.

Everyone I talk to about academia thinks it is all completely bonkers. It really is when you look at it from the outside.

It is common to cover the cost of time in the archives. Usually there would be a couple of thousand from the university and we cover the rest. We usually tack a holiday onto the end. However, my uni has stopped all research support now.

I am the sole breadwinner, but I inherited some money this year, which means we can afford it (sort of). It would come out of our savings.

I need to make a decision on this soon. Where I need to go is in a rural part of America. It only has one suitable hotel and it books up quickly so I need to book it soon.

No, you’d be mad, blowing £10k and still probably facing redundancy. If you will have just finished a monograph, I’d focus on disseminating your research.

Nope. I’ve already looked into this. I mean there must be something, but 1) Im an Americanist. It’s not so simple to just change the entire focus of your research from what you’ve been doing for two decades ; 2) I can’t think of anything to do on a British topic. I’ve struggled to come up with ideas for new research. The one I have is brilliant (I think) and really fires me up. Definitely new. Otherwise, I’m lost.

I wouldn't do it, no
You could hire a local research assistant to do it for a fraction of the price maybe?

I also don't understand how you could have nothing else to do, if you've just finished a book then now is the time to spin it out into additional journal articles, shorter non academic pieces, start a blog perhaps? At least in social sciences this is what hiring committees seem to like

You see, DH is very much up for going. He’s the most financially cautious of the two of us (as in very cautious) His reasoning is 1) I might not lose my job and would need this research 2) if I am made redundant, I would still want to work on research 3) the kids would love it.

If you’re made redundant, you will need to find another paying job asap, though, if you’re the sole breadwinner and your DH is your carer so can’t do other work.

And if your archive is in rural America, with only a single hotel in the vicinity, do your children realise they will have to amuse themselves in the middle of nowhere for weeks while you’re putting in full days in the archive?Will your DH need to be with you at the archive?

Can you not do something on...I don't know..... Perspective changes of American people who live in the UK? Or can you do something remotely - internet focus groups or something. There has to be a way to avoid £10k.

You’re mad to do it for the purposes of your job, but it sounds like you want to do it for personal reasons. Unfortunately this is the kind of crossover that makes it easy for humanities academics to be exploited.

I am an independent researcher in the humanities and I would say - if you want to do it then do it but don’t pretend it will help you in the universities sector.

worked in HE I have never heard of someone funding a trip themselves like this.

Quite normal in the Humanities if you don’t have an external research grant. It’s tax deductible- although not for husband and DC. I probably spend several thousands each year above the £600 research allowance I get from my faculty.

@theferry could you find a US collaborator who could do some of the US based work then you could write it up together? And apply for grants together eg AHRC/BA here and NEH there?

I guess I'm saying I wouldn't pay to do it!

No, the book topic is dead. I have already squeezed the most amount of articles out of it that I can. You also can’t start publishing articles from a published book. You can do it the opposite way around (articles that become part of the book) , which is what I’ve done.

It’s a clear expectation in History that you always have a monograph on the go.

Non academic pieces are worthless if that’s all you’re doing.

I have 200 boxes and 100 interviews to work my way through for the next project. One collection doesn’t have a finding guide. It’s something I have to do myself.

Bar re-reading books, I am stuck.

Not an academic but just happened to see this. We spent £10k on taking our kids to New York for a week as a holiday last year and didn’t get any work out of it. (We are freelancers so could have written some of it off against tax if we had.)

I’d think it was worth it just for the holiday - the fact you could get something out of it for work would be a bonus, whether or not you got made redundant (with, I presume, a payoff).

Believe me, that has been done to death.

I wouldn't do it. In pretty much identical position to you vis a vis uni and research. But I did drop £6000 on 2 weeks holiday in NYC with 2 kids last summer.....quite budget really. From that perspective, it seems relatively cheap. But it solely depends on how much it eats into savings that may well be needed soon. Are you likely to get another job. I can't. I am too old to be reemployed at anything's like the level I am at, so am just clinging on.
I wonder if you couldn't ask for digital version of archive. Probably not. Or send someone else to make lots of photocopies. Probably not. It sounds to me like you want permission to go. So go.

When I said rural, I mean not a big city. But kids would be fine. DD1 will be in the archive with me as she’s 18. DH and DD2 have activities planned. Then we’d travel a bit on the weekends. It’s an hour from Boston.

I wouldn’t need to get a job straight away. With the inheritance from my dad and the redundancy payout, we could afford to live for 10-12 months without working.

Eugh, it’s so difficult. This research is very close to my heart and it’s new and exciting.

My problem is that this new project is huge. I have ideas about how it would work out, but I need to get myself in the archives to have a better idea. Then I can write a grant application.

Yes, you might be right. It’s DH being so enthusiastic that is making the decision difficult. He is so cautious when it comes to money. He knows I love getting into the archives and see an idea come to life. If it wasn’t for the threat of redundancy, we’d be going—no question about that.

For those saying they’ve never heard of someone self-funding—it’s very common. My entire department do it most summers.

Would I get another job? Unlikely, but not impossible.

In this position, you are more like an author doing research for their next novel, than an academic. Apart from almost no one will read your book (not being rude! It’s just the truth about monographs). I personally would do this if I were rich but not otherwise, and only if it could be a good holiday for the children too. Don’t do it in an attempt to keep your job as humanities academia is doomed anyway

Is there any way to lower the costs of the trip? A house swop maybe?

Similar question to @MrsForgetalot , is the hotel your only accommodation option ? If you could rent a cancellable apartment through Airbnb or similar then it gives you a bit more wriggle room.

I think based on everything you have said, you should go although do try to reduce the costs as much as possible. If you are made redundant and need to find another role, presumably this research will help with that.