Researcher Guide

Make the Most of Your Research Visit

Practical guide for before, during, and after your visit.

A research visit is more than travel to another university. At its best, it can change the direction of your research, give you access to expertise or resources you could not obtain at home, create important professional relationships and lead to collaborations that continue for years. But these outcomes rarely happen automatically.
Phase 01

Planning — Before You Decide to Go

Start with the most important question: Why do I need to make this particular visit? Prestige alone is not a sufficient reason. Neither is the simple availability of funding. Ask what you can accomplish at this institution that would be difficult to accomplish at home, remotely, or through a shorter visit.

Start with the 2-minute Decision Check

Before accepting or applying for a visit, answer seven questions about the purpose of the visit, your intended outcomes, your host, access to the resources you need, timing and duration, your practical ability to benefit, and what should continue after you return.

Open Researcher 7-Question Tool

Define what success would look like. Before departure, try to identify 2–3 important outcomes. These might include learning a particular empirical method, accessing rare physical archives, drafting a joint grant proposal with a collaborator, or presenting work to a specialized group of scholars.

Talk to your host before you arrive. Discuss what you are hoping to accomplish, how often you will meet, who you should meet, which activities you should join, and what the host can realistically provide. Ambiguity before arrival frequently turns into disappointment during arrival.

Make sure you can work from Day 1. Clarify workspace, building access, library privileges, laboratory access, data, software, ethics approval, IT credentials, confidentiality arrangements, equipment, institutional permissions or introductions. Do not spend the first month of a three-month visit waiting for a network card or security clearance.

Phase 02

During — Don’t Let the Visit Simply Happen to You

“Protect research time—but remember why you traveled. You are temporarily surrounded by people, knowledge and opportunities that may not be available when you return home.”

Meet your host early. Within the first few days, confirm your priorities, meeting rhythm, important people to meet, seminars and events, access or administrative problems, and what you hope to accomplish before departure.

Build relationships deliberately. Ask yourself: Who are the five people I should meet before I leave? Attend seminars. Join research meetings. Accept relevant invitations. Have coffee or lunch with colleagues. Ask people about their work rather than merely presenting your own resume.

Contribute as well as receive. A visiting researcher is not an observer; you are an active member of the host community. Present your work, comment on colleagues’ draft research, participate actively in seminars, meet doctoral researchers, share specialized expertise, introduce useful contacts, and discuss future collaborations.

Check progress halfway through

Ask yourself: Am I achieving what I came here to do? If not, change something while there is still time. Adjust your weekly rhythm, request a missing data access clearance, or reset expectations with your host.

Phase 03

After — Make the Visit Continue After You Leave

The flight home should not be the end of the research visit. Some of its most important outcomes may occur months or years later in publications, co-authored grants, and enduring networks.

Before leaving, conduct a structured debrief: review what you accomplished, what remains unfinished, which relationships should continue, what you have agreed to do next, and what you should share at home. Turn vague intentions into concrete next steps with specific dates and responsibilities.

Stay connected: Nurture relationships that have genuine intellectual or collaborative potential. Send updates, follow up on co-authored manuscripts, and invite host colleagues to speak at your home institution.

Bring something home: useful methods, ideas, contacts, pedagogical practices, institutional opportunities or research findings. Share these with your home department and students.

“The question is not only what happened during the visit. It is what exists because the visit happened.”