The Dissertation to Influence: Making Your Research a Public and Professional asset.

For most students, the thesis is the culmination of years of hard work; the end of the academic process-the last piece of work they will ever write, the result of years of studying, revisions, and many sleepless nights. Once they have finished it and passed, the research report or thesis fades into oblivion on a university library shelf where, more often than not, no one will ever see it again. But this is a traditional and outdated concept; in the knowledge-based global environment of today's world, it couldn't be more different.

Research is no longer solely an academic endeavor but an intellectual asset that can generate authority, international prestige, and career advancement opportunities for the researchers over a sustained career. Academics today are increasingly transforming their thesis into a book, a publication, a consulting opportunity, an industry publication, and into a piece of international thought leadership.

The thesis represents more than just a university award-it denotes expertise and analytic and investigative skill, creativity and problem-solving ability, qualities that in today's industries are considered to hold immense commercial value and for which institutions, businesses, the media, governments and international bodies are constantly seeking out experts to contribute to the intellectual conversation of their fields.

The primary mistake the modern academic makes is viewing their thesis as an end point in an academic career. In fact, a thesis is merely the starting point from which an extended academic career can commence; it is in the process of research being introduced to the correct audience that it begins to affect industry, policy and practice.

With the advent of online publication technologies, academics and researchers can present their work to a worldwide audience via platforms such as Google Scholar, ResearchGate, LinkedIn, medium.com, and academic publishing databases. A strategically positioned thesis can give academics visibility, lead to invitations to speak, result in consulting opportunities and collaborations, bring media attention and increase their authority.

An academic publication alone is unlikely to attract attention beyond its peers; traditional academic writing, for reasons of precision, is complex and technical and researchers must be able to deconstruct and communicate their thesis findings and concepts in a simplified and effective way if they are to attract the attention of industry and the general public through such means as articles, presentations, webinars, online talks and professional debate.

Publishing is also key to professionalization. Academic articles and books are the traditional avenues for researchers and there is considerable prestige for scholars who make significant contributions to their field. Nevertheless there are many other routes that can help researchers take their findings further, such as white papers, online courses, blogs and podcasts which all gain visibility, build on academic authority, and make researchers look credible to the business world as something more than just degree holders.

Personal branding also has an increasingly important role to play, and few people in the academic world can get to the very top by relying solely on an output that remains hidden on university servers; by talking on television and radio, participating in conference discussions and debating and contributing to social and online professional debates the researchers and academics involved have greater scope for influence.

Crucially, modern practice suggests that the formal aspect of research may be becoming less important than its tangible contribution to the real world, an aspect that is more likely to attract positive attention from outside academia and to make researchers into authoritative figures through roles such as consultant, innovation specialist, trainer, entrepreneur and public servant.

Researchers today who want to influence, need to make their findings understandable and accessible outside of the academic arena; it's not about making research 'simplistic' but 'simple'. A thesis should no longer just be something a student produces to get a degree but a building block and intellectual resource for influence, career enhancement and prestige globally.

Those researchers who can make their findings available and accessible, who are willing to learn the art of positioning their research and publicizing it, can translate many years of academic study into a significant lifetime authority in their subject and field; in the knowledge economy, research is becoming less about degree attainment and more about the ability to exert influence.

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