Work like you don't need the money; dance like no one is watching; sing like no one is listening; love like you've never been hurt; and live life every day as if it were your last.I basically view my research program this way now. I met with a senior colleague recently who started to dispense the "play it safe until you're tenured" advice, then stopped themselves midstream and said, "Actually, if you play it safe you probably won't get tenure."
I think the game is all about finding exciting problems to work on and having the motivation to work on them (and getting students excited about working on them). It's also about aligning yourself to what people want to fund. We certainly seem to be in an era of applied research being popular - which is great for most computer scientists, though I do feel bad for my colleagues in theoretical fields.
Still, I think it's possible to be well-aligned with the desires of funding agencies and administrators while also pursuing dangerous ideas. It's all about spin.
Still, I think it's possible to be well-aligned with the desires of funding agencies and administrators while also pursuing dangerous ideas. It's all about spin.
ReplyDeleteI agree. This attitude will serve you very well in raising grant money. But it's a good idea to be a bit conservative about the project portfolio to spread the risk, because you will be working with a limited clock. Sometimes things don't work out at all or take much longer than anticipated (with the students you have, for instance). It's a good idea to have a couple of bread-and-butter projects to tide over possible gaps in publications just in case one of the dangerous projects doesn't work out. I know this is probably common sense but I think it's still worth saying...
I think you can work on dangerous ideas while still being aware that you have a limited time to get your ideas working and out the door. I'm a wee grad student, but already I've seen young hotshot asst profs do serious damage to themselves by neglecting this. It doesn't matter if your research is exactly what the world will need twenty years from now - if your tenure review comes up and all you've got is a quarter-baked prototype, you're done.
ReplyDeleteThough if you have any dangerous, world-beating ideas that are guaranteed to produce results in the next few years...where'd you get them, and would you like a grad student?
Well, HFM, I think I have a full house at the moment, but you never know :)
ReplyDeleteMost of the dangerous, world-beating ideas I encounter with Dr Bunsen involve fire, electricity, perceptual bias--oh let's just say they're all about toying with concentrated potential energy, and I find it an occupational blessing that my eyebrows regrow quickly. The habituated risk aversion ("duck!") often leads me into experiments where I prejudge the results as "sadly temporary" and unlikely to gain traction in the research community. That's probably not a good outcome for anybody.
ReplyDeleteMuppet Labs is not an accredited institution, and it's probably for the best I'm not looking for a program with fresh labs to fill with flaming debris.