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I understand the part about building up the background knowledge (of the particular field) is going to vary wildly, but it seems like the part about learning th

I understand the part about building up the background knowledge (of the particular field) is going to vary wildly, but it seems like the part about learning the mechanics of research and publishing should be something so well documented it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Do you have any good resources that summarize that knowledge and/or process?

bbgm 10y ago
No amount of documentation can teach that. The entire discipline of research, collaboration, iterating, grant writing, etc was an amazing experience (and I didn't stay in academia).
throwawaysocks 10y ago
> but it seems like the part about learning the mechanics of research and publishing should be something so well documented it shouldn't be that big of a deal. No. I think you're thinking: "how to format/structure a paper/grant, how to conduct an experiment, how to write a proof, how to write a bibliography, how to conduct a literature search, how to submit a paper to a conference, ..." Those are all very easy and formulaic by comparison. What your parent actually probably meant: "how to pick a research problem, how to develop a multi-year research program that addresses that problem along with other related problems, how to find collaborators and succeed in working with other researchers, how to write a convincing paper, how to write a winning grant proposal, how to find funding, how to present your work in a compelling way at meetings/conferences, ..." Those things all have a million particularities and can't be taught from a text book or lecture. You have to just do them and experience the millions of little things that come up and see a pro handle each situation. It's like the difference between knowing how to incorporate a Delaware C and put together a passable pitch deck vs. actually running a particular type of business through every stage. Like a start-up focused on X, where X is your research field and there are maybe only a few other labs (companies) doing X in the world.
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bbgm 10y ago

No amount of documentation can teach that. The entire discipline of research, collaboration, iterating, grant writing, etc was an amazing experience (and I didn't stay in academia).

throwawaysocks 10y ago

> but it seems like the part about learning the mechanics of research and publishing should be something so well documented it shouldn't be that big of a deal. No. I think you're thinking: "how to format/structure a paper/grant, how to conduct an experiment, how to write a proof, how to write a bibliography, how to conduct a literature search, how to submit a paper to a conference, ..." Those are all very easy and formulaic by comparison. What your parent actually probably meant: "how to pick a research problem, how to develop a multi-year research program that addresses that problem along with other related problems, how to find collaborators and succeed in working with other researchers, how to write a convincing paper, how to write a winning grant proposal, how to find funding, how to present your work in a compelling way at meetings/conferences, ..." Those things all have a million particularities and can't be taught from a text book or lecture. You have to just do them and experience the millions of little things that come up and see a pro handle each situation. It's like the difference between knowing how to incorporate a Delaware C and put together a passable pitch deck vs. actually running a particular type of business through every stage. Like a start-up focused on X, where X is your research field and there are maybe only a few other labs (companies) doing X in the world.

deleted 10y ago
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