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Exactly, and that's assuming you are one of the very select few that gets to even select and lead the research areas. Most of the opportunities are working alon

Exactly, and that's assuming you are one of the very select few that gets to even select and lead the research areas. Most of the opportunities are working along side professors and department heads that already have an idea of what you should be working on. If you are at one of the elite universities with billion dollar endowments that don't have a lot of these funding problems, then you are working on what the corporate donors suggest the University work on. The university will sell it as "staying relevant for the future job market"

chriskanan 6y ago
If one has a supportive advisor and adequate non-grant support (e.g., a fellowship), it is possible to work on self-drive ambitious projects. However, typically an advisor only wants to invest significant time if the work is interesting to them. Also, often I've been approached by students who want to do their own thing in terms of high risk work, but they don't have adequate skills or enough existing work to graduate with. Mt goal is to ensure students advance knowledge, graduate, and get the kind of job they want. Ambitious projects that fail will significantly impair positive outcomes. The billion dollar endowments don't usually go toward supporting research directly.