That's funny, because, you see, actual research really works like this. Instead of Github you've got journals, and seminars on universities. The smart minds con

That's funny, because, you see, actual research really works like this. Instead of Github you've got journals, and seminars on universities. The smart minds contributing small parts to other people's research are graduate students. The thing is, actually contributing in the cutting-edge research is much harder than helping FOSS projects. Most researchers I know think of their problems day and night, while to be helpful in community software projects it's enough to spend few hours on weekends.