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> My supervisor told me recently that it is very risky to focus on breakthrough topics except when you are doing PhD or if your are tenured. Academic researche
by warkdarrior 4y ago
> My supervisor told me recently that it is very risky to focus on breakthrough topics except when you are doing PhD or if your are tenured.
Academic researchers spend the majority of their career in tenure or in PhD, with untenured/tenure-track status for only 7-9 years out of a career of, say, 40 years. So one would expect that 75% of academic research time would be spent on "breakthrough topics".
- kmmlng 4y agoAcademic researchers who make it to a tenure track position and stick with it for the rest of their career spend the majority of their career in tenure or in PhD. Most do not make it this far because there are fewer positions than applicants.
- elashri 4y agoYou will be right under the assumption that all or even most academic careers end up with a tenure. Majority of PhD holders don't end up in that position because the positions available are very limited.