Latest in Comments on Science and Academia
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The student, the researcher, and the professor
The student: I can’t access the research paper; it is behind a paywall. The researcher: Fret not, you will find it on sci-hub. The professor: Just ask the author.
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Dear Ph.D. student: Don’t be afraid of prior art
A first step in a one-person research project in a domain new to a researcher (Ph.D. student) is to read-up on related work. This can be daunting, as sometimes it feels like everything has been done already, and there is nothing new to write a dissertation about. Fear not! With enough digging, the opportunities will…
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Price for value, not for costs
If there is one thing I wished more of my fellow academic peers would understand when working with industry, it is this: You should Price for value created, not for costs incurred. Many professors, when asked about the price of some proposed work, will calculate the direct labor costs needed for the project, add some…
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Dear ministry of paper-based exams
Dear ministry: Ten days ago I received a pile of written exams to grade. Yesterday you sent me a note asking me to finish up already. In the future, I recommend you send the dunning notice together with the exams. Alternatively, you could fix your own processes and give me adequate time. Speaking about fixing…
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How to present a theory (as a handbook)
The key output of research is a theory or something supporting the building or validation of a theory. A theory, in turn, is knowlege, for example in the form of a model, that lets us predict the future or create reliable output in some form. Scientists usually publish theories for other scientists to review, in…
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The value of articles with no relevance
I’m listening to Lutz Prechelt’s keynote at the German Software Engineering research community conference. He is talking about how we should not be undertaking research that has no relevance, and he is demonstrating this by presenting research based on ludicruous assumptions (that will never be real, not in this nor another world). Nobody could disagree…