How many of you doing research as a passion not for survial - (Apr/09/2009 )
casandra on Jul 8 2009, 01:18 PM said:
cellcounter on Jul 8 2009, 11:38 AM said:
casandra on Jul 7 2009, 01:44 PM said:
)..there aren't a lot of perks in this profession..probably only the satisfaction that you feel when you're finally getting results or solving a problem, or confirming a hypothesis...this shld be another thread....Solving a problem is a big perk, in an intellectual sense, but working on something that is complex, that requires all good attributes of mind, knowledge, and personality; which is regarded well by others, and is advancing the human knowledge, leading to cures and better life is not insignificant! The monetary gains are less and financial insecurity high, but not too less or too high as compared to many other vocations. If you are given to a comparison with MDs or CEOs, sure, you would be dissatisfied, but then that is the choice you make.
oh, but this is the idealistic way of looking at it, thanks cellcounter ...."all good attributes of mind, knowledge and personality"..I like this.....we always seem to have this stereotype of brainy nerds locked in the ivory tower (if not, the evil/deranged madmen out to wreak havoc in the world) and trying to achieve this altruistic goal of advancing knowledge for the good of society is more than enough a trade-off, I guess, for less money and finacial security...and I always thought that you're pretty jaded
I am in the middle of the road. You may notice human good is the last on my list ;-) First is my own personal satisfaction with what I am doing, the challenge. As long as money is enough for a decent life style, I don't care about more.
Nabi on Jul 9 2009, 06:48 AM said:
casandra on Jul 9 2009, 01:01 PM said:
Nabi on Jul 8 2009, 09:53 PM said:
Yeah, I've seen your pictures BB ..they're indeed horrible..
Did U really have to say that?
I guess she meant it ironic, the pictures look quite good (though I don't know which are from you and from the net)
And I guess many would be interested about casandras reasons to be in science? Passion or money?
hobglobin on Jul 9 2009, 02:37 PM said:
Nabi on Jul 9 2009, 06:48 AM said:
casandra on Jul 9 2009, 01:01 PM said:
Nabi on Jul 8 2009, 09:53 PM said:
Yeah, I've seen your pictures BB ..they're indeed horrible..
Did U really have to say that?
I guess she meant it ironic, the pictures look quite good (though I don't know which are from you and from the net)
And I guess many would be interested about casandras reasons to be in science? Passion or money?
But who said that I'm in research....I could be a beach bum just surfing the science forums or a psychologist doing my thesis on virtual "interactions" and using bioforum as part of my sampling population? and who said that I need the money..I could be rolling on it... and passion...ppfftt...I could be rolling on it more...
...seriously...perhaps, it was just by accident.... Nabi on Jul 9 2009, 12:48 AM said:
casandra on Jul 9 2009, 01:01 PM said:
Nabi on Jul 8 2009, 09:53 PM said:
Yeah, I've seen your pictures BB ..they're indeed horrible..
Did U really have to say that?
of course I was just trying to cheer you up
....I've seen your pics here at the forum and they're quite good but then I'm biased bec I like food and anything japanese...but I've also seen those you posted in flickr- they're more cultural e.g. about people, movement, temples, landscapes... they're very interesting- nice theme, good focus and composition..if you have this as a hobby then you're very lucky. But don't ever say that you can't do anything else esp if there's something else you'd rather or wanna do...that's not the gambaru spirit....
I really love research and enjoying what i am doing.
But there is one fact that i know, that i want do it for the rest of my life or even after finishing my PhD.
The thing thats make me tired of it, is supervisors!!! they have such a behavior and attitude that you will never understand. And if thy get an idea how this upps and downs and playing tough, affect us as students!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And really sucks when they bring there own personal problems to work!!!!!
hobglobin on Jul 10 2009, 03:37 AM said:
.. most of them are mine (may be 1-2 are not)
casandra on Jul 10 2009, 05:33 AM said:
....I've seen your pics here at the forum and they're quite good but then I'm biased bec I like food and anything japanese...but I've also seen those you posted in flickr- they're more cultural e.g. about people, movement, temples, landscapes... they're very interesting- nice theme, good focus and composition..if you have this as a hobby then you're very lucky. But don't ever say that you can't do anything else esp if there's something else you'd rather or wanna do...that's not the gambaru spirit....
time will tell what I will be doing. . . am just gambling with science for now. Keep in touch - things will surely be rocking.
All depend on what results I got from experiments. If they are awesome, I feel I am doing research for passion. If they suck, I feel I am doing research for survival.
Little bit of both. I like the science, I like knowing that I won't be doing the same thing over and over again every day for years (assuming the experiments work in a timely manner). I like answering questions (or trying to). And I don't think I could survive doing something else. I do know one thing, whereas my wife hates having to go to work, and is usually in a pissy mood when she gets home from work, I usually don't have those problems. So good for me, pretty crappy for my wife.
I am only just about to start my PhD but I have a strong passion and curiosity for science. At the moment I can see myself staying in research for a long time if not forever. I had a good experience in the lab during my MSc. My PhD supervisor seems helpful too so hopefully I won't have those problems some of you mentioned. I'm not fussed about money at all. I just do it because I enjoy it
thegene on Jul 13 2009, 10:09 AM said:
once you're done your PhD it can only get worse in that matter, you'll have to face grant applications, governmental funding offices and lots of bureaucracy, not only supervisors.
BB, come one man, we can't get you out of the lab even during saturday nights! if you were only there because you don't know how to do anything else you would have lost your mind looong time ago
btw, i'm still (and hope to continue for as long as i can) doing it for love, however, an increase in my scholarship would be nice, never mind the increase in scholarship, donations to my running charity can make my day!