, 2 min read
What kind of researcher are you?
- The politician. He will get people to collaborate on joint projects.
How to recognize: He knows everyone!
Pro: He makes things happen irrespective of the available funding! Con: Sends you emails on a Saturday.
- The manager. His job is primarily to seek funding and recruit students. He supervises the work, setting directions and reviewing results.
How to recognize: Will often publish with many student authors. Will receive (or seek) generous funding. Pro: A good manager can scale well. If you increase his funding, he will produce more results without necessarily sacrificing quality.
Con: When the manager runs out of funding, his productivity might collapse. He might not stay close to the research: a manager is rarely passionate about the product, as he focuses on the process.
- The clueless. He does not know what he is doing. He does not understand the business.
How to recognize: Will religiously follow trends without any kind of critical thinking. Might stay close to a manager. Pro: Can be convinced to render useful services.
Con: Might inflate fads. Will typically produce work of little significance.
- The dreamer. He has a vision. He might be a perfectionist.
How to recognize: Might not publish very much. Pro: Might just be the person to crack the hardest problem of your generation…
Con: … but might also produce nothing. Good at wasting funding.
- The artisan. He builds research projects from the ground up. Routinely, he will have complete ownership over a research project. Extra funding might not increase his productivity.
How to recognize: Will publish significant work alone.
Pro: He really cares about his research.
Con: He might have a narrow focus.
- The prince. He thinks very highly of himself.
How to recognize: Though he might appear to be productive, he does nothing that require actual work.
Pro: He is often dressed nicely. Con: Can have a bad temper.
- The entrepreneur. He wants to change the world.
How to recognize: Long-lasting focus on hard problems!
Pro: Can have great results. Con: Might become a manager.