SCI article = PhD degree

I guess graduate students’ doctoral dissertations are being judged too formally these days. Back in our days, the relationship between student, dissertation advisor, and dissertation committee was quite eccentric. We also used to take into account of the student’s character and expenditure while drinking together. Now things have become rational yet inhumane.

Grad students can be crestfallen when their papers are rejected for publication. When this happens, I encourage the student by saying that a 30% success rate is satisfactory, just as it is in baseball. Later, the student starts to make more hits, and has become sophisticated enough to begin thinking about the runs batted in and homeruns. When junior scientists reach this point, we can say they are successful. But I still have a hard time making just a mere hit! Maybe I’m still not a good scientist.

To do experimental research, it is necessary to alternate between working collaboratively and spending time alone. I compared this with a zoo and a botanical garden. For students, the lecture room and lab are like a zoo, while the library is like a botanical garden. And for travelers, a group tour is like a zoo, whereas traveling alone is like a botanical garden. Some people like the zoo; others might like the botanical garden more.

An academic research paper typically consists of four section. Introduction: What is the question we’re dealing with? Methods: What did we do to answer the question? Results: What data did we get to answer the question? Discussion: What is the answer to the question? Since every chapter has the word “question,” we can see that the research question is the most important part of the paper. We should keep in mind the research question, which is the same as the research purpose.