Center for Relativistic Laser Science

http://nanotube.skku.ac.kr/weekly.html 에서 옮김

2012.01.12 21:23:21

A year of 2011 has already past like an arrow. New students came to the lab and a year end party was held. Thinking of past always leaves a feeling of empty and something missing. Why couldn't have I done better? Why was I so stubborn? Why was I so indifferent? There are things to appreciate but perhaps more things to regret in the end of the year.

While new students joined the lab, there are also some students left after Ph. D. To see them leave leaves me empty and missing feeling. On the other hand, a kind of amazing feeling comes as well. When they joined the lab, they were like a scared beginner. But now, they are like something. How come they changed like this.... A feeling of being proud to see them. They are now charming Ph. D.! Unbelievable... But always a joy to see them grow like this. Perhaps this is an ultimate joy as a professor... I really thankful to them for overcoming so many difficulties during the course. Although they have put a step forward to go long journey, they will run from now on without hesitating.

Those who are left as students also try to look back what they have been doing so far and sometime feel far away to finish their work here by reminding of what is still left. Well, that is still fine to think that way. Quite natural to think of at the end of the year... But when he consider further that he did not do well at all during the past, he will sometimes feel regret and criticize himself and sometimes make himself to worry sick. What did I do during last year... Other classmates even wrote a paper while I don't even know what I am doing... When he comes to this point he becomes so desperate and depressed....

Well, for me who has been watching these developing processes of students, all these are regarded as a quite familiar natural process. One of the contradictory questions that the first year or second yeat graduate student suffers around this time is why I am so bad compared to other classmates. Other guys started research already and I am still learning things and no good data and even far way from good results and cannot decide the research topics... When he comes up to this point, he then think of quitting the lab. The first conclusion is that I am not capable of doing research. Not qualified....

Perhaps and perhaps this may be right. However, what you have to realize at least before you draw such a conclusion, 'What is the difference between me and those who do better than I. You felt this already when you were high school student. The difference between those who are doing better and those who are doing worse. I dare to say this is the 'habit'. Those who are doing better have a good habit. A habit of using time efficiently... A habit of concentrating on one thing... On the other hand, those who are doing worse have a bad habit. Whenever he has time available, he would rust to play games... Go to internet surfing... Keep chatting with others... I remember that when I was a middle school student, there was a classmate who answered so well the questions teacher asked. I was wondering how come he can even without learning stuffs... And I noticed he studied in advance before the class and recored all those in his notebook. I was amazed and tried to follow this habbit. Of course, I was able to do answer teacher's questions like him..

The latter is slow in developing his progress. However, terminating such a bad habit is not easy at all. In old proverb, 'Do notinterfere with the one who can quit smoking' It means such a person is so deterministic and can isolate things if he does not want to. It means it is so difficult to change habit. General Kim You Sin who united Shilla suffered once when he was young. He used to go to the special women's house and fell himself in love with those girls and drinkings. One day he decided to quit this life but somethow his horse took him to the place when he was dozing off on the horse. He had to kill his horse to stop visiting the lady's house. This implies that to stop bad habit sometimes needs to sacrifice the important things. In any case, this implies it is so difficult to terminate bad habit. Well, what are you going to do? You cannot improve yourself without terminating bad habit... After all it is a matter of choice. When and only when you desparately want to fly, to fly becomes possible. Otherwise you will be always a caterpillar, not a butterfly.

To do research better, it is not important how smart you are. Of course, it may. But to have a good habit is the most important factor. So before you criticize yourself that you are dumb, you have to ask what kind of habits you have. To do research better, what kinds of good habits should I have?

My answer is only one, 'read papers as many as you can'

Ideas are in the paper. Everyone knows how hard it is to read a single paper in the new field when you start. Terminologies are different. Everything seems to be so unfamiliar. However, you try to understand such unfamiliar terminologies by searching for google (So convenient nowadays even without going to the library..) one by one. And then read the following papers... and so on... After such reading for a few thens or for a few hundreds, you see what is going on this area. Of course, as you read more and more, it takes less time to read one paper. At the beginning, you try not to miss any one word in the paper but later, you may read only abstract and see what is going on or even reading introduction, you know everything. Even further looking over the figures you obtain ideas easily. At this step you read papers to get an idea only not to learn something.

However, this is not the end of the story of reading papers. What are the issues in this research area? Are they trying to solve some branch problems or core conceptual problems? What is missing in the paper? If you were doing experiment, what would you do? What would you attack? What approach do you take? What about your new idea? You have to find out your own idea. When you read other area paper, you should be able to find a way to adopt that in our area. Usually, you get a new idea from other research area, this is the reason to listen other research areas. If you stick to your own area, you learn it but it was already done by the same socity people. If you are the one who easily forget things or you cannot pinpoint the importance of the papers, you need to have a habit of writing key things in the notebook. This is in fact not a bad idea. I also did the same thing when I was young. By repeating these habits, you will realize that you become a good researcher at some point.

So in 2012, if you have time to worry that you are not smart or you are not qualified to be a good researcher, try to have a habit of reading papers instead of having such wasting times. Then you may have the year of less regrets at the end of the year at least!