HN Explorer

Ask HN: How to keep doing research work if not enrolled in any PhD program?

13 points by AnupSavvy ↗ HN
Probably the best option would be to get into labs like IBM research, HP or Microsoft research lab but most of the time I have seen they take Phd candidates. Due to some reasons I am not in a position to go for Phd but I am interested in some work that encourages research work and publications.

18 comments

[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 48.6 ms ] thread
iqster
You can get hired at all these places without a PhD. Your job title may not be "Researcher" though. At MSR, there is a category called "RSDE-Research Software Design Engineer", and at IBM Research, there is a related position. Your focus in these roles is to support the research activity of the lab. For some, this might mean writing grunt code. For most, this means being a part of the research team, doing actual research, getting your name on papers, etc. How do you get one of these jobs? Keep a lookout on HR web pages. Believe it or not, these positions do open up from time to time. You have to be a strong developer - very independent, as no one is usually there to hold your hand.
blhack
Do you mean get hired, or do you mean keep doing research?

Consider Alexander Shulgin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Shulgin#Life_and_care...

A bit of a hero in the bio-chemistry world. He was working at DOW chemical, and when he was assigned to a project that he wasn't interested in, he quit, and continued doing research and publishing from his house.

There is a lot of research to be done in the fields of computational linguistics and machine learning. Get yourself a coffee maker, and start hacking. You might eventually need to save up for some nice cuda gear, but there is no reason that you can't research from your garage.

AnupSavvy
Thanks!! thats motivating. As of now looking for a job that helps me do research. I keep looking into new things on my own but that doesn't pay me and hence I think it forces me to look for options that involves routine software jobs. I have been looking for junior positions at all those places mentioned above but I couldn't find a match for myself.
AnupSavvy
on the other hand, I would also like to know how do people collaborate to do some research work or publish papers if they are not enrolled for any degree program. Professors play an important role in guiding the research and hence I am curious to know how do people come up with theories or results without guidance. Is there any website where such like-minded people can be found ? or ycombinator is the best place ?
blhack
Check out http://www.kaggle.com, they host machine-learning contests.
AnupSavvy
Nice!!! I always knew of such things but never thought of these places from research angle. Working on those problems itself is challenging. May be I could keep an eye on such competitions going ahead so that even if I have to take up a less interesting software job in future, I might be able to at least satisfy the urge to work on something interesting by working on those problems with brilliant people.
polyfractal
While Shulgin was certainly a very cool fellow and did exceptional research, he also had a pretty unique situation. Being friends with the head of the DEA he was able to get a DEA license to work on scheduled compounds.

Your average Joe won't have those kind of connections, or even access to current literature, which rather limits you to certain fields (i.e. not anything biology, chemistry or probably physics).

blhack
OP isn't asking about doing things that would be normally regulated by the DEA.

I'm just using Shulgin as an example of somebody who went "screw it" and kept researching things on their own.

AnupSavvy
I am really glad to see you people sharing your thoughts and comments. Every comment comes like a new idea to me. Thanks!!
khandelwal
You can also get hired at a research group in a university without a PhD (as a full-time developer for example). The pay is not competitive with industry, but you get to work on interesting problems. I do this at Penn State.
AnupSavvy
:) true. Hence I work full-time on a research funded job at Cornell University.
kakali
There are also government and commercial jobs for research engineers that don't require a PhD. You play as second fiddle but you still get time to work on improving algorithms or coming up with your own. Willow Garage has a job opening that you might look at: http://www.willowgarage.com/jobs/research-engineer
04ldd
you can start doing independent research as has been suggested. you need to believe in yourself, however, and trust that the plan will pan out in the end. maybe it won't but did you have something to lose?

edit: also a valid set of questions might be: are you after recognition or personal intellectual growth? why do you think that organizations like IBM is the place for you? DO you need somebody else to guide you or maybe share the research experience?

AnupSavvy
I need money to survive. Just by doing research on my own I won't get paid. Doing Phd helps because most of the time one gets to work on interesting stuff and get paid by grants. Work at a good place like IBM ( and any other company which provides research based work ) would help me achieve both ( money and good work ). I can try and do routine software work for some company and carry out interesting projects in free time but it will have some limitations. At this stage of my life I cannot sit and do just research. I need someone to pay me for my living.