[M.K. THOMPSON] Putting knowledge into perspective

Learning to do research may be one of the most difficult tasks in academia. The process involves countless proposal drafts, failed experiments, rejected journal articles and the occasional explosion. If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say "there is no research in that research" I`d be rich.

Researchers can take five, 10 or even 15 years to find their niche. Some never find it at all. So why is it so difficult?

At first, research seems simple. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines research as a "studious inquiry or examination; especially (an) investigation or experimentation aimed at the discovery and interpretation of facts, revision of accepted theories or laws in the light of new facts, or practical application of such new or revised theories or laws."



It`s actually a little bit more complicated. Research can be divided into two sets of categories: primary or secondary research, and basic or applied research. Primary research involves collecting new data. It is usually done in laboratories and in the field. Secondary research involves collecting and analyzing existing data and can often be done in nondescript-looking offices located just about anywhere.

Basic research is performed to advance human knowledge and understanding. It collects knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Applied research uses the results of basic research to solve practical problems in the real world. It collects knowledge for the sake of humanity. Once, basic research was the domain of scientists while applied research was done by engineers. But the line between science and engineering is becoming increasingly blurred and that generalization is no longer true.

Research is tricky because it requires us to identify the potential for new knowledge based on our understanding of existing knowledge. We tend to ask questions that add incrementally to our existing knowledge pools. It is far more difficult to jump into a new pool altogether because we are often unaware of what we don`t know.

When children are young, they know very little but are not aware of what they don`t know so it doesn`t seem to bother them. They delight in new knowledge, cold ice cream and cartoons. As they grow older, children become more aware of what they don`t know. For example, middle school students recognize that there are many vocabulary words which they do not know so they learn to use dictionaries to look up their meanings. High school students, of course, know everything -- and their parents know nothing. This lasts until college.

College, especially for engineering students, is a rude awakening. Courses are no longer extensions of previous studies. Everything is new. Students now begin to learn about fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and a host of other subjects that they never before knew existed. They go from learning incrementally to learning about completely new fields in the blink of an eye. The extent of the knowledge now available to them is staggering. It seems that everything is known and that they will never be able to learn it all.

Undergraduate students, especially at research universities, become aware of research at about the same time that they realize that they know very little about the world around them. Many find this to be intimidating because it seems that all of the good (read: easy) research that will make them famous has already been done.

As an undergraduate student, I remember thinking that research would be so much easier if I had been born 100 years before and had the opportunity to do some of the famous heat transfer experiments of the 20th century before they had all been completed. Soon after I arrived at KAIST, an undergraduate student shared a similar sentiment with me. Why, oh why, did we have to join academia after all of the good research was done?

We didn`t, actually. The world is full of interesting research. But that is difficult to see as an undergraduate.

Graduate students work with the academic literature in classes and in their research projects. They read paper after paper and eventually start to get a feel for what has been done -- and what hasn`t. They begin to formulate their own research questions and design their own experiments. It takes time and there are mistakes along the way, but eventually they get the hang of it.

Learning to do research is a journey to find the balance between what is known and unknown, and between what each individual knows (and will ever know) and what we collectively know (and will eventually learn.) Ultimately, it is a balance between adding to our understanding of existing fields and identifying opportunities to create new fields. Finding that balance takes time, experience and perspective.