this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2025
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The idea is that if you focus on the work, all of that would/should follow...
I have read a few anecdotes from scholars basically confirming this: they were doing "everything right" and getting nowhere but the moment they decided to just do the work that makes them happy, all the titles and positions followed.
I believe Patricia Ryan Madson is one such story although not in a scientific branch. IIRC, she could not get permanent positions in any university even though she had a "perfect resume" but then decided to follow her passion and her career just took off.
I know this is idealistic, but I still wish this were how the world works
I sure hope this is how it works, because I haven't been blessed with the patience to care about any of that. I want to solve mysteries.
Talking from the standpoint of “I recently got a position and won quite some grants considering my age”: you really have to balance the two. Going out and doing the research you want to will make you do good research and make you appealing to fellow researchers, but you also need a bit of a catchy title from time to time and a lot of networking, everywhere, all the time. That often includes planning your own symposium/workshop/whatever. Then getting a small grant always helps, and that is a “skill” on its own: selling your research to people that don’t know anything about it while feeling like you are completely waisting your time.
So you're saying all I have to do in order to be a successful scientist is solve mysteries and talk about science? Easy peasy!
If you want to talk more, feel free to dm me
same... I couldn't care less about titles or office politics... I just want some challenging work to do and a path to work-life balance