In some academic institutions in China, we often see this phenomenon: as long as we issue a few papers, or even a paper with high if, no matter whether the paper can stand the test of time, students can get "excellent", teachers can get several "hat titles" and "upgrade and get rich". In the process of title promotion, performance assessment and doctoral graduation qualification examination of scientific researchers in some academic institutions, the publication of papers has almost become the "only standard" for evaluation. However, a few years later, some of them, especially those students who "beat the world with one paper", did not produce significant scientific and technological achievements of "sustainable development" after graduation because they only focused on Issuing papers and ignored systematic and independent scientific research training. Because they separated from their tutors, their papers were not satisfactory. Therefore, some doctoral students still try to stay with their tutors after graduation and continue to enjoy the "dividends" brought to them by those "resource rich" tutors. These people seriously lack the ability of scientific and technological innovation, such as the ability to condense and put forward scientific and technological problems, the ability to organize scientific research teams and cooperate with international peers, and the ability to put forward innovative scientific research methods, schemes and technical routes. This phenomenon reminds me of the topic of this blog post.

A few days ago, a blogger read my blog: "some experience in writing the project application of the National Natural Science Foundation of China". For one of them: "If you don't actively participate in the tutor's scientific research projects during graduate or postdoctoral research, and understand a little 'true meaning of scientific research' in the process, it's a little difficult to accurately put forward 'key scientific problems to be solved'. Ask me how to understand the" true meaning of scientific research "? I think in short," true meaning of scientific research " It is the understanding of scientific research process, especially scientific research thinking and methods. This problem is also related to the theme of this paper.

As we all know, the main purposes of publishing academic papers are: 1. Priority of achievements (especially basic research achievements) A scientific and technological achievement has been recognized by peers because it has been published in public academic journals, and the technical achievement also has patents; 2. Members of the international scientific community share the author's research achievements, especially the scientific research projects provided by the state finance, and the achievement data should be shared; 3. Meet the requirements of fair and just "individuals", "disciplines" and "academic institutions" Therefore, as scientific researchers, they need to keep in close contact with their peers in the research field and gain an academic reputation recognized by their peers by constantly publishing academic papers. "Empty words speak louder than data". Academic papers are one of the important bases for a scholar's international influence.

However, it is also said that some famous universities in Europe and America do not explicitly stipulate that "the basic conditions for graduation must be published in academic journals with academic papers consistent with the contents of the doctoral degree" In particular, doctoral students in applied disciplines mainly focus on the level of doctoral dissertations. I once pointed out in an article that the high-quality independent scientific research training experienced by a doctoral student during his study is far less painful than publishing several articles "eager for quick success and instant benefit" Your papers are important. High quality scientific research process and academic training involve many contents. For example, pay attention to extensive reading and analysis of peer literature; actively attend academic conferences at home and abroad, display achievements and get to know peers; actively participate in tutors' writing scientific research project applications, exercise and put forward innovative scientific and technological problems and research methods. These activities are very important to improve your academic quality Yes, it is the basis and guarantee for your sustainable scientific research ability and achievements. Of course, there is a premise: your mentor must be young and energetic, be in the forefront of scientific research, and enjoy a certain reputation and influence in the field, regardless of whether you have any administrative positions.

There is no doubt that publishing academic papers is an integral part of the daily work of researchers and university teachers. Paper records are an important indicator of a scholar's influence. However, we find that some scholars do not seem to have a correlation between their scientific research ability and achievements and their educational experience, especially their graduate experience. Some people have a master's degree or even postdoctoral experience Some of the academic institutions belong to well-known domestic institutions, and some have also visited famous foreign universities, but have independently published academic papers and applied for scientific research projects (whether it is the National Natural Science Foundation or enterprise projects facing the main battlefield of the national economy) And academic exchanges are not satisfactory. Some people find it extremely difficult to produce results in their middle age. In fact, some big cattle themselves and their graduate students in the world do not regard publishing papers as the only achievement of scientific research. An article entitled "a mentor who doesn't care about cattle has trained a group of cattle students" expounds this concept. Just like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) A professor in the computer science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) said to the students, "you must know that no one will teach you how to do it at MIT, in our laboratory and research group. Here, what you do and how to do is entirely your freedom." in fact, I think those Daniel and MIT professors are not "no matter" or "no matter" "Mentors from first-class academic institutions pay attention to creating a strong" academic atmosphere "in the research group, and" teaching by example is more important than teaching by speech " , make use of their own academic influence and sufficient scientific research funds to provide high-quality services and guarantee for students' academic growth. Let students inadvertently feel the charm and mode of thinking of scientific research and learn scientific research methods. Some Daniel's attitude towards papers is even more unimaginable. For example, he refused the "Nobel Prize" in the international mathematics community in 2006 Perelman, a Russian scholar who won the fields award, has not published his landmark achievements in well-known journals. In their philosophy, as long as international peers can see their achievements, whether they are "ahead" has their own peer evaluation. They do not pay so much attention to what publications they publish, nor do they care about what "honor" and "benefits" the achievements will bring to them One of my junior high school students who was a professor at a university in the UK wrote to me: "learning is a kind of interest and hobby, which I developed in yongyang middle school (my alma mater). I have little contact with the outside world and only engage in academic research. Reputation, status and money are of no use to me." only in this realm of tranquility and indifference to fame and wealth can major original scientific and technological achievements be bred.

I once talked about a young man who was a postdoctoral at MIT and asked him why he didn't publish any important academic papers during his one-year postdoctoral period in this world's top university. The young man told me that in the face of MIT's rich academic resources, he focused his energy and time on learning research methods. He eagerly chose to listen to the lectures offered by many academic leaders Relevant courses and reports have enabled MIT's academic style to "integrate into their own blood". Sure enough, after the young man left MIT, many academic papers on important achievements were published in their top professional journals. In this young man, the far-reaching significance of experiencing high-quality scientific research process is fully reflected.