Being in my third year as a PhD I’ve had some time to
experience the academic science system and frankly it has disappointed me a
bit. In summary, I find it too time-consuming, inefficient and surprisingly dependent
on either chance or “politics”. All this wouldn’t matter, because let’s be
honest which job isn’t?, if the end result (a publication) will be worth it.
But will it? Will it make the world a little bit better?
Thus, it comes down to “why am I doing research?”. Of course,
partly because I like it. I love wondering about the workings of nature,
studying them and hopefully answering my questions. But I am done with that
process when I have written the first version of my paper. Yet, in many cases
there is still a long road to go from then onwards. And all that time I am thinking “I could be
saving injured birds and hedgehogs now and my time would be so much better
spend.”
However, another big part of why I am doing research is
because I like to share with people how marvellous the natural world closely
around them is. To open their eyes, make them wonder, admire and hopefully
respect, not only the big but also, the small parts in nature. Why is that
blackbird singing so early this morning? Where did it sleep last night, who did
he have to fight to get this singing post? Where did that snail on my back door
come from? Did it travel far? Does it know where it is going or is it just
going about at random? How long has that tree close to my back door been
standing there? How many different people has it seen living in my house? How
many other creatures, birds, ants, mice is it supporting?
All these creatures close around us are doing the same thing
we are: living. And more often than not life is hard. Cold nights, hungry days,
losing offspring, losing mates, losing homes and sometimes even losing limbs.
But as soon as you come aware of the ducks bathing in the pond during a heavy rain
storm, the sparrows taking a dust bath on a hot day and the see-lions soaking
up the sun while lying on top of sharp rocks, you realize that life can be
beautiful too.
Just like us, each living creature has a story and those are
the stories I want to tell as a researcher.
The next question is: how?
