
Ask HN: How does one find a research avenue? (retry) - vuxel
Hi all. I am trying to collect more responses by reposting this, as HN is a community I&#x27;d really appreciate some advice from. Previous posts: [1][2].<p>I am considering getting into research, and I&#x27;m trying to figure out how one goes about finding a problem to solve.
Backstory: I completed my bachelors in &#x27;16 with some significant side&#x2F;hobby projects (kernel&#x2F;systems) and I&#x27;m now working as an engineer at one of the Major Ones :&#x2F;. Although it pays well for now, I am slowly losing motivation and creativity and it is replacing my &#x27;engineering for the fun of it&#x27; mindset with &#x27;do what you&#x27;re told to&#x27;. I&#x27;ll need to adapt heavily to be able to thrive in this environment as a generic software engineer. I&#x27;m not learning, I&#x27;m not specializing, and I start to realize that I want to put in concentrated effort and work towards something for myself. Hence the idea of pursuing research. Or working for&#x2F;on a startup.<p>My reason for going into academia to pursue a PhD would be, to be able to focus X years of independent research towards an idea I think can turn into a product later. But that depends on the idea&#x2F;domain, the supervisors I work with and how success is measured (number of publications v&#x2F;s real-world outcome, which may have a gap). Of course if I can&#x27;t turn it into a product later, I have specialized and can come back to the industry.<p>Please correct me if my perspective is horribly wrong : ).<p>Thanks.<p>[1] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=17024792
[2] https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=17027601
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kwillets
I've been finding research topics for a while, but I don't really know how. I
read some research and sometimes work on high-level things, and sometimes I
fiddle with low-level toy problems (one of my hobbies lately has been writing
SIMD algorithms for some reason). Some side projects have gotten fairly far
along where I've alternated between setting a goal and researching the means
to achieve it.

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sharemywin
I always read getting a Phd never pay for itself. The current Machine learning
craze may change that I don't know.

