
Michael Nielsen joins the Recurse Center to help build a research lab - oskarth
https://www.recurse.com/blog/83-michael-nielsen-joins-the-recurse-center-to-help-build-a-research-lab
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h34t
I spent last summer at Recurse Center and it was the most fun I've ever had
programming. The team deeply understands how to create an atmosphere in which
you can try things that would feel impossible on your own. After I left, I
tried working from coffee shops again, and the difference was crushing. It
suddenly felt terribly wrong to be surrounded by dozens of people, not one of
whom understood what I was working on or cared. Yet outside of RC this has
been my default mode of work and the reason why I've often felt like doing
something else.

The one thing I felt lacking at RC was a greater sense of challenge: the
emphasis was on personal development more than pushing the limits of the field
itself. Building a research lab means that, with luck, RC can become a place
where the world's best programmers will want to come to do their most
interesting work - and all the better, in an open atmosphere where you can
show people what you're building. I'm excited to see where this goes.

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GolfyMcG
I attended my first RC event the other day for recruiting and I was so
impressed with everything. It was the first recruiting/networking event I've
ever been to where it didn't feel like everyone was trying to sell me
something. It was great to be surrounded by engineers.

With that said, it wouldn't surprise me to see this turn into the next Xerox
PARC, where perhaps they don't capitalize on all of these new ideas but it
truly pushes the envelope forward. It could be great for the world, but I
think a lot of times the ability to produce these innovative ideas and
bringing them to market can work against each other.

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mcafeeryan92
This sounds great. Funding people over projects is the right approach to doing
research, imo, because of the dangers of pursuing research topics simply
because they seem fundable or being afraid to pursue more risky research that
could be more beneficial solely due to fundability. I hope this model works
great for them and finds its way into more types of science as well.

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bkcooper
_Funding people over projects is the right approach to doing research_

I would argue this is already essentially the dominant model. There are
already more plausible projects than there is money to fund all of them, and
the credibility of the person doing the proposing appears to be pretty
decisive in terms of whether you actually get funding or not. It also isn't
that uncommon for people to be a little dishonest about the funding and play
games to shuffle it around to accomplish different ends. It would be nice to
eliminate that layer, but I don't think it would be a revolutionary advance in
quality or anything.

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bbgm
Academia has used this model for a long time. Endowed chairs are a good
example. Universities like faculty members that can attract quality students,
quality faculty, and most importantly lots of grand money.

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ThePhysicist
This is really great and excites me both as an RC/HS alumnus and a (quantum)
physicist that loves Nielsen/Chuang's book on "Quantum Computation and Quantum
Information". As an experimentalist that book helped me so much in
understanding quantum state/process tomography and quantum algorithms. Today
it is still the go-to reference for "practical quantum computing" and (IMHO)
by far the most accessible and thorough reference on the principles of quantum
computing.

What I find even more exciting is that he wants to work on improving software
development, something that I'm trying to do as at withquantifiedcode.com .

I guess I have the perfect excuse now to apply for another batch of RC :D

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rhgraysonii
I finally got the gall to apply to Recurse after a couple years of following
their work and folks coming in and out, waiting for the day I was ready for
it. I can't help but be really excited just at the change to work with so many
ridiculously intelligent folks. It really is a new age when it comes to
education in the programming field and it is just so exciting to be a part of.

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arenaninja
Exciting news for the RC and RC'ers everywhere!

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endlessvoid94
Fantastic stuff. I love the example this sets.

