Dutch figures show just how little time professors get for their own research. It may be easier to pursue your intellectual interests outside the university system, says THE reporter David Matthews.
David Matthews is a Times Higher Education reporter based in Berlin.
Interesting topic.
I guess we should never forget that we are dealing with humans.
"I love Academia or Research" may be perceived differently by different people.
Moreover, different people have different aspirations.
I have friends in the field of philosophy who work in the Academia and friends who have come out of the system. Talking to them, I came to the conclusion that, at least in Romania, the pressure of the job descriptions is productive. In my and my friends case, the dilemma is to write to order or not to write at all (because you never have enough time / disposition / bright ideas).
Lets take it other way out. Academia gives scrap ideas to a researcher, it helps to build social networks in industry, for example the students of a professor going to their jobs or attending business, come up with diversified opinions in executive classes etc. Also, a researcher can not do research around the clock in social sciences, he/she needs public interaction, in which industry would be more helpful but in developing countries this interaction is restricted at the university level alone.However, when academia becomes a burden as in the centralized academic institutions, yeah it halts the research output. So, its never the academia that becomes good or burdensome for a researcher, its actually the environment of academia that made you hate academia or fall in love with academia and research at the same time.
I disagree because I consider that research should be part of the academy to strengthen teaching.
The problem is when there is no time for loading administrative activities.
Paul: This is a very good question. Some of us prefer to perform research and others prefer teaching. It may be best to choose what whichever field interests you the most.
Personally, I prefer to teach more than research so I pursued a job at a "Teaching" university. About 80% of my time and effort is teaching and that makes me happy. I still conduct some research, but it is not my main focus.
I disagree because research output is one of the three teachers' mandate. The other two being teaching and community service.
Anyone who loves research is open to the option of either being in academia or out of the system.
All lovers of research may not necessarily be in academia as there are several other systems who need/employ researchers.
It depends on the discipline and the institution - the culture of the institution and the priorities of the leadership
I think that academic work is so important to share with the new generations about the research subject linked with the professional interest. So it´s a challenge to teach about research doing research with the novel people.
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