Trading research breakthrough for a permanent job?

Question

Hello, HN.First some context. I finished my PhD 5 years ago, and have had three postdocs since then in three separate fields within the physical sciences (I can't give more detail here as I am afraid of uniquely identifying myself). I have been publishing first author papers at a rate of about 2 per year. I am particularly good at using ideas from one field to solve problems in another, which is why changing fields each postdoc has been a path of least resistance.Recently, I have solved a problem which feels significantly more important than what I have done in the past. It is one of those instances where you can use auto differentiation infrastructure to solve a problem which doesn't really look like machine learning. People in my lab are excited about it, but there does not seem to be any way for me to leverage this excitement into any sort of long term contract. All that is on offer is that the lab PIs want to write a proposal, which doesn't even mention my name, and then if that proposal gets funded, they will rehire me to work on the project (although, there are no guarantees that they will not hire someone else instead, which is a serious concern when multiple PIs are competing to hire someone). As a result of my field hopping, trying to become a PI myself isn't really an option.Is there any mechanism for applying for private sector research jobs where I can bring a project with a prototype along and be like "let me develop this for you, and you can hire me as an employee", kind of like a proposal / job application combination? I am getting a little old to keep doing postdocs, so job security is becoming more of a priority for me.Anyway, not expecting much from posting this, I just thought I would try.

sometimeshuman · Accepted Answer

You should have a decent size professional network given your many years in academia. Assuming you can narrow down which companies could benefit from your innovation, maybe you already know someone in industry who can make the introduction to an R&D person with hiring abilities at their company. To answer your second question, I have personally seen companies hire smart people and let them work on their own pet research projects and some suggest it is at times done to ensure the competition doesn't hire them. For extra fun (or stress), get at least two companies interested and let them bid on you.
On a personal note, the amazing opportunities in my career have come from the outliers of my professional network. As in people who I didn't even think would remember me. So don't be too shy in reaching out.
But as another commenter mentioned, getting a patent would be great. Is the cost of filing preventing you from doing that ?

mensetmanusman · Answer

I work like you, and my advice would be to not get super attached to a particular idea, or it can cause tunnel vision and frustration at how slow the world is to adopt your insight, be patient.
Good ideas are relatively common, what is less common is an environment where you can change the world with an idea, that is what you are searching for now.
Apply for work at some corporate research lab for the job security and leverage your new insights to solve some cool problems.

lawrenceyan · Answer

Why not try starting a company? Here's a good primer: How to spin your scientific research out of a university and into a startup[0][0] - https://blog.ycombinator.com/how-to-spin-your-scientific-res...

neximo64 · Answer

It's not likely to get it in the exact way you want - but you could get close. There would likely be alot of your time being allocated and your project being a 'side project' ancillary to the actual work. The only way to change that balance is to get in using your professional network or someone more senior who is willing to take a bet on whatever it is that you've made.Since it does carry an element of risk it's not likely to be able to be hired on it alone. If you see fit to develop it you could make a research company and raise money on it.

vanusa · Answer

Does your new technique solve any ... business problems? With an appreciable market?May be worth taking a stab starting your own company (or at least a consulting business) rather than wait for one of the big companies to suck you up into their intake vents. Or even if that's your preferred destination, this approach might help you get there (and better positioned for the kind of role you'd prefer to have).

GianFabien · Answer

AFAIK, Microsoft, Google, etc have areas of research interest. Your knowledge of the literature might help you identify if there are any industry based projects that are relevant to your research. Another option might be to found a startup based upon your research. The proposals to VCs is similar to grant applications.

kalimanzaro · Answer

Would Google Research be interested? This sounds like an intersection between physical and computational engineering and as far as I am aware there are some folks at GR who are working in that intersection -- awkward enough that no one academic discipline would be a good fit.

aborsy · Answer

Why don&rsquo;t you apply to become a PI in academia?If it&rsquo;s published, can you explain your idea of using auto differentiation infrastructure to better see how good an idea actually it is?!

LeegleechN · Answer

If you mean important in the sense of potential economic impact, this seems like a case where you should form a company to develop the idea.

PaulHoule · Answer

Can you file a patent?

Trading research breakthrough for a permanent job?

Why not try starting a company? Here's a good primer: How to spin your scientific research out of a university and into a startup[0]
[0] - https://blog.ycombinator.com/how-to-spin-your-scientific-res...

Would Google Research be interested? This sounds like an intersection between physical and computational engineering and as far as I am aware there are some folks at GR who are working in that intersection -- awkward enough that no one academic discipline would be a good fit.

Why don’t you apply to become a PI in academia?
If it’s published, can you explain your idea of using auto differentiation infrastructure to better see how good an idea actually it is?!

If you mean important in the sense of potential economic impact, this seems like a case where you should form a company to develop the idea.

Can you file a patent?