Does research experience affect your performance as a software engineer?
And if so, is it for the better?
Hands-on experience and reading beyond my current needs helps me. Mostly about being able to think at a conceptual level at the same time as concrete problems and solutions at-hand.
Most research and researchers are trash. Typically it results in inflated ego and worse skills.
No, as far as I can tell it makes no difference at all.
It's probably inversely proportional.