网络电视体育直播:Uri　Alon：如何选择你的研究课题？--Redondo日记本

最近一期《Molecular Cell》杂志上刊发了一篇Uri Alon教授撰写的短文“How To Choose a Good Scientific Problem”。这绝对是一篇值得推荐给所有立志做科研的同学们的好文章。之所以这么说，并非出于Uri Alon教授是位一年能发好几篇Nature的大牛，而是因为你能从文字中感觉出Uri Alon教授是一位真正热爱科学的人，一个以科研为乐趣的人，一个纯粹的科学家，一个努力全方位培养学生的好老师。很遗憾，在我们这样一个中国特色的国度里，这样纯粹的科学家实在是太少了。鉴于我国特殊的国情，文章中建议的一些做法尽管长远来看对个人发展有利，但并不适用于我们，所以请各位仅供参考。（日志末尾附Uri Alon教授的实验室的主页及原文链接）

Choosing good problems is essential for being a good scientist. But what is a good problem, and how do you choose one? The subject is not usually discussed explicitly within our profession. Scientists are expected to be smart enough to figure it out on their own and through the observation of their teachers. This lack of explicit discussion leaves a vacuum that can lead to approaches such as choosing problems that can give results that merit publication in valued journals, resulting in a job and tenure.

以下是我挑出来的一些给我个人留下深刻印象的语句（注意：这些句子不是连贯的，建议感兴趣的朋友阅读原文。）

A good choice means that you can competently discover new knowledge that you find fascinating and that allows self-expression.

What is the goal of starting a lab? It is sometimes easy to pick up a default value, common in current culture, such as “The goal of my lab is to publish the maximum number of papers of the highest quality.”However, in this essay, we will frame the goal differently: “A lab is a nurturing environment that aims to maximize the potential of students as scientists and as human beings.”

From values—even if they are not consciously stated—flow all of the decisions made in the lab, big and small: how the lab looks, when students can take a vacation, and (as we will now discuss) what problems to choose.

The Two Dimensions of Problem Choice

The first is feasibility—that is, whether a problem is hard or easy, in units such as the expected time to complete the project. This axis is a function of the skills of the researchers and of the technology in the lab. It is important to remember that problems that are easy on paper are often hard in reality, and that problems that are hard on paper are nearly impossible in reality.

The second axis is interest: the increase in knowledge expected from the project. We generally value science that ventures deep into unknown waters. Problems can be ranked in terms of the distance from the known shores, by the amount in which they increase verifiable knowledge. We will call this the interest of the problem.

The diagram suggests a way to choose between problems, using the Pareto front principle of optimization theory. If problem A is better on both axes than problem B, one can erase B from the diagram. Applying this criterion to all problems, one is left only with problems for which there are no problems clearly better in both feasibility and interest. These remaining problems are on the Pareto front.

To decide which problem to select along the front depends on how we weigh the two axes. For example, a beginning graduate student needs a problem that is easy; positive feedback can thus be rapidly provided, bolstering confidence. These problems are on the bottom right of the Pareto front. The second problem in graduate school can move up the interest axis. Postdocs need projects in the top-right quadrant, since time is limited. Beginning PIs, who need to select a field on which to spend many years and with which to train students, may seek a grand challenge that can be divided into many good, smaller projects. Thus, the optimal problems move along the Pareto front as a function of the life stages of the scientist.

选题要慎重，磨刀不误砍柴工，切忌头脑发热。（国情，注意国情）

A common mistake made in choosing problems is taking the first problem that comes to mind. Since a typical project takes years even it if seems doable in months, rapid choice leads to much frustration and bitterness in our profession. It takes time to find a good problem, and every week spent in choosing one can save months or years later on.

In my lab, we have a rule for new students and postdocs: Do not commit to a problem before 3 months have elapsed. In these 3 months the new student or postdoc reads, discusses, and plans. The state of mind is focused on being rather than doing. The temptation to start working arises, but a rule is a rule. After 3 months (or more), a celebration marks the beginning of the research phase—with a well-planned project.

到底该听谁的？（国情，注意国情）

The confusion is due to the mixing of two voices—one is a loud voice of the interests of those around us, in conferences, in our department, etc. The other is a faint voice in our breast, that says, “This is interesting to me.” Ranking problems with consideration to the inner voice makes you more likely to choose problems that will satisfy you in the long term.

What is the essence of the inner voice? The projects that a particular researcher finds interesting are an expression of a personal filter, a way of perceiving the world. This filter is associated with a set of values: the beliefs of what is good, beautiful, and true versus what is bad, ugly, and false.

we can help students in the late phases of their PhD or in the postdoc stage to strengthen their inner voice. A mentor can help by listening to a student describe what they like in science, in life outside of science, what moment made them decide to become scientists, and what scientific work they admire.

科研行军路线图

 A common schema is expressed in the way papers are written: one starts at point A, which is the question, and proceeds by the shortest path to point B, the answer. There is a danger, if one accepts this schema, to regard students as a means to an end (an arrow to B).

However, one can adopt a second schema, one that resembles more the course of most projects. As before, one starts at point A and moves toward the goal at point B. Soon enough, things move off course, and the path meanders and loops back. Experiments stop working, all assumptions seem wrong, and nothing makes sense. The researcher has entered a phase linked with negative emotions that may be called “the cloud.”

In this second schema, the meandering of research is seen as an integral part of our craft, rather than a nuisance. The mentors' task is to support students through the cloud that seems to guard the entry into the unknown. And, with this schema, we have more space to see that problem C exists and may be more worthwhile than continuing to plod toward B.

本文的原文链接 （Molecular Cell, Volume 35, Issue 6, 726-728, 24 September 2009）

http://www.cell.com/molecular-cell/fulltext/S1097-2765(09)00641-8

Uri Alon教授的课题组主页

http://www.weizmann.ac.il/mcb/UriAlon/

Youtube上有Uri Alon教授自弹自唱的一段视频；Uri Alon教授在Facebook上有帐号。可惜，Youtube和Facebook在我国被被和谐掉了。这就是国情。