Research is a form of art

I was chatting with Yuhong and Martin; both are among the best researchers I know. One thing leading to another, we began to wonder whether we knew how to do research… and to answer this question, you need to ask what research is…

I think research is a form of art. Or maybe art is a form of research… The point is that there is no one-true-way to do research. Research cannot be measured, it cannot be packaged, it cannot be industrialized… Not anymore than art….

Asking how do you become a good researcher is like asking how you can become
a good artist… there is no straight answer, except a few guidelines:

1. don’t be isolated… be part of a network
2. be open minded
3. don’t copy or try to be fashionable, always try to go further and
   lead