A researcher – but what for?

A little-known profession, people whom the public imagination pictures as hermits, speaking an incomprehensible language, observing things and people with a cold, detached gaze…

Who is the researcher?

They hold a PhD, but a PhD does not make a researcher – far from it – because it is a profession in its own right.

He is passionate, always on the lookout for meaningful insights to draw from his experiments. He explores to the very limits to cover as much ground as possible within his field of research. The risks he faces are called social etiquette, political correctness, bias and preconceptions, which thrive in comfort zones where the mind becomes bogged down. He challenges his own knowledge as he makes new discoveries. Whilst he walks in the footsteps of his peers, he knows he must stray from them as soon as something new arises. He studies theories, and those he validates in his field of exploration will become concepts because they will have been tested and experienced. He is never satisfied; his hunger for knowledge often leads him down unexpected paths.

He publishes his research, he teaches, and then he sets off on his explorations once more. He is not averse to breaking with convention if it isn’t based on solid ground. He sometimes arouses suspicion because he speaks freely and, in keeping with the ideals of his profession, without compromise. He embodies the dedication of Don Quixote, the unconventional originality of Mary Poppins, and the powers of observation and analysis of Sherlock Holmes. A strange creature indeed!

The true researcher has no need for a pedestal on which to rest, for he travels the world and life.

At a time when research is under threat, budgets are being cut, and rampant conformism is stifling all original thought, the researcher’s sometimes unsettling questions cut a swathe through the swamp of certainties and the bog of beliefs.