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Comment by jankotek | Hacker News Reader

If it is just a hobby, why bother with expensive university? Most people can perform perfectly valid research from their bedroom or garage.

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> If it is just a hobby, why bother with expensive university?

Perhaps it allows you to work closely with other researchers in your field. Also note that PhD students usually don't pay tuition.

> Most people can perform perfectly valid research from their bedroom or garage.

This seems pretty unfunded. Unless you mean most people who have already done a PhD.

Cost of masters degree, living cost in expensive city, lost wages... It is expensive!

You do not have to be member of academia to interact with other researches.

》This seems pretty unfunded. Unless you mean most people who have already done a PhD.

My experience is from astronomy and cryptography. You can make good contribution without being part of academia. Data are freely available on internet. Also code.

If observational astronomers all work independently out of their apartments with a $1k telescope for a few decades, a lot of areas of theoretical astronomy are going to languish. Not to mention other fields that need crazy things like an actual lab.

Work independently with $1k telescope from balcony? Why? This is completely out of context.

First I talked about data analysis and software development.

Secondly, even in observational astronomy, anyone can make proposal and get observing time on large instrument. Or rent 20" in Chile and use it remotely.

I’m sure you’re aware that astronomers use instruments other than terrestrial optical telescopes, many of which you cannot rent any equivalent of. My point was that you first dismissed needing to get a PhD to do research out of hand, and then refined your dismissal to astronomy and cryptography. Whichever scope you choose, there’s a wide body of research you can’t do without either institutional connections or a very large trust fund, no matter how much of an autodidact you are.

I have personal experience from those two fields. Perhaps other fields are different. But trust me, you do not need a PhD to get observing time on 4 meter telescope.

How about LIGO? Are there some 4km interferometers I can rent for a few years of gravitational wave observations I want to do? Has Elon Musk launched an orbital X-Ray telescope like Chandra I can get some time on without breaking the bank? If I want to do some bleeding edge radio work, where do I sign up to decide where the next Arecibo is pointed?

I’m taking you at your word that you have experience with astronomy research. But that makes it impossible to take you at your word when you appear to lack the imagination to come up with observational astronomy you can’t do without institutional support.

My point is about doing research without PhD as a hobby. Since I would not get paid anyway, I do not see reason to spend a few years, just to get paperwork sorted. Most data are publicly available. Most researchers are very happy for helping hand.

Privately founded research instruments are different topic.

LIGO data are here: https://www.ligo.caltech.edu/page/ligo-data

Xray data are also publicly available, I would suggest skyview https://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov/current/cgi/query.pl

Requests for Arecibo telescope are here: https://www.naic.edu/ao/scientist-user-portal/proposal-submi...

>My point is about doing research without PhD as a hobby.

And his/her point is that hobbyists aren't a replacement for a class of professional scientists.

It's great that it's your hobby, but to made consistent advances there needs to be a credentialed class of scientists who spend their lives funding and creating the tools and techniques you use for your hobby.

No progress is possible without HR department :)

Oh god I wish. I cant even afford the equipment for many non-research projects, assuming they would sell it to me in the first place.

"If it is just a hobby"

What, from the post you are replying to, leads you to this? If it was not an intentional misrepresentation, I am curious about the line of thought leading to this.

The post above it (copied below). It’s a very valid counterpoint imo :-)

Rumour has it doing a PhD might actually be a rewarding experience in its own right, and not derive its value solely from the possibility of remaining in academia.

It is quite possible to do research as a hobby. It is very difficult to do proper research training as a hobby, and essentially impossible to do a research apprenticeship (which is what a PhD is) outside of an environment where you are being supervised by other PhDs. If you have a spouse or close friend who's prepared to supervise you, fine - but otherwise it's likely to be at a university or research lab.

Coupled to that, PhD slots are generally funded, so university at PhD level is normally less 'expensive' and more 'opportunity costs'.

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