Ask HN: When did you know that you are cut out for research?
If you work or have worked in research (academia or industry), at what moment did you realise that you were made for doing research?
"Cut out" is really just being able to publish new papers or make new discoveries. Which is hard, because there's a ton of existing literature. But although you probably need some smarts to succeed in academic, motivation and effort can take you very far.