Your academic CV is NOT linked to your ability to make big discoveries. 1. Andre Geim, a co-discoverer of graphene, wrote in his Nobel Lecture article: “So, at the age of 33 and with an h index of 1 (latest papers not yet published), I entered the Western job market for postdocs.” 2. Albert Einstein searched for a teaching position for two years. He had to accept a position at a Patent Office, where in a SINGLE year he wrote FOUR papers that completely revolutionized science (the photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, special relativity, and E=mc2). Only few years later did he finally enter academia, becoming a lecturer at the University of Bern. Not even a professor. 3. Katalin Karikó... Her mRNA grant proposals were repeatedly rejected. She was demoted out of the faculty position to a senior research investigator. She remained in a low-status research position for 10 years. She had little grant funding and no independent laboratory. And yet she persisted with her ideas about modified RNA, eventually discovering how it could suppress inflammation and receiving the 2023 Nobel Prize (with Drew Weissman). It was a very hard path. Other examples include Frances Arnold, Michael Brown, Randy Schekman, who got Nobel Prizes for the discoveries they made as young PIs in newly established labs. And many others. 📍So, let’s keep in mind that: 1. Big discoveries are often unforeseen. They emerge from wild hypotheses, random research and risky projects (e.g. graphene was a tiny side project!). Make sure you have such projects in your lab. 2. Most truly impactful discoveries did not require high h-indices, excessive funding or a high-IF journal. They required CREATIVE people and persistence. 3. Rejection of your proposal does NOT mean it proposes bad science. Such rejections represent the opinion of one person who has a rather subjective idea of what ‘good science’ means. 4. For younger people, it’s easier to do risky research. If we lock them to unnecessarily high tenure-track requirements, such discoveries become UNLIKELY. A strong scientist is not defined by high “academic metrics”. A strong scientist is the one who proposes risky creative endeavors outside the conventional boundaries. Who sees risk as an opportunity to make discoveries. And who is constantly seeking out these risks in the lab. __ My new conversation with the leading expert in creativity research - Prof. Keith Sawyer - about discoveries, academia and professional myths: youtu.be/HiDZfBJIBIw ___