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@ smallworlnd
2025-02-22 04:49:25
Politically savvy in what way? Like positioning in a way that helps bring in more research grants, or maybe politically savvy by choosing to be a researcher in a "hot topic" field? Or maybe a mix of the two?
In any case, my own experience in the academic fiat mines over the years is that researchers are like entrepreneurs in a way. They constantly have to be advocating for their work and their teams. Bigger research groups tend to publish more by virtue of being bigger, which brings in more grants. Being a researcher in a hot topic field also helps to get the ears of funding agencies but it's also hyper competitive because there are so many academics for so few funding dollars that it's a race to the bottom. It really is just a constant grind to keep research going, students going, papers published, peer reviews done, conference attendances to disseminate research, grant applications done, juggling institution politics, and on and on.