Thursday, June 10, 2004
What it takes to have a decent lab
The interesting part of this story is not so much that MS are chasing new summarisation and source aggregation as a research topic, but the general sorts of comments near the end of the article which highlight what is needed for a successful lab. These can be summarised as
This is particularly relevant for HCI groups, since the uses of technology change faster than the technologies themselves, and they in turn change faster than the fundamental underlying them. Therefore HCI labs have to be dynamic and flexible in terms of research topic, technology labs slightly less so, and natural scientists even less so.
And why do I like this so much? Well, for one it accords with my views, and secondly it gives me a comeback to those people who tell us we are "eclectic" in our research activities. And it's not meant as a compliment, believe me!
The interesting part of this story is not so much that MS are chasing new summarisation and source aggregation as a research topic, but the general sorts of comments near the end of the article which highlight what is needed for a successful lab. These can be summarised as
- A shifting focus of interest over time
- A mix of lon and short term goals
- Good people
- Adequate funding
This is particularly relevant for HCI groups, since the uses of technology change faster than the technologies themselves, and they in turn change faster than the fundamental underlying them. Therefore HCI labs have to be dynamic and flexible in terms of research topic, technology labs slightly less so, and natural scientists even less so.
And why do I like this so much? Well, for one it accords with my views, and secondly it gives me a comeback to those people who tell us we are "eclectic" in our research activities. And it's not meant as a compliment, believe me!
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(c) 2003-2005 Russell Beale
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