Is research journey a serendipitous mars rover path or an evolving process with its rules and principles? Think slowly on this question and hold on your answers …
Just a little history here. When I had an idea of setting up a lab website back to 2012, I just knew I don’t want a domain name called “zhanglab.com”. Is it so boring, right? As a big fan of astronomy, I fell in love with the name of the NASA Mars Rover – Curiosity. It is such wondering name that distills the spirit of exploration of the unknown with fearless courage. Sometimes you also need a little “serendipitous” luck! In many ways, the “rover spirit” is a perfect reminiscence of the essence of research. In “research” of new knowledge, we need have the courage to explore and at the same time have a leap faith that “serendipitous path” is exact the PATH leading the truth.
I don’t mean to suggest there are no principles in the evolving research process. That’s the exact reason why we need to go to graduate school to learn how to be more effective in research. But keep in mind, the essence of research is the exploration process. Embrace it! That will be fun and rewarding!