Many developing countries are endowed with rich natural resources and enormous human potential. Unfortunately, some of these potentials are yet to be fully realized due to years of neglect and underfunding. One path to national development is to democratize low-cost research that requires only modest or no governmental support, which can lead to technological success. Most complaints about the situation are valid and warranted. However, it is difficult to reform a bureaucracy as an individual. Rather than wallow in self-pity, we can positively impact our future by taking ownership. On the contrary, there are government incentives that are non-profit in nature, aimed at cultivating a scientific culture among citizens. These schemes play a prominent role in scientific advancement but are outside the scope of this writing.
One school of thought may encourage Africans to focus solely on agriculture. This line of thinking is reasonable when mechanized agriculture is the norm. Conversely, subsistence agriculture that barely feeds a household does not cut it. Mechanized agriculture is the way to sustainable economic prosperity. Hence, such farms require technology such as supply chain logistics software, climate prediction, accounting, optimization, economics, and other scientific disciplines.
# What is research?
Science is a structured approach to questioning beliefs. It involves validating theories (assumptions, hypotheses) by obtaining evidence from rigorous experiments or real-life observation. Technology is applied science to real-life use cases, where scientific investigation is undertaken through research. A project begins with a research question, followed by reading up on previous work in the field through literature reviews. Furthermore, data are collected, experiments are conducted, results are interpreted, and findings are disseminated.
Some individuals have identified the prohibitive cost of research as a significant hindrance to technological development. Science is often underfunded, both by governmental and non-governmental organizations. This situation has hampered technological growth in these countries, increasing national poverty levels and limiting youth growth capacity. This excuse is the easiest way to accept mediocrity while discouraging meritocracy, which is vital for a knowledge economy. Developing countries have many open problems to solve. As a result, some of these concerns can be addressed by reapplying techniques from industrialized nations. However, others require original solutions that are cost-effective relative to foreign options. Developing countries that are cash-trapped can still conduct research with independent researchers.
There is a prevailing misconception that research can only be undertaken by Ph.D. holders who work in specialized labs and institutions. Fortunately, there are several low-cost research options. Rather than focusing on world-class groundbreaking research that is institutionalized, it is cheaper to focus on mastering the fundamentals through reverse engineering. It can take the form of reproducing old research papers by re-implementing ideas in software, hardware, and performing chemical experiments (validating past study reproducibility) among others. This action results in a healthy system where ideas cross-pollinate back and forth from academia to industry.
Conventional wisdom discourages copycats, and plagiarism should be avoided at all costs. Pablo Picasso said, "Good artists borrow, great artists, steal”. If one understands how existing products are manufactured, one can avoid the original mistakes the first movers made in designing the product. As a result, future products will be better. First-movers may create patents that stifle competition. Despite the prevailing sentiment, we emphasize that intellectual property should always be protected. Hence, we are not suggesting an identical clone of an existing product. Instead, we recommend a fundamental understanding of existing products with the goals of improving them and inventing novel solutions where patent infringement may arise.
# Who can do research?
Anyone can do research, including students, hobbyists, professors, researchers, and startup founders e.t.c. We will emphasize low-cost independent research, such as that performed by students and hobbyists without institutional backing. This practice can provide a blueprint for a grassroots scientific revolution in the country. Most employers may provide opportunities for employees to develop themselves through professional programs. Sadly, most industrial schemes focus on product development and restrict intellectual property from proliferation.
## Should research be done for profit or scientific advancement?
This decision should be context-specific. For individuals with limited resources, it is better to choose a topic with viable economic potential. Science and economics should be complementary. This is because previous research that led to profitable products can yield proceeds reinvested in more sustained research projects in the same domain. Rather than focus on abstract academic topics which are rigorous, but lacking in real-world applicability. A seasoned researcher may focus on novelty due to the “publish or perish” mentality in academia, while a hobbyist should focus on industrial applicability. Let us examine a list of cost-effective research options:
1. Open source development / Personal projects
Several well-known open-source projects have structured code reviews and effective design patterns. The ability to quickly iterate and implement ideas is desirable for building research prototypes. Open-source development experience can be valuable in these settings. It is also helpful for implementing research ideas in a manner accessible to multiple users. Our thinking runs contrary to performing an unpaid, non-impactful internship where you are not exposed to rigorous software craftsmanship. Working on open-source software or your project may be a better option. Popular open-source projects have discussion forums for discussing ideas and networking opportunities.
- [Google Summer of Code](https://summerofcode.withgoogle.com/)
- [Linux mentoring]( https://lfx.linuxfoundation.org/tools/mentorship/ )
2. Residency/internships
Internships and residency programs provide an apprentice-like relationship where inexperienced researchers can learn from experienced researchers. This experience gives the individual the opportunity to learn how to perform research in both industry and research institutes.
3. Competitions (CodeForces [[1]](), TopCoder [[2]](), Kaggle [[3]](), CTF [[4]](), Science fairs [[5]](), among others)
Developing problem-solving skills can increase research and prototyping speed. In a competition setting, the organizer provides a challenging problem that requires creativity to obtain a working solution. Repeated exposure to these kinds of challenges builds valuable problem-solving abilities for research.
Competitions are a very effective way to conduct practical research. For high schoolers and undergrads, there are specialized competitions.
### Math competitions:
- [Caribou Math Contest](https://cariboutests.com/)
- [Kangaroo Math Contest](https://mathkangaroo.ca/)
- [International Mathematics Competition for University Students](https://www.imc-math.org.uk/)
- [International Youth Math Challenge](https://iymc.info/en/)
### Physics competitions:
- [Online Physics Olympiad](https://artofproblemsolving.com/wiki/index.php/Online_Physics_Olympiad)
- [Rudolf Ortvay International Competition in Physics](https://ortvay.elte.hu/main.html)
### Research:
- [Regeneron Science Competition](https://www.societyforscience.org/regeneron-sts/)
- International science Olympiads for high school students ([IMO](https://www.imo-official.org/), [IOI](https://ioinformatics.org/), [IPHO](https://ipho-unofficial.org/)).
### Bug Bounty Programs:
- [Hackerone](https://hackerone.com)
- [Bugcrowd](https://bugcrowd.com)
4. Meetups/reading groups/conferences
This scheme provides an avenue to share your work. It also provides a place for researchers to exchange ideas and validate ill-formed ideas that require more brainstorming. Here is a rough guide to hosting a [meetup]( https://kenluck2001.github.io/blog_post/organizing_a_technical_meetup.html ).
5. Writing scientific blogs/textbooks/research papers
After the research is completed, it is reasonable to share the results with the scientific community. The venues for disseminating work depend on the quality of the work and the likelihood of passing peer reviews at the best conferences.
Blogging helps disseminate valuable work that may not pass peer review at conferences emphasizing novelty as a major requirement. Additionally, researchers can submit their work to major conferences if it passes peer review.
# Benefits of research
The world is tired of “yet another food delivery app”. Fortunately, there are many interesting problems of real-world significance that research activities should tackle. These challenges can have both civilian and military impacts on countries. Startup founders having a combination of business and scientific research skills can innovate and create revolutionary products faster than their competitors.
Well-managed research can lead to country self-sufficiency. This may include import substitution for raw materials and composite items. Additionally, Open-Source software is likely exempted from sanctions (use the open-source DWSIM [[6]]() package for chemical reaction simulator instead of commercial software (Aspen HYSYS [[7]]()) with expensive licenses). Hence, the use of open-source software is highly encouraged.
# Failures are inevitable
Anecdotal evidence suggests that individuals should not always focus their research on an issue with huge economic potential. This view may be counterproductive in the long run, as a less-explored idea may have unexpected industrial applications. For example, number theory was a pure mathematics topic, and scientists have worked in obscurity for centuries until cryptography became mainstream in recent years.
Scientific pursuit should be guided by an innate love of science because innovation is full of failures and discouragement. It is common to work on an issue for so long and find it irrelevant or out-innovated by a better method. While it might seem like a waste, it can teach the researcher how to choose better questions to answer. Confucius said, “He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.” Science is rarely settled, so it always brings up-to-date knowledge to replace antiquated ideas.
# Rule of thumb for effective research
- Pick a topic to narrow your focus. Most researchers aim to be experts in a field. It may be unreasonable to focus only on trendy topics or change focus areas so frequently. It is better to solidify the basics and review them as appropriate.
- Follow prominent researchers on social media to keep updated on current trends in your research field.
- Develop excellent writing skills to disseminate the results to a large audience.
# Conclusions
Instilling a research-oriented culture in the masses is a necessary step to supercharge the technological growth required to build a knowledge-based economy. Hopefully, we will inspire a revolution where individuals transform from a consumer-oriented to a producer-oriented mindset. Countries compete for limited resources spread across the world. Some talk about “international social good”, but in practice, they do not. Technological contests between nations are zero-sum games. This international competition encourages skilled individuals to migrate from their home countries. Remittances are helpful, but brain drain is obvious. On the contrary, those individuals may have their skills under-utilized in their home countries, leading to the trade-off between “brain drain” and “brain waste”.
# About the author
Kenneth Emeka Odoh is a software engineer who has worked for reputable companies, including Microsoft, Intel, and startups. He has led and shipped key features for well-known products, including Tiger Lake processors, Microsoft Teams, Yammer, Live Profile Cards, Faster video streaming (transcoding) by GPU, and the Audio Transcription Project.
My [professional page](https://kenluck2001.github.io/) has information about my blogging, open source contributions, textbook writing (in press), scientific publications, and organizing multiple meetups/reading groups (AI, Cryptography, Distributed Systems).
# References
- [[1]]() https://codeforces.com/
- [[2]]() https://www.topcoder.com/
- [[3]]() https://www.kaggle.com/
- [[4]]() https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_the_flag
- [[5]]() https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fair
- [[6]]() https://dwsim.org/
- [[7]]() https://www.aspentech.com/en/products/engineering/aspen-hysys
# How to Cite this Article
```
BibTeX Citation
@article{kodoh2024a,
author = {Odoh, Kenneth},
title = {Low-Cost Research Opportunities in STEM Fields},
year = {2024},
note = {https://kenluck2001.github.io/blog_post/low-cost_research_opportunities_in_stem_fields.html}
}
```
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