Excuse my naivety, but isn't it good if the same results get proofed in slightly different ways? This is effectively a replication, but instead of just the appliance of the experiments, you also replicate the thought process by having a slightly different approach.

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jacinda 6 hours ago | parent | next [-]

It would be good (especially with the replication crisis), but historically to earn a PhD, especially at a top-tier institution, the criteria is conducting original research that produces new knowledge or unique insights.

Replicating existing results doesn't meet that criteria so unknowingly repeating someone's work is an existential crisis for PhD students. It can mean that you worked for 4-6 years on something that the committee then can't/won't grant a doctorate for and effectively forcing you to start over.

Theoretically, your advisor is supposed to help prevent this as well by guiding you in good directions, but not all advisors are created equal.

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Apocryphon 5 hours ago | parent [-]

And here we once again see an example of misaligned incentives baked into another one of our most hallowed institutions.

	▲	antonvs 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		The problem is that what the “hallowed institutions” are trying to do is extremely ridiculous: turn the kind of work that scientific geniuses did into something that can be replicated by following a formula. It’s as if a committee of middle managers got together and said, “how can we replicate and scale the work of people like Einstein?”

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jcelerier 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Well, if you don't care about not being able to do your defense after 4 years of work because someone managed to do it just before you..

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Xirdus 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

For the humanity? Yes, it's generally good. For that particular researcher's career? Not really. Who wants to pay for research into something that's already known?

	▲	1718627440 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		My imagination was leaning more into the educational side than the research side of university. I see how that wouldn't be appreciated by a patron, but when you get search grants, isn't the topic discussed before starting and paying for the research? Also that is kind of the point, why topics are cleared with the chair-holding professor, which is expected to be already experienced in the subject to know where the knowledge needs to be expanded.