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Independent scientist

{{short description|Financially independent scientist}}

File:George Cayley.jpg, 6th Baronet, discovered fundamental principles of aeronautics.]]

An independent scientist (historically also known as gentleman scientist) is a financially independent scientist who pursues scientific study without direct affiliation to a public institution such as a university or government-run research and development body.

The term "gentleman scientist" arose in post-Renaissance Europe,J. C. Segen (1992). [https://books.google.com/books?id=FbSlyyshjOoC&dq=dictionary+%22gentleman+scientist%22&pg=PA246 Dictionary of Modern Medicine]. p. 246. {{ISBN|1-85070-321-3}} but became less common in the 20th century as government and private funding increased.

Most independent scientists have at some point in their career been affiliated with some academic institution, such as Charles Darwin, who was affiliated with the Geological Society of London.

History

Self-funded scientists practiced more commonly from the Renaissance until the late 19th century, including the Victorian era, especially in England, before large-scale government and corporate funding was available. Many early fellows of the Royal Society in London were independent scientists.

=Modern=

Modern-day independent scientists who fund their own research on an independent basis include, for example, Stephen Wolfram who funds his research through the sale of Mathematica software, Julian Barbour, Aubrey de Grey, Barrington Moore, Susan Blackmore,{{cite web |author=Susan Blackmore |author-link=Susan Blackmore |date=Oct 24, 2008 |url=http://www.moreintelligentlife.com/story/solo-science |title=Solo Science: Tinkering Outside The Tower |publisher=More Intelligent Life |access-date=2012-06-01 |archive-date=2015-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907153017/http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/solo-science |url-status=dead }} James Lovelock, and John Wilkinson who funds his research on "molecular synergism in nature" by running a regulatory scientific consultancy in natural products.

Peter Rich said of Peter D. Mitchell: "I think he would have found it difficult to have gotten funding because his ideas were rather radical."Cohen (1998). Mitchell went on to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1978. Chemist Luis Leloir funded the research institute he headed, the Institute for Biochemical Research, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He won the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1970.{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/ |title=All Nobel Prizes in Chemistry |publisher=Nobelprize.org |access-date=2012-06-01}}

There are today several virtual research institutes for independent scientists, including the Ronin Institute{{Cite journal|last=Dance|first=Amber|date=2017-03-30|title=Flexible working: Solo scientist|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=543|issue=7647|pages=747–749|doi=10.1038/nj7647-747a}} and the National Coalition of Independent Scholars.{{Cite news|last=Wilson|first=Robin|date=2013-01-21|title=Some Ph.D.'s Choose to Work Off the Grid|work=The Chronicle of Higher Education|url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/some-ph-d-s-choose-to-work-off-the-grid/|access-date=2021-03-21}}

Benefits and drawbacks

Self-funding has the disadvantage that funds may be more restricted and the advantage of eliminating a number of inconveniences such as teaching obligations, administrative duties, and writing grant requests to funding bodies. It also permits the scientist to have greater control over research directions, as funding bodies direct grants toward interests that may not coincide with that of the scientist. Furthermore, the intellectual property of the inventions belongs to the inventor and not the employer.

Modern science requires competence and may require access to scientific equipment. Independent scientists may have past careers as funded scientists, cooperate with funded colleagues, obtain partial equipment-only grants, or choose directions where the most expensive resource required is the researcher's time. If the research succeeds, independent scientists may publish results in the same peer-reviewed journals as funded scientists do.

Scientists may choose to work on unusual projects with a high risk of failure also when the grant system does not fund them. A scientist could be attributed the status of an independent scientist if they work on such projects during a gap between two academic positions, for example.

Notable examples

{{Category see also|Independent scientists}}

{{incomplete list|date=September 2015}}

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See also

References

{{Reflist|35em}}

Sources

  • {{cite journal |doi=10.1353/vic.1999.0020 |title=The Life and Times of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney: Gentleman Scientist and Inventor, 1793-1875 (review) |year=2000 |last1=Martello |first1=Robert |journal=Victorian Studies |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=688–90|s2cid=144758476 }}
  • {{cite book| last=Porter | first=Dale H. | title=The Life and Times of Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, Gentleman Scientist and Inventor, 1793–1875 | year=1988 | publisher=Lehigh University Press | isbn=978-0-934223-50-8 }}
  • {{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.279.5348.178 |title=RESEARCH FUNDING: Scientists Who Fund Themselves |year=1998 |last1=Cohen |first1=J. |journal=Science |volume=279 |issue=5348 |pages=178–81 |pmid=9446224|bibcode=1998Sci...279..178C |s2cid=10232672 }}
  • {{cite web | first=Jonathan | last=Keats | url=http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/12/05/craig_venter/index_np.html | title=Craig Venter is the future | website=Salon.com | date=5 December 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307060221/http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2007/12/05/craig_venter/index_np.html | archive-date=7 March 2008 }}
  • {{cite web |last1=Lonsdale |first1=Jon |title=The Rise and Fall of the Gentleman Scientist |url=https://medium.com/@jonathan.lonsdale/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-gentleman-scientist-80218df587b3 |website=Medium |access-date=15 January 2023 |language=en |date=8 October 2019}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Hessler |first1=Angela |title=A path to independence |journal=Science |date=17 December 2021 |volume=374 |issue=6574 |page=1526 |doi=10.1126/science.acx9813 |pmid=34914528 |bibcode=2021Sci...374.1526H |access-date=14 January 2023 |url=https://www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.1126/science.acx9813|url-access=subscription }}
  • {{cite web |last1=Madsen |first1=Andreas |title=Becoming an Independent Researcher and getting published in ICLR with spotlight |url=https://andreas-madsen.medium.com/becoming-an-independent-researcher-and-getting-published-in-iclr-with-spotlight-c93ef0b39b8b |website=Medium |access-date=14 January 2023 |language=en |date=9 October 2020}}
  • {{cite web |last1=Madsen |first1=Andreas |title=9 months after my ICLR spotlight award, as an Independent Researcher. |url=https://andreas-madsen.medium.com/9-months-after-my-iclr-spotlight-award-as-an-independent-researcher-9cfb0c808817 |website=Medium |access-date=14 January 2023 |language=en |date=23 February 2022}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Schweitzer |first1=Andrea |title=The path less travelled |journal=Nature |date=8 April 2010 |volume=464 |issue=7290 |pages=945 |doi=10.1038/nj7290-945a |pmid=20468078 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2010Natur.464..945S }}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=Rosalind |title=Why do academics do unfunded research? Resistance, compliance and identity in the UK neo-liberal university |journal=Studies in Higher Education |date=3 April 2022 |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=904–914 |doi=10.1080/03075079.2020.1817891|s2cid=225319404 |url=https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/443226/1/2020_08_04_article_revised_untracked.docx }}

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Category:Science occupations

Category:Science and culture

Category:Victorian era

Category:Science and technology in the United Kingdom

Category:Royal Society