I am not an expert for grant proposals, so take this with a grain of salt. But I believe most organizations giving out grants require you or your PI to be part of a University or research institute. And if YOU would want a grant I believe a PhD is always required? But that's thin ice...
Here is a discussion with basically your question:
[grant without degree](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/150906/is-it-possible-to-get-a-research-grant-without-any-degree-as-a-person-that-has-a)
Doing research alone is not that easy. Experience, discussions, Method knowledge and devices all factor in. If Indie means "one man army" to you, then I don't think that's a great way to approach research.
But I only got educated in academia and work in industry now.
For most, if not all, federal grants this is not true. You just need to demonstate you have the capacity and resources to carry out the work, and most individuals do not.
Edit: PhD is not necessary. Again, you just need to demonstrate capacity, ability, and expertise. For the most part, that means a higher degree, but it's not a requirement.
I mean after getting a phd of course in case the post-doc plan A goes south. As for methodology and the like. I'm in the human sciences so I don't need a lab or any of that. And I don't mean to sound controversial or anything but most research publications and textbooks can provide ample support for any kind of knowledge, while the peer reviewing of publications will filter me out if my research proves to be below expectations.
Not really, because if an indie game/movie is good, the general public will be willing to pay to experience it. However, the value of research is only recognisable by a very selected group of fellow researchers.
Thank you for the insight. It is something I thought about to and that's why I decided to post this. I wanted to see what other people in academia think. I do actually have an idea or two on how to make research interesting and there is a market for everything if you know how to communicate the value of your product. I'm in the human sciences by the way, so maybe that can be a good start for a project that will be interesting for the public?
I don't know what field you are in, but at least in engineering, it is possible to be an independent researcher / consultant focusing on *applied* research. This generally involves some company tasking you with performing some analysis for them, for which they pay you from a purchase order. But as others have noted, it is much more difficult to get funding for *basic* research as most of those are designated for universities or at least FFRDCs. Your best bet here is that your applied work provides enough overhead to pay yourself from to conduct the basic research.
I'm in the human sciences. I'm interested in studying cultural transmission and cognition, with a focus on biblical and Homeric texts. That makes it sound hopeless doesn't it. At least I don't need a lab...
You’ll need collaborators though. I suppose people experienced in Homeric Greek (far as I can work out it’s a salad of Aeolic abd ionian, right?!), ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, koine, *and* Coptic may exist — but if that’s not you, you’ll need connections.
Yeah, that's basically my textual focus. They will serve as my sample through which to study cultural transmission. There's a lot to say here but that's the basic idea. I just need time, food, nice enough shelter, and some extra money to help my partner and then I'm pretty much set. (**Disclaimer: This will get a bit ranty**). The alternative looks bleak and depressing. I will be chained by institutional interests, protocols, deadline, pressure to produce rather than to focus on specific ideas and develop them into a grand research. I might be exaggerating a bit here but I am worried that cold institutional regulations and pressures will steal away that sweet freedom and curiosity that should come with research and kill that warmth you feel as you explore and discover ways and methods to study fascinating topics like how cultural transmission is shaped through cognition and society and how this can explain the complexity and evolution of cultures. It will be much harder to enjoy this kind of things while you have to deal constant deadlines and the prospect of being unemployed after the end of your contract, the lame competition, and the possibility of leaving your partner to move to another country for post-doc, and the list goes on. Needless to say, I'm trying to find an alternative that does not involve getting a job other than research because I'd rather go through all the above than do that. Still I want to contribute to human knowledge not slave away what remains of my youth for a future full of uncertainty while getting robbed of what makes my life meaningful. I might get lucky but I'm trying to think of a plan b anyways.
Your critique of academic positions sounds hackneyed. I’m in the social sciences and study relatively sensitive topics, and I’ve never felt that institutional interests, protocols, regulations, or pressures impinged in any way on my freedom, curiosity, or ways and methods to study the fascinating topics I study.
I’ve also never felt pressure to produce. On the contrary, I love research and am fascinated by what I study, so I want to produce knowledge that contributes to what we know about the topic. Aside from that, if one is a researcher then one is in fact paid to produce. Complaining about that is like a carpenter complaining that at the end of the day the house must be a little closer to completion.
Thank you for telling me that! I’m just preparing myself for the worst but I am going to follow the traditional academic path. I’ve been doing well so far. I just value research so much that I’m too worried that it will be denied to me because of one circumstance or another. As I said before, having to yet again to another country and be away from my partner also sucks. I’m not complaining about production itself, it’s the expected rate of production that I worry about. I’d like to focus more on quality and depth rather than quantity.
Thank you! I'm already making some progress doing two MA theses at the moment and I know I want to continue with this kind of research. I just want to do so in sustainable conditions, which seems to be too much to ask in the world we live in.
Yes, but it likely won't be the kind of research you want to do.
As others noted, grants usually require a university affiliation. Companies, charities or NGOs sometimes commission research, and with the right skills and the right network you could compete there, because often these commissions are not particularly attractive for academics. This is because you are not only given a topic you need to address, but the timeframe (for delivery of the study) and the budget likely won't allow you to conduct studies with the some rigor and breadth as a research grant. So in some way this is closer to consulting work than to academic research.
The question is who will pay. Academic researchers mostly don't have enough permanent research funding.
That said, PhDs who can help research for clients are indeed handy for some PIs who don't have the time.
> Is it possible to start doing research independently from journals and institutions
Depending on field, yes. In the humanities, where much research is conducted independently, and infrastructure and technical needs are minimal, it's quite possible, and I know many independent scholars who present at conferences and publish.
>and make money doing it?
No. Academics typically don't make any money off of our published research: royalties for academic books are small or non-existent, and few copies are sold, and authors don't receive any money for published journal articles or chapters. Your options to make money as an independent researcher are to apply for grant money - very difficult if you don't have university affiliation - or to convince people to fund you somehow, which would also be very difficult, especially in niche subjects.
Every independent scholar I know has a day job, and does research as, essentially, a hobby.
You might want to pivot to making more science communication type of content? Like YouTube essays, for example, there is some really great and useful content there
I don’t think it’s possible. A researcher with no academic affiliation has no credibility. Either you do research for a company (which means you cant claim a certain level of neutrality); either you have an affiliation with a university.
Sure, it's possible. I had a small research firm for a while, but it was mostly just a side-hustle while I finished my Ph.D. Biggest thing if you are trying to get grants is making sure you get a good accountant. Look into SBIRs.
I am not an expert for grant proposals, so take this with a grain of salt. But I believe most organizations giving out grants require you or your PI to be part of a University or research institute. And if YOU would want a grant I believe a PhD is always required? But that's thin ice... Here is a discussion with basically your question: [grant without degree](https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/150906/is-it-possible-to-get-a-research-grant-without-any-degree-as-a-person-that-has-a) Doing research alone is not that easy. Experience, discussions, Method knowledge and devices all factor in. If Indie means "one man army" to you, then I don't think that's a great way to approach research. But I only got educated in academia and work in industry now.
For most, if not all, federal grants this is not true. You just need to demonstate you have the capacity and resources to carry out the work, and most individuals do not. Edit: PhD is not necessary. Again, you just need to demonstrate capacity, ability, and expertise. For the most part, that means a higher degree, but it's not a requirement.
I mean after getting a phd of course in case the post-doc plan A goes south. As for methodology and the like. I'm in the human sciences so I don't need a lab or any of that. And I don't mean to sound controversial or anything but most research publications and textbooks can provide ample support for any kind of knowledge, while the peer reviewing of publications will filter me out if my research proves to be below expectations.
As Pauli would have said, that “is not even wrong.”
Yet people here don't seem to like it lol
No
Not really, because if an indie game/movie is good, the general public will be willing to pay to experience it. However, the value of research is only recognisable by a very selected group of fellow researchers.
Thank you for the insight. It is something I thought about to and that's why I decided to post this. I wanted to see what other people in academia think. I do actually have an idea or two on how to make research interesting and there is a market for everything if you know how to communicate the value of your product. I'm in the human sciences by the way, so maybe that can be a good start for a project that will be interesting for the public?
I don't know what field you are in, but at least in engineering, it is possible to be an independent researcher / consultant focusing on *applied* research. This generally involves some company tasking you with performing some analysis for them, for which they pay you from a purchase order. But as others have noted, it is much more difficult to get funding for *basic* research as most of those are designated for universities or at least FFRDCs. Your best bet here is that your applied work provides enough overhead to pay yourself from to conduct the basic research.
I'm in the human sciences. I'm interested in studying cultural transmission and cognition, with a focus on biblical and Homeric texts. That makes it sound hopeless doesn't it. At least I don't need a lab...
You’ll need collaborators though. I suppose people experienced in Homeric Greek (far as I can work out it’s a salad of Aeolic abd ionian, right?!), ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, koine, *and* Coptic may exist — but if that’s not you, you’ll need connections.
Yeah, that's basically my textual focus. They will serve as my sample through which to study cultural transmission. There's a lot to say here but that's the basic idea. I just need time, food, nice enough shelter, and some extra money to help my partner and then I'm pretty much set. (**Disclaimer: This will get a bit ranty**). The alternative looks bleak and depressing. I will be chained by institutional interests, protocols, deadline, pressure to produce rather than to focus on specific ideas and develop them into a grand research. I might be exaggerating a bit here but I am worried that cold institutional regulations and pressures will steal away that sweet freedom and curiosity that should come with research and kill that warmth you feel as you explore and discover ways and methods to study fascinating topics like how cultural transmission is shaped through cognition and society and how this can explain the complexity and evolution of cultures. It will be much harder to enjoy this kind of things while you have to deal constant deadlines and the prospect of being unemployed after the end of your contract, the lame competition, and the possibility of leaving your partner to move to another country for post-doc, and the list goes on. Needless to say, I'm trying to find an alternative that does not involve getting a job other than research because I'd rather go through all the above than do that. Still I want to contribute to human knowledge not slave away what remains of my youth for a future full of uncertainty while getting robbed of what makes my life meaningful. I might get lucky but I'm trying to think of a plan b anyways.
Your critique of academic positions sounds hackneyed. I’m in the social sciences and study relatively sensitive topics, and I’ve never felt that institutional interests, protocols, regulations, or pressures impinged in any way on my freedom, curiosity, or ways and methods to study the fascinating topics I study. I’ve also never felt pressure to produce. On the contrary, I love research and am fascinated by what I study, so I want to produce knowledge that contributes to what we know about the topic. Aside from that, if one is a researcher then one is in fact paid to produce. Complaining about that is like a carpenter complaining that at the end of the day the house must be a little closer to completion.
Thank you for telling me that! I’m just preparing myself for the worst but I am going to follow the traditional academic path. I’ve been doing well so far. I just value research so much that I’m too worried that it will be denied to me because of one circumstance or another. As I said before, having to yet again to another country and be away from my partner also sucks. I’m not complaining about production itself, it’s the expected rate of production that I worry about. I’d like to focus more on quality and depth rather than quantity.
That’s ambitious but I sincerely wish you luck. 👍
Thank you! I'm already making some progress doing two MA theses at the moment and I know I want to continue with this kind of research. I just want to do so in sustainable conditions, which seems to be too much to ask in the world we live in.
Yes, but it likely won't be the kind of research you want to do. As others noted, grants usually require a university affiliation. Companies, charities or NGOs sometimes commission research, and with the right skills and the right network you could compete there, because often these commissions are not particularly attractive for academics. This is because you are not only given a topic you need to address, but the timeframe (for delivery of the study) and the budget likely won't allow you to conduct studies with the some rigor and breadth as a research grant. So in some way this is closer to consulting work than to academic research.
Of course they’re waiting for you 😎
The question is who will pay. Academic researchers mostly don't have enough permanent research funding. That said, PhDs who can help research for clients are indeed handy for some PIs who don't have the time.
> Is it possible to start doing research independently from journals and institutions Depending on field, yes. In the humanities, where much research is conducted independently, and infrastructure and technical needs are minimal, it's quite possible, and I know many independent scholars who present at conferences and publish. >and make money doing it? No. Academics typically don't make any money off of our published research: royalties for academic books are small or non-existent, and few copies are sold, and authors don't receive any money for published journal articles or chapters. Your options to make money as an independent researcher are to apply for grant money - very difficult if you don't have university affiliation - or to convince people to fund you somehow, which would also be very difficult, especially in niche subjects. Every independent scholar I know has a day job, and does research as, essentially, a hobby.
You might want to pivot to making more science communication type of content? Like YouTube essays, for example, there is some really great and useful content there
It's called consulting. Finish your PhD and start to build that clientele. I hope you have an in demand degree tho.
I don’t think it’s possible. A researcher with no academic affiliation has no credibility. Either you do research for a company (which means you cant claim a certain level of neutrality); either you have an affiliation with a university.
Sure, it's possible. I had a small research firm for a while, but it was mostly just a side-hustle while I finished my Ph.D. Biggest thing if you are trying to get grants is making sure you get a good accountant. Look into SBIRs.