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Ask HN: What's the pathway to working on YC Research-like problems?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the pathway to working on YC Research-like problems?

#11

Post by argonaut »

angersock wrote: post #8
argonaut wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you think about it, YC Research is how academic research used to be funded centuries ago - patronage by wealthy elites.

Quite right! That being the case, let's dispense with the pretense and just recognize the community for what it is: courtisanship and begging for patrons.

I mean, I don't see it quite so negatively. It's good to have a diverse mix of funding sources: academia, government grants, industry research, and private research (non-industry oriented) like YCR.

Re: Ask HN: What's the pathway to working on YC Research-like problems?

#12

Post by dandermotj »

The straight forward answer you'll get is to study a pure/applied science in university up to MS or PhD level. This is probably half of the answer. The other half is being voraciously curious in many many areas and actively self teaching (deliberately or not) through reading, practicing and generally immersing yourself in whatever you're interested in. Working on "big problems" requires experts across fields with unique perspectives and knowledge. Getting a PhD for XYZ might mean your smart, but not necessarily unique.

Re: Ask HN: What's the pathway to working on YC Research-like problems?

#14

Post by Michie »

Hi dynamic99,

If I were you and i'm near YC, I would probably ask YC if there are any spots for volunteers for any specific YCR program. Tell them your reason why you are interested as you have specified above.

If you are lucky enough to have a chance to volunteer, you get an in depth experience on how they are actually doing it. Giving you the opportunity to ask yourself, do you still want to do this after High School?

I found this paragraph on this link: https://jobs.lever.co/ycr/03b226d0-148e-4ecd-a5f0-3e6074251e... "Have ideas to share, but don't want to work on this full time? Email us your thoughts: cities@ycr.org"

You can start contributing your ideas via email, but this is only for Cities Research. I don't know about the others.

Good Luck!!!

Re: Ask HN: What's the pathway to working on YC Research-like problems?

#16

Post by wslh »

curuinor wrote: post #9

B. Victor was Caltech EE BS and Berkeley EE MS( http://worrydream.com/#!/cv ). V. Hart did a music BA at Stony Brook, but has lots of mathematics background from many sources( https://www.quora.com/What-is-Vi-Harts-mathematical-educatio... ). D. Ingalls was physics at Harvard and PHD dropout (MS) in EE from Stanford( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Henry_Holmes_Ingalls,_J... ). Y. Ohshima was BS, MS and PHD at T…

I think OP wants to start as early as possible and thinking of a PhD now where he/she is in high school is a showstopper.

You can take a look at this kind of high school programs: http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/summer because doing it alone is a bad choice.

Re: Ask HN: What's the pathway to working on YC Research-like problems?

#17

Post by argonaut »

wslh wrote: post #16
curuinor wrote: post #9

B. Victor was Caltech EE BS and Berkeley EE MS( http://worrydream.com/#!/cv ). V. Hart did a music BA at Stony Brook, but has lots of mathematics background from many sources( https://www.quora.com/What-is-Vi-Harts-mathematical-educatio... ). D. Ingalls was physics at Harvard and PHD dropout (MS) in EE from Stanford( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Henry_Holmes_Ingalls,_J... ). Y. Ohshima was BS, MS and PHD at T…

I think OP wants to start as early as possible and thinking of a PhD now where he/she is in high school is a showstopper. You can take a look at this kind of high school programs: http://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/summer because doing it alone is a bad choice.

On the contrary, the OP is at the exact right time in life to be thinking about these things. If the OP were 35 with a job, that would be the wrong time to be thinking about a PhD.

The OP is a senior in HS, which means they can 1) tailor their list of colleges to apply to to include colleges that are strong in their research interests and have programs for undergraduate research, 2) After they've decided on a college in the spring, they can decide on relevant classes to take, 3) In college they can reach out to faculty about their projects.

Re: Ask HN: What's the pathway to working on YC Research-like problems?

#18

Post by webmaven »

argonaut wrote: post #11
angersock wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quite right! That being the case, let's dispense with the pretense and just recognize the community for what it is: courtisanship and begging for patrons.

I mean, I don't see it quite so negatively. It's good to have a diverse mix of funding sources: academia, government grants, industry research, and private research (non-industry oriented) like YCR.

Meh. Not so much. Too many Bigelows these days:

http://theawl.com/the-strange-history-of-robert-bigelow-who-...

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