The Fun of Research: A Discussion with Konrad Rieck

Listen to this interview of Konrad Rieck, Professor of Computer Science at Technische Universitat Berlin. We talk about enthusiasm in research and about researching with enthusiasm. Konrad Rieck : "Personally, and as well for my research group, I can say that we try not to lose fun in the whole thing. Because, when a person decides to go for a PhD or for a master's, often there's something inside the person — they just really like the topic. For example, I really love computers. It's not that I do this to make money. Really, it's something personal. And it's fun for me. Of course, sometimes I just don't experience the fun, and I try to get it back — which is really difficult. But I think, the more we enjoy doing research, the better the research gets. This is my feeling. And I know from others that this is not always the case. In other groups, there is more pressure, more hierarchy, and other stress factors like that. So, my recommendation is less pressure, less hierarchy in research."