The Invisible Curriculum of Research

Courses, textbooks, and papers provide the formal curriculum of research. But there is also an invisible curriculum. Unwritten rules and skills separate the best researchers from the rest. I did get an early education on this thanks to my advisor, Anish . He kept mentioning "taste", calling some of my observations and algorithms "cute", and encouring me to be more curious and creative and to develop my "taste". Slowly, I realized that what really shapes a research career isn't written in any textbook or taught in any course. You learn it by osmosis from mentors, and through missteps: working on the wrong problem, asking shallow questions, botching a project, giving up too soon. But if you can absorb these lessons faster, you will find research more fulfilling. The visible curriculum teaches you how to build a car. The invisible curriculum teaches you where to go, who to ride with, and how to keep going when the road turns uphill. After 25 years of exp...