Congrats on such a creative idea and the commitment in wanting to realize it! :)
My main worry concerns a very basic premise that seems to underlie the project: that providing an optimal space for individuals to do research is likely to result in efficient and effective research. While conducting online courses may indeed be useful, conducting unguided research is not only hard, but unlikely to lead anywhere concerning effectiveness and efficiency. A junior researcher, without an access to a supervisor who has in-depth knowledge of the given subject domain, is likely to end up tapping in the dark and trying out all kinds of paths that are far from being optimal. This is why the task of a supervisor is so important: one learns which topics to focus on, which gaps in the knowledge should first be filled in, how this should be done, which blind spots are hindering one’s research, etc. And that only concerns knowledge acquisition.
Knowledge production is probably even harder: without having an access to guidance concerning how to conduct e.g. empirical research, how to write academic papers, which workshops and conferences are optimal places for receiving critical feedback, which journal would be good for the given paper, etc. - one’s own output is likely to remain unknown, unrecognized by the relevant community (academic or EA-related) and hence entirely ineffective.
I am not sure which steps could be taken to tackle these problems. The only solution I currently see is opening the hotel for larger project applications, by experts willing to coordinate the research done in the center, and who would regularly visit the place to guide junior researchers.
Remote supervision of research is a possibility, but depends on people with relevant knowledge and experience being available. Peer support from other guests will be available to some extent, especially given the preponderance of people in the movement with postgraduate degrees. However, plenty of research can be self-directed, especially things that are more a case of collating existing knowledge than developing new science (e.g. meta-analyses, review articles, writing books). And the hotel will probably appeal to autodidacts who can plow through published texts and then build on top of them (without much need for explanation additional to what they find in writing).
The hotel is open to hosting research groups, and also conferences and workshops.
That’s all fine, but how does one make sure their meta-analysis follows the adequate methodological rigor of the given domain unless they have a prior experience with research or an in-depth knowledge of such methods? Writing review articles may be easier, though writing books that will make an impact is yet again hard without already having research experience. I’ve noticed in the area of EA that for some reason there is a misconception concerning the research in humanities: everyone would agree that conducting natural sciences outside of an appropriate expert team or a research institution is almost impossible. Yet, people tend to assume that humanities are different. They are not. When it comes to using reliable methods, engaging with the relevant literature, making studies (even meta-analysis) that actually matter—all this is far from trivial and requires expertise. It’s extremely hard to weave through tons of information and uncover the one that actually matters, that should be reviewed, and then pushing that towards a finding that will actually make an impact. So when you say that autodidacts can plow through published texts and build on top of them- that’s not at all simple without having had experience with such research beforehand and knowing quite well:
how to sort through the given texts and order them according to relevance
how to assess the given texts (depending on the domain, one might need to acquire additional skills for this)
what exactly to write about to “build on top of that”: which standards should be employed in the given field so that they lead to an actual publication
etc.
So I’d say: regular supervision (even if remote) for any pre-doc is extremely important. As well as having funds to attend the relevant events in the field where one can get feedback on their work.
Congrats on such a creative idea and the commitment in wanting to realize it! :) My main worry concerns a very basic premise that seems to underlie the project: that providing an optimal space for individuals to do research is likely to result in efficient and effective research. While conducting online courses may indeed be useful, conducting unguided research is not only hard, but unlikely to lead anywhere concerning effectiveness and efficiency. A junior researcher, without an access to a supervisor who has in-depth knowledge of the given subject domain, is likely to end up tapping in the dark and trying out all kinds of paths that are far from being optimal. This is why the task of a supervisor is so important: one learns which topics to focus on, which gaps in the knowledge should first be filled in, how this should be done, which blind spots are hindering one’s research, etc. And that only concerns knowledge acquisition.
Knowledge production is probably even harder: without having an access to guidance concerning how to conduct e.g. empirical research, how to write academic papers, which workshops and conferences are optimal places for receiving critical feedback, which journal would be good for the given paper, etc. - one’s own output is likely to remain unknown, unrecognized by the relevant community (academic or EA-related) and hence entirely ineffective.
I am not sure which steps could be taken to tackle these problems. The only solution I currently see is opening the hotel for larger project applications, by experts willing to coordinate the research done in the center, and who would regularly visit the place to guide junior researchers.
Remote supervision of research is a possibility, but depends on people with relevant knowledge and experience being available. Peer support from other guests will be available to some extent, especially given the preponderance of people in the movement with postgraduate degrees. However, plenty of research can be self-directed, especially things that are more a case of collating existing knowledge than developing new science (e.g. meta-analyses, review articles, writing books). And the hotel will probably appeal to autodidacts who can plow through published texts and then build on top of them (without much need for explanation additional to what they find in writing).
The hotel is open to hosting research groups, and also conferences and workshops.
That’s all fine, but how does one make sure their meta-analysis follows the adequate methodological rigor of the given domain unless they have a prior experience with research or an in-depth knowledge of such methods? Writing review articles may be easier, though writing books that will make an impact is yet again hard without already having research experience. I’ve noticed in the area of EA that for some reason there is a misconception concerning the research in humanities: everyone would agree that conducting natural sciences outside of an appropriate expert team or a research institution is almost impossible. Yet, people tend to assume that humanities are different. They are not. When it comes to using reliable methods, engaging with the relevant literature, making studies (even meta-analysis) that actually matter—all this is far from trivial and requires expertise. It’s extremely hard to weave through tons of information and uncover the one that actually matters, that should be reviewed, and then pushing that towards a finding that will actually make an impact. So when you say that autodidacts can plow through published texts and build on top of them- that’s not at all simple without having had experience with such research beforehand and knowing quite well:
how to sort through the given texts and order them according to relevance
how to assess the given texts (depending on the domain, one might need to acquire additional skills for this)
what exactly to write about to “build on top of that”: which standards should be employed in the given field so that they lead to an actual publication etc. So I’d say: regular supervision (even if remote) for any pre-doc is extremely important. As well as having funds to attend the relevant events in the field where one can get feedback on their work.