Independent research is research conducted by an individual who is not employed by any organisation or institution, or who is employed but is conducting this research separately from that. This person may or may not have funding for this research (e.g., via grants). Research that is done by two or more people collaborating, but still separate from an organisation or institution, could arguably be considered independent research.
There are various advantages and disadvantages of independent research relative to research conducted as part of an organisation or institution.
This tag is intended for posts relevant to things like tips for doing independent research or advantages and disadvantages of independent research, not just for posts that are examples of independent research.
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effective altruism funding | org strategy | research methods | research training programs | scalably using labour
Ideally someone will in future edit this entry so that it says more about advantages and disadvantages of independent research, and maybe also about tips.
One way to do that would be to summarise and reference the following passage, written by Daniel Eth, for an LTFF payout report:
Uncertainties about the current text (which I wrote):
Should collaborative research definitely (rather than arguably) count as independent research? Should it definitely not count?
Should research conducted by people who are employed, but with the research being separate from their employment, count?
I think clearly yes if they’re e.g. employed as a bank clerk but doing AI safety research in their free time.
Not sure for e.g. the research I do that’s not exactly Rethink Priorities or FHI research, but that one or both orgs are still happy exists.