So I kind of wanted to put my mathematical projects on here but I'm kind of confused as to how it would work or whether it would be suitable for the spreadsheet. There are a few confusions I have or potential mismatches I see.
I mean, first off, where on earth does a number come from? Like, I don't need more materials or anything -- I'm just doing math! -- I just need more time, basically. And the biggest drain on my time right now is my day job. And that raises all sorts of complications beyond just coming up with a number.
Like, what's the model here for how I'd make use of this? Am I going to quit my job for a one-time source of funding to get math done? Or is the idea that, like, I'd use the money to take a sabbatical to do this? I guess the funny thing there is that that actually happened just recently; Andreas Weiermann invited me out to Ghent University for a month to get math done and yeah I took a sabbatical from work to do so. Except that raises the problem that's not really something I can do repeatedly!
(Of course, that situation was a little different in that when I speak of getting math done, I primarily mean writing up my backlog, whereas Andreas wanted me out there to do *new* math, so I did a bit of both, but didn't get as much done of what I personally intended as I wanted.)
But if we ignore that and suppose that I could, we're then back to the problem that the number is totally arbitrary; there's no way to say how much I "need". Especially as in this case I managed to get the company to actually pay me during this month-long vacation, so, uh, I didn't really need *any* additional money from the university (although I got some). So any number would be totally arbitrary!
So I just don't really understand how this would be set up in a way that works out for me. I guess the thing is that, yeah, I need money, but, like, not in the short term; in the short term I'm good. So short-term sources of money, that don't lead to me, like, quitting my job, are not particularly appealing. The important thing Andreas provided wasn't so much money as a point to coordinate around!
So it's, like, yeah, I'd love if someone were to be paying me to do math, but I don't understand how to make it work as a one-time thing, which is what this seems to be about...? Not unless I set some ridiculously high number, I guess?? Yeah I'm pretty confused where the numbers come from in a case like this.
so, it sounds like "enough money to quit my job and do math permanently" would be a lot and might be hard to get, though who knows, maybe what you're doing is really important to some exceptionally generous person/people.
for a temporary sabbatical, the relevant amount of money is "as much as you'd need/want to support yourself for that time period", which, yes, allows you to choose what exactly "support yourself" means lifestyle-wise, but a safe bet is "continue out your current expenses for the length of the sabbatical."
sometimes people set up a patreon/kickstarter kind of thing or accept donations for a side project even if they don't quit their job, on the thinking that payment incentivizes them to do more work (or more work of the kind the donor requests) than they'd do on their own.
e.g. for a while I charged for research reports on the topic of the client's choice; I had a day job, and I'd probably have spent some of my weekends researching *something* even without payment, but paid reports would bump up to the top of my priority queue.
if money isn't actually your limiting factor, you might want collaborators, or workshop/conference invitations, or something like that.
Some of these are truly wild and innovative. But this is exactly what we need in this era of stagnating progress.
So I kind of wanted to put my mathematical projects on here but I'm kind of confused as to how it would work or whether it would be suitable for the spreadsheet. There are a few confusions I have or potential mismatches I see.
I mean, first off, where on earth does a number come from? Like, I don't need more materials or anything -- I'm just doing math! -- I just need more time, basically. And the biggest drain on my time right now is my day job. And that raises all sorts of complications beyond just coming up with a number.
Like, what's the model here for how I'd make use of this? Am I going to quit my job for a one-time source of funding to get math done? Or is the idea that, like, I'd use the money to take a sabbatical to do this? I guess the funny thing there is that that actually happened just recently; Andreas Weiermann invited me out to Ghent University for a month to get math done and yeah I took a sabbatical from work to do so. Except that raises the problem that's not really something I can do repeatedly!
(Of course, that situation was a little different in that when I speak of getting math done, I primarily mean writing up my backlog, whereas Andreas wanted me out there to do *new* math, so I did a bit of both, but didn't get as much done of what I personally intended as I wanted.)
But if we ignore that and suppose that I could, we're then back to the problem that the number is totally arbitrary; there's no way to say how much I "need". Especially as in this case I managed to get the company to actually pay me during this month-long vacation, so, uh, I didn't really need *any* additional money from the university (although I got some). So any number would be totally arbitrary!
So I just don't really understand how this would be set up in a way that works out for me. I guess the thing is that, yeah, I need money, but, like, not in the short term; in the short term I'm good. So short-term sources of money, that don't lead to me, like, quitting my job, are not particularly appealing. The important thing Andreas provided wasn't so much money as a point to coordinate around!
So it's, like, yeah, I'd love if someone were to be paying me to do math, but I don't understand how to make it work as a one-time thing, which is what this seems to be about...? Not unless I set some ridiculously high number, I guess?? Yeah I'm pretty confused where the numbers come from in a case like this.
so, it sounds like "enough money to quit my job and do math permanently" would be a lot and might be hard to get, though who knows, maybe what you're doing is really important to some exceptionally generous person/people.
for a temporary sabbatical, the relevant amount of money is "as much as you'd need/want to support yourself for that time period", which, yes, allows you to choose what exactly "support yourself" means lifestyle-wise, but a safe bet is "continue out your current expenses for the length of the sabbatical."
sometimes people set up a patreon/kickstarter kind of thing or accept donations for a side project even if they don't quit their job, on the thinking that payment incentivizes them to do more work (or more work of the kind the donor requests) than they'd do on their own.
e.g. for a while I charged for research reports on the topic of the client's choice; I had a day job, and I'd probably have spent some of my weekends researching *something* even without payment, but paid reports would bump up to the top of my priority queue.
if money isn't actually your limiting factor, you might want collaborators, or workshop/conference invitations, or something like that.
Do you still take research commissions on medical issues?
Oooh! I have some relevant projects and can't wait to check out some of these exciting ideas.
This is a fantastic resource. Thank you for making this!
Okay, so the other article I commented on today was really cool for me personally, but this one is really cool overall. Amazing work!!!!!!
I love this! I found several cool websites and projects and even joined a study from the list! Thank you for having this and keep up the good work.
This is wonderful, Sarah. Thanks for putting it together.