Bharath Balu’s Tips for Scholarly Research

Over the past 15 years, Bharath Balu has made many significant contributions to the field of malaria research with his numerous scholarly papers. For anyone considering going into academic or medical research of any type, regardless of the field, Bharath Balu offers the following tips.

 

Keep an Open Mind

In the course of his work, Bharath Balu has found that the heart of innovation is a lack of preconceived notion. While it is always a good idea to have a working hypothesis, Bharath Balu highly recommends considering each piece of data, regardless of how it fits into the overall pattern of your research. This way, you will be less likely to look only at the information that fits into your hypothesis, and will be able to consider a fuller image of the issue at hand.

Understand Your Biases

Although academic research generally aims to be as objective as possible, Bharath Balu knows that true objectivity is impossible. Even in science and medicine, researchers project their own ideas and biases onto their work, from the results they regard as significant to the very questions they choose to investigate in the first place. Bharath Balu does not recommend trying to ignore those precoceived notions; rather, researchers should identify and remain concsious of them, and be clear about the perspective that informs their work.

 

Collaborate 

 

Scholarly research can be fiercey competitive, with researchers guarding results and methods in order to make sure that they are the “first” to make a discovery. Bharath Balu, however, strongly believes that research of any kind should be for the betterment of society rather than for personal gain. From that standpoind, Bharath Balu recommends that researchers collaborate closely with their colleagues, as increased communication is one of the best ways to generate new ideas, solve problems, and make the biggest strides in research.