I agree @hm243 that both types of research are indeed important and necessary. I, like you, am more interested in working on projects that will have a product on the market in my lifetime. I think there's something very exciting and rewarding to see a product out on the market that you helped develop/commercialize. I work on the business side of things at a non-profit, so some PIs have been working 5/10/20 years on something and then our office comes in to move it forward with commercialization. It's very rewarding to see patients actually using something you helped develop/commercialize.
To spend years on a research project that might not produce a commercial product, or to be passed down to another lab member or to beat to publication/market by another PI does not sound appealing to me personally. Working as the bridge from the lab bench to the commercial product is extremely exciting and rewarding.

Research in any field is important. Research is the advancement of technology and science. In my opinion, research that can be instantaneously effective or long-term beneficial can be made in either environment. Innovation is essential and improvements in technology will always happen. In industry, the goal is to create a product or solution that can solve the current problem. On the other hand, in academia, the goal is to study the problem, try to completely understand it and try to find a way to solve the problem. For me, I think that doing academic research is a great start in understanding how research works but I agree where I would also like to delve into industrial development since I want to see my research working. However, in hindsight, it can be said that the process of releasing a product is the same both in academia and research since there are regulatory boards, studies, and a lot of logistics that has to be managed.

Research in advancement and exploration of the unknowns in the wild. There is no definitive path if in the path we have a urge to know there are thing for which we can't give any reason for something which is left behind we may have to change our path to find the reason because it is something which may raise question on our topic in future. So I believe research is all about patience motivation and urge to know something. I think research as a long term process rather than a short term.

I believe that research done now will benefit both the short term and long term. It depends on the type of research that is being conducted however. Industry related research can be used short term if the results are met at the deadline and don't require further investigation. However, research into the frontier of innovative medicine may take years and years to develop, especially in a newer, unexplored territory. I also believe that regardless of whether your research is used immediately or in the future, it benefits both the current and future generations. Current generations can use that research immediately to not run into similar issues someone already faced and can build upon that research while also breaking the ice on the new frontier for future scientists to explore. I believe both are important because research is ever-growing and both exist together. You cannot conduct any research without some knowledge/idea of the environment or system that you are exploring. That idea can impact short/long term discoveries.

There is a great rewarding feeling when a product realization you worked on reaches hands of people including closed ones and help them live a better life. Both long and short term research are important and necessary. Long term research would usually strive to solve problem(s) that require technological and/or science innovation; methods, devices, etc. While short term research would strive to mitigate or control a problem. It may sound simplistic, but I see it as comparison of identifying a treatment vs. identifying a cure. From the standpoint of a researcher, it is most fulfilling to work on on short term research and see first hand the product helping people. However, the long term research produces novelty that are most impactful to humanity.

As many have already said in this thread, both types of research are important and I do not necessarily see one as more important than the other. There will always be a need to solve current societal problems, for this reason research is needed to help further understand these problems so that a solution can be identified. Broader types of research that do not particularly have a definitive understanding as to what the end goal or end product might be are also extremely important. These types of research help our society gain knowledge about many different topics or industries that may not even have current problems, but the ongoing pursuit for this type of information / knowledge could be an integral part in solving future problems. Essentially the point I am trying to make for these broader (future) types of researches is not to wait for a problem to exist before you start looking for a solution. From my personal opinion I would prefer to work on research that would help future generations. I do agree with what many others have said it is very rewarding to see your accomplishments, and have tangible evidence for what your work (research) was able to achieve. I would personally rather be part of something that has the chance to change our society as a whole and have a major impact. Even if it meant only playing a smaller role in making this major impact possible and not receiving any recognition.

Personally I am more interested in doing research that can be developed into product in a useful time frame. I do not agree that the hard line is between academic doing long term research and industry doing short term research. While academics does have more research projects that may be beneficial long term there are many joint ventures between academics and industry to streamline projects. Most of the research that is not developed until later time points is missing critical information and technology, which is why it is not able to be further developed and most of the time these roadblocks are not realized until further down the road of doing the research. With that being said I don't believe the researcher goes into solving the problem with future vs. current generations in mind, rather the main goal is to solve a problem and these roadblocks if presented answer the question for the researcher of who the research is going to end up supporting.

I would prefer to create research that helps current generations. I believe that technologies and information builds upon itself so if you help current generations, you are helping future generations as well. For example, if one creates a cure with immunology to some form of cancer (actually happened), this opens the door to use immunology to cure other types of cancer. They might not know everything at the moment to cure these other types of cancer but the information that you output gives them the basis for someone to one day go back to that problem. In the future, they might actually be able to solve the problem with the information you outputted combined with other people's information as well.

I personally would prefer to do research that can be utilized as soon as possible. There is that sense of instant gratification where you can see what you have created and see it be applied in the 'real world'. I feel that doing research that can only benefit future generations is a noble cause; however, it really depends on the researcher for whether or not he or she is okay with not seeing the fruits of their labor right away. This is pretty important to consider when deciding to either work in industry or academia since the latter could result in having your research approved, but not applied in your lifetime (perhaps). I feel that both these types of researches are important. Research that results in instant results may not have been possible without the research conducted by the researchers who chose to research something that may not been used until years later and vice-versa. The relationship between both types of research is essentially symbiotic.

I was very much interested in doing research in academia which would benefit people after a long time. But after working in academia research and seeing people getting benefited right away from industrial research, my passion started drifting towards industrial research. Seeing people getting benefited from the research product you develop is really an amazing feeling. But considering long term research benefits, for example cancer cure research, are breakthrough researches which would change the course of medicine if a complete cure for cancer is developed. I feel both the type of research are important.

Even though research for both generations are important, I would rather work on research for the present generation. My goal is to help and provide solution for problems that are currently at hand. Just imagine being able to cure a child and seeing the joy on their faces. I believe that would be the best reward one may ask for. Currently there is a rise in antibiotic resistance which is a menace to our generation’s healthcare. A discovery of a new antibiotic could reduce the gap between infections and the medicines we currently have available. Solving problems of our generation would give us leverage to solve future ones. As previously mentioned the problems you solve now may help solve issues that could pop up in the near future.

I am currently researching at the University on a project that is intended to have benefits years from now. I feel that while there is no immediate product to be released, there is still quite a bit of satisfaction building on the knowledge that is already available. In a sense, the work I am conducting, which is on the mechanisms of brain injury, has a deliverable or product that is the research itself. Groups from around the world contribute to this, and it, in turn, allows for more short-term projects to be successful because the foundation is laid down several years in advance. I feel the difference boils down to either conducting the initial stages and producing a foundation or the final stages and producing the final product. Either way, there is still gratification and progress in similar time frames.

I personally would like to work in the industry, and I would also like to work on products that will reach the market in my lifetime. However I agree with krp76 that academic research does not only means long term research. The timeline of any study depends on the specific topic being researched. While many drugs and devices are developed in industry, some products on the market are the result of patents on discoveries/inventions made in academia and licensed to a company. It is also important to note as some have already mentioned that some devices on the market no only exist because of recent improvements on established understandings.

Personally I would do research in the industry, because it will help people right away. I think it is more appreciable and I can see it's been used in the market and it's really beneficial to people while I am alive. I think it is more satisfactory because it feels like you have put in something for the change or to advance in the healthcare field. On the other hand academia is not that bad either, I will say you have to patient and you have to let things go what I mean by that is some time you don't get credit for your work which does't happen in the industry. In the academia the experiment is being perform on the hope that it might work and you kind off try your hypothesis and in the industry this things does not happen because it is a money matter, if you do some research for a new product than company should be able to make money out of it. In other words I can say industry is two way zone that if you invest then you should be able to make money out of it and in academia is one way you invest and hope for a new discovery.