The research I have done is working with the metabolic pathways of a fungus that is fatal for immunocompromised patients. While the work I am doing is crucial to understand the pathogenic tendencies of this fungus, the impact it has to the current atmosphere is limited. The goal of the study is to find and provide cure for this disease in the long term. However, this does not garner the research I have done to be useless. The medical problems faced by society today are multifaceted and plentiful. Each needs to be tackled in an appropriate manner. Having research make immediate impact is something that provides immense satisfaction and joy. Nevertheless, the importance and significance of long term research cannot be understated.

i prefer working in industry and making products not only for current generation but for next generations too. Industry is very competitive whereas academia is not. Industry research is fast paced, target oriented and most importantly time. Academia research relates to long term with more study that is being done by transferring of knowledge or research.

In my opinion, the industry, most companies are facing now. Their final goal is making money. They have the budget and have to finish the research, transfer the research into product and earn money, and do more research and earn more money. If they invest many capitals, but their research is too innovation to complete, they will not have the money back to sustain the further research. So the research in industry is most for now. On the other hand, in academia, many research are facing future. Researchers have to develop the field that no one has done, come up with the idea which is really innovated. They can use decade years to finish the project if possible. This kind of research almost is the signal for the future using.

I think research that will yield results to be used for now can lead to research ideas that can be improved upon; which will then pave the way to a research study that will be used for future generation or vice-versa. This is the beauty in research, where discoveries have applications in the current generation and the future. So, personally either type of research is a great sense of accomplishment since you are helping people find solutions for problems that we currently face or in the future. Being able to contribute in research, in both academia or industry, gives a great sense of satisfaction where you know you've contributed in the well-being of the society overall.

Frankly, I believe that both research ways are beneficial to the body of study but going against popular view I would prefer the Academia form of research where my research findings become useful at the long run or someone else furthers my research to make a discovery and the reason is this.
"Research is meant to bring about change, and a long-term research is always aimed at changing a bigger part of life therefore a long-term research will bring about a better impact to the body of study and provide more solutions than a short-term one"
I don't care if its me or someone else all that matters is that change happens

Both type of research are important. Personally, I would prefer doing research in academia just because its leisure type of life. I think academia research is just as important because they are trying out different ways until they find a right way.

As far as a company producing products is concerned, research for the future is even more important than research for the "now." This is true for almost any company that isn't monopolizing a particular market (in which case, research isn't essential at all, which is one of the reasons why monopolies are undesirable).

However, in a world where companies focus on little more than the next quarter's financial report, many public companies spend significantly more on current research to maintain an edge in the market in the short-term. This may be beneficial temporarily, but it can cost companies in the long run, when their products become ineffective compared to new alternatives. In the biomedical industry, incentives are high to create new, better products that will take over the market share currently possessed by current products.

Academia, not generally bound to the whims of investors, is generally more likely to conduct long-term research, which tends to be riskier, and not aimed toward a well-defined end product.

I would rather research in which i get result right away and make tons of money. But after done that, I would definitely do research for future generations too. I know i would prob never going to get credit for that future generation but may be the fact I did something for future kids would always give me some sort of inner satisfaction. Also, given a choice right now right here, certainly would go for research that will give me result NOW. I dont think I can make a comment about which one is important since both of them are. It just depends on your priorities.

Although both types of research are important, I do believe that research for the future is more important than research for now. Companies make research important for the current generation in order to remain relevant to the public and in order to remain profitable for their discoveries. However, the future research still has the utmost importance because it can potentially change their outlook and audience, maybe even increase their revenues.

Stemming away from the biomedical research for a bit, I will talk a little about another form of research, environmental research. A lot of studies and research that occurred very long ago predicted that if the Earth kept producing high levels of carbon dioxide and methane gas that it would gradually cause an increase in heat on the Earth which would result in melting ice caps and higher sea levels. If it was not for the research that predicted way into the future, the Earth may be even hotter than expected, and change in ways we cannot imagine.

Though there are plenty of examples like this in other forms of research, the same applies for biomedical research. Eventually, the results will help future generations and end up more valuable than the research that only provides information for the current generation.

I agree with @hm243 that research studies conducted in academia and in the industry are both important. However, I don't believe that research studies in academia are only for the long run. I personally prefer contributing to research studies that have immediate or practical results improving our lives, curing a disease etc or research studies for the now. I believe that you can still work in academia with that purpose in mind in certain labs. For example, I was working in an academic lab at the Veteran Affairs (WRIISC). Although it was an academic lab, we were running clinical testing on a medical device that we developed. Throughout various tests, we not only tested the device but also had various important assessments that the veterans (participants) might not be able to get anywhere else and helped veterans in various ways. In that case, there was a lot of direct benefits generating from the research projects. I also believe that labs like that are present in the academic world.

I feel both type of research is important and necessary. But I am interested in research which would give results, make discoveries, inventions and innovations for future generations. My passion is to work in academia research, do discoveries and inventions to help people on the long go, finding solutions for problems whose causes and source remain unknown. Researching regarding these take lot of time, but one day it will give results which would help future generations.

I read through many of the posts above and for the most part, everyone is interested in the immediate results. It makes perfect sense and I agree. People want to see the fruits of their labor. One of the reasons I chose to be a biomedical engineer was to “help people”. However, I do want to point out that long term research is crucial because there is so much unknown information that still needs to be uncovered. In tissue engineering/ regenerative medicine for example, all cell differential pathways are not fully understood for stem call use or how to seed cells on decellularized organs. Technological advances are currently being made for these examples and more but work within this field will be considered long team because there isn’t a distinct path or end goal. Long term research is needed to see optimal results.

I agree that both that both types of research is required and can see myself working on either one. I think research geared towards the current generation would provide solutions and improvements more efficiently and this finding can be helpful for future generations as well. Research that focuses on future generations won't provide immediate results however it can lead to more impactful discoveries and breakthroughs in the future. Ultimately I think a balance of the two types of research is the best way to go continue.

There are benefits to doing research in industry and academia like you have mentioned before. Everyone does like to see immediate results, that is what makes us human. But working on something for the long run is more beneficial because we are helping the future and our kids and grandkids will benefit from us. We may not get the recognition we want, but we will be appreciated. We are all studying biomedical engineering. If you go into the true research of it like tissue engineering, it will be something that keeps evolving. You will not be able to see immediate results. I believe we need to have the patience.

I believe the fulfillment of a successful long study must trump any feeling you can get from a short-term project. Which is why I always thought I wanted to do long term studies. When I was in high school I did a 6-month project on green tree frogs for 6 months. After 6 months, I found my results to be inconclusive. I can’t imagine donating my life to a project, like a 15-year study, and having the results be inconclusive or a failure. I realized that this is going to happen and for that reason I would prefer industry R&D. I believe both are extremely important, but I have chosen industry because of my preference in short term studies.