Opinion Piece
Nick Campbell,Project Leader,
Human Information Science Laboratories
When I was asked to write something for the ATR Journal, a long list of potential topics skimmed through my mind ... having been here at ATR for more than ten years now, there are many things that have surprised me, pleased me, angered me, and baffled me ... but most of them would need more than a page of introduction and probably three times as much for explanation and discussion, so I decided instead to use this space to explore some of the reasons why I'm still working here.
Japan is well known as a great place for workaholics; and for researchaholics, ATR must be one of the best places in Japan. I often think that the main reason I haven't yet moved on is because there is just so much to do here ... the good facilities, the excellent researchers, of so many nationalities, working together, and the many distinguished scientists who visit us regularly ... nowhere else would I find such a stimulating environment; free from the endless hassles of short-term grant applications.
So do I like it here? Well, I suppose I must do, but hardly a day goes by without feelings of frustration and anger at some of the things that can be considered normal in this unique cultural environment. For example, when the popular and award-winning CHATR web pages were abruptly unlinked, because "the company that owned them no longer exists", I tried to think philosophically and to remember that bamboo trees survive so well because they just sway and bend in the strong winds - they don't resist and they don't break. I try not to think of the problems of anyone still trying to send mail to nick@itl.atr.co.jp. I hope they will understand that while it can be trivially simple to set up a mail forwarding service, it is not always seen as necessary.
So what really attracts me to working in ATR? I think it must be the focus and style of the research. We can think five to ten years into the future, and can work on tools and data to solve problems that are both scientifically challenging and commercially exciting, without being restricted by the short-term time-frames of industrial research or the administrative duties of a university environment. We are limited only by our own lack of understanding. And we are evaluated both by our results in the short-term - is a technology taken up? - and in the long term - will a paper still be respected a century from now? ATR makes a lot of contributions to the community, and it is great to be part of the team that is making the results.
The new administrative setup at ATR has opened up possibilities of wider collaborations, both within and outside the company, and there are more chances now to pursue individual projects and to work in collaboration with other researchers who share common interests. Because this is a time of flux, it is also a time of opportunity. It is a great time to be here, starting a new project.
