Historian Prof. Jon Mathieu talks to philosopher Prof. Marcin J. Schroeder about his academic life
How does a person grow interest to become a researcher? What are the challenges in their career? How do they come up with their research questions?
In this video, Prof. Jon Mathieu, well-known Swiss historian and editor-in-chief of MDPI’s Histories journal, chats with Prof. Marcin Schroeder, Polish mathematician and philosopher based in Japan and the editor-in-chief of MDPI’s Philosophies journal. Prof. Mathieu asks about Prof. Schroeder’s childhood, career path, and challenges on his path to Emeritus Professor.
They expand the discussion with how mathematics plays a role in addressing philosophical questions, and the philosophy of Zen and Japanese culture.
Lastly, the two professors discuss the topic of the accessibility of scientific knowledge to the public and the importance of Open-Access publishing. They illustrate the goals of journals and peer reviews and the challenges faced by academic editors to judge submissions in their journals.
Index:
0:00:08 Current position and research background
0:03:11 Development of interest at a young age
0:07:06 Education and career path
0:11:37 Turning point in Life
0:16:01 Driver of motivation for research
0:19:27 Beautiful questions
0:24:52 Relationship between mathematics and philosophy
0:36:57 Research ideas
0:40:51 Japan, Zen, and philosophy
0:48:05 Answering questions in science
0:54:04 Open Access and publishing scene
0:59:36 Vision for the MDPI journal Philosophies
1:02:30 Why collaborate with MDPI
1:08:04 Professionality in writing and selecting articles
1:12:45 Role of journals and peer review
1:16:49 Success measured by winning prizes in academia