On April 8th, James D. Watson visited Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences(SIBS) and gave a letcure about his research experiences.
In the lecture, six advices were provided:
1, Choose a project prompt ahead of it's widely recognized.(Not exactly the same sentence.)
2, Work on projects only when you feel tangible success may come in several years.
3, Work with a teammate who is your intellectual equal.
4, Stay in close contact with your intellectual competitors.
5, Never be the brightest person in the room.
6, Always have some one to save you.
These maybe the reasons he made great success.
I asked a question on the skills of contact with famous scientists. I did not hear the answer clearly...
