M Farooq wrote:
Dear Akheilos,
My apologies if you had hard feelings. First of all you mentioned your location as Islamabad and this implies that you were studying in Pakistan. I wish that was clear to begin with. That is why keeping the geographical locations vague may not be very helpful.
Yea well it is tough to get the whole story out on an online forum... I used Islamabad coz I have relatives there
M Farooq wrote:
The problem is that collaborations rarely proceed by a young student writing to strangers (they don't know you, right, and vice versa). It would be far better and more realistic when your request route is through the supervisor in a more formal way.
Probably but the same was true when my Supervisor "already had" a collaborator in Pakistan but he just suddenly stopped bothering....Hence, I didnt want my supervisor to get a bad impression and he thought it would be good a local spoke to them....who knew it would be less impressive!
M Farooq wrote:
You will certainly find people interested in your work in Pakistan and elsewhere but the question is that formal collaborations rarely start on public forums where the main visitors are mainly hobbyists. My main purpose of writing was that the chances of finding someone online, regardless of the country, are quite slim and you will find this behavior in any country.
Oh my purpose here was to ask if anyone had seen the plants and the location...I am in no position to offer a collaboration but I was just getting information.
M Farooq wrote:
I have been through the same phase, I used to write to several experts and it is rare to get replies because academic research no longer altruistic but it has become a hardcore business in every country and I am taking about developed countries. By business, I mean, the other party should also see some interest either in terms of funding, publications or manpower. Your collaboration will require field trips, formal permissions, institutional permissions, so it may not be very easy as you may think. If your supervisor can arrange a phone call, that might work. Older generation of local academicians are not email savvy. Wish you good luck for future and stay motivated-this is the very nature of research.
Honestly speaking I have a different experience....1 of my other supervisor gets emails from students around the world showing interest and wanting to learn ....and some of my own colleagues write to prof regarding their publication....And this is exactly what I did...I wrote to a few people based on their publication....their corresponding email was taken from their publications....
While some email addresses I found on National institutions...
I know a colleague told me that the "collaborators" from Pakistan at uni of Cambridge have some of this superiority complex where they treat those below them with little respect...To think people collaborating with Cambridge would have enough brains to behave like a normal human being...
