There are many kinds of research and many kinds of peo­ple involved in research. Some­times what seems use­less at the time can have huge con­se­quences a gen­er­a­tion lat­er (and some­times not). Some research results which seem a tri­umph at the time are show use­less by lat­er devel­op­ments. A career in research requires ded­i­ca­tion and tal­ent, but is high­ly risky in terms of per­son­al and insti­tu­tion­al suc­cess. How can all of the­se fac­tors be bal­anced?