The bee that doesn't travel makes bland honey

I have been in academia for over 30 years. It has been approximately 36 years since I entered the Civil Engineering department at Karadeniz Technical University in 1990.

Even if I haven't quite become the success I envisioned, I have never been beholden to the unworthy.

I did my own work.

I established my research team.

I led dozens of research projects.

I secured millions of euros in funding.

I wrote international articles.

I completed international projects worth millions of euros.

I formed partnerships with foreign universities and taught courses.

As a result of these efforts, I became a professor early on.

While I was doing these things, of course, other professors were doing them too.

However, those appointed based on criteria other than merit were not successful.

They chose a growth model like a watermelon lying in the field, and far from growing, they even fell behind the point where they started.

There were about a thousand professors at the university.

Some of them were children of academics who created significant value with the added value of the genetic heritage they received from their families.

Although their numbers were small, they formed a successful group.

Most children of academics, however, thinking that genetic heritage alone would be enough, tried to live off their inheritance instead of creating value, and they hit a wall.

The state of those who infiltrated universities through nepotism from religious communities is obvious.

Students they tried to violate with the knives in their hands are jumping out of their windows just to stay alive.

Those who entered academia through impartial exams by demonstrating serious performance are trying to carry the burden of the Turkish scientific world all by themselves.

They are focused on their work.

They are constantly somewhere.

Today they are out of town, tomorrow in China, the next week in America. They have made a habit of traveling to European universities so often that the Ministry of Finance once went after the frequent flyer miles these professors earned on their flights.

They are constantly traveling, establishing new connections, and trying to expand their research networks.

These professors, who make up thirty percent of the total, produce high-quality honey just like bees that travel a lot.

They possess an academic network capable of forming the editorial board of an international congress on their own.

They can write articles that make an impact in their fields.

They become visible through the organic citations they receive.

They serve as a beacon for their students not just during their university education, but for a lifetime.

The bottom line is that to keep up with the fourth-generation university model, one must follow the bees that constantly travel, achieve the ability to live at different altitudes, and assimilate in diverse plant flora.