[tech] theory funding

at lunch i learned that there isn't as much funding going around in the computer science theory community as there was many years ago. in a way, i'm more surprised that there was funding before. theory sort of works in a funny way: the stuff you come up with probably isn't immediately applicable, but many times, down the line, someone from the "real world" finds a good use for it. but problem driving funding, with definite goals and timelines, seems counter to how theory operates.

so if i join professor X who's funding by practical grant Y, i better expect to help solve something practical while doing my pure theory on the side. this doesn't really bother me, as i want to work on a practical problem that theory can help. just not sure what that will be...